Picture above is taken from stac82.com ©stac82airsoftteam
Creating your team
When you just started your team make sure that you know what
kind of participation In Airsoft they want to take part in. Talk to your team
to find out the answer. If they just want to be casual players at the field one
of you own or you are given permission to do Airsoft on then there is no point
taking things too far and work hard to improve their skills. If that’s the case
then your sessions should be chilled and fun. However if you want to take part
in actual skirmishing then you need some practice first of all.
As a leader you should have same experience as your team or even better. Use your expertise and experience to work on your team.
One of the first things that you need to keep in mind is team bonding. If your team have never played with each other before then don’t throw them straight into skirmishing, otherwise they will work separately and their performance will be moderate at best. Try to organise something outside of Airsoft so you can get to know each other. Team cohesion is incredibly important during later stages of teamwork.
If your team is made up of people who already know each other then you can skip this bit.
Recruitment
Recruitment is difficult at the start, unless you plan to recruit your mates. It is up to you who you want to recruit.
If you want a larger team then your requirements should be kept at minimum (only age and supply your own equipment), but if you want a team that is outstanding in their job then be ready to recruit few people through strict requirements.
If you take Airsoft very seriously and you are looking for people who are the same then you can make requirements based on age, fitness ability and experience in Airsoft. But do not go over the top! You will not need a Special Forces fitness requirement. You can test out recruits at running and strength but make sure that these requirements are not too high, otherwise you will struggle to recruit anyone. We have made an example of fitness requirements for you already:
· 1km at running pace within 15 minutes
· 25 Press-Ups within 2 minutes for men and 10 Press-Ups within 2 minutes for women
· 30 Sit-Ups within 2 minutes for men and 15 Sit-Ups within 2 minutes for women
Training
Once you start training your team once again make sure that they want to do it, and ensure them that if they don’t enjoy it then ask them why and at worst case scenario they might leave. Tell them what you’re going to teach them during the briefing session.
(Our Training Programme example will be available soon)
Then you have to start planning out your training. Make sure that at the start it will not be too hard but rather fun and enjoyable with plenty of practice. Training as a whole should consist of a lot of practical exercises with little theory about how the Airsoft guns work. Make sure that your training is adaptable for everyone, so it can be easily changed if needed and considers that others may need more time to improve a particular skill than others.
Once the actual plan is made then look at resources that you have available. We’ve made a possible kit list for you already:
· Airsoft Gun for every member of the team
· Camouflage uniform for every member of the team (not compulsory but recommended)
· At least 10,000 pellets to share between your team (although we recommend to have more depending on the size of your team)
· Targets (either made out of material or just paper targets)
· Spare guns if someone needs it
· Spare camouflage clothing is someone needs it
· Field that you have permission to do Airsoft in (DO NOT PLAY IN THE PUBLIC FIELD UNLESS DESIGNATED FOR AIRSOT!)
It is a good idea to check your team’s performance at the beginning so that you know what to focus on first. For example there is no point in focusing at one skill that everyone is good at and skipping those that should be a priority.
We listed out the most important skills to possess during your Airsoft career and also the ones that are not as vital but can be useful too.
· Shooting
· Fitness
· Using terrain as cover
· Using camouflage
· Knowledge in theory about Airsoft guns
· Teamwork
· Leadership for those in command
· Basic legal side of Airsoft
And those are the skills that aren’t a requirement but are also useful to have:
· Map Reading and Orienteering
· Knowledge on how to repair and upgrade Airsoft guns
· In-depth legal side of Airsoft
Roles and how to split them up between team members
There are different roles that your team members can do. Some of them have more responsibility than others and depending on the size of your team you can have:
· Airsofter (basically a frontline person)
· Squad Commander (if your team is large and you split them up in several squads then you also need someone in charge of each one)
· Frontline Assault (can be the guy with heavy stuff like machine guns and various grenades and explosive kit)
· Sniper (long rance Marksman takes out enemy at a long range)
· Technician (hands off person who fixes the guns)
· IT Technician (someone who is responsible for running the promotional material through editing it and publishing it online)
· Training Instructor (someone who trains new recruits for your team and is an expert in practical and theory of Airsoft)
Have a look on the video below (particularly useful if you aren't bothered reading through all of this ;)
Video taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhfUt1HmRtY
As a leader you should have same experience as your team or even better. Use your expertise and experience to work on your team.
One of the first things that you need to keep in mind is team bonding. If your team have never played with each other before then don’t throw them straight into skirmishing, otherwise they will work separately and their performance will be moderate at best. Try to organise something outside of Airsoft so you can get to know each other. Team cohesion is incredibly important during later stages of teamwork.
If your team is made up of people who already know each other then you can skip this bit.
Recruitment
Recruitment is difficult at the start, unless you plan to recruit your mates. It is up to you who you want to recruit.
If you want a larger team then your requirements should be kept at minimum (only age and supply your own equipment), but if you want a team that is outstanding in their job then be ready to recruit few people through strict requirements.
If you take Airsoft very seriously and you are looking for people who are the same then you can make requirements based on age, fitness ability and experience in Airsoft. But do not go over the top! You will not need a Special Forces fitness requirement. You can test out recruits at running and strength but make sure that these requirements are not too high, otherwise you will struggle to recruit anyone. We have made an example of fitness requirements for you already:
· 1km at running pace within 15 minutes
· 25 Press-Ups within 2 minutes for men and 10 Press-Ups within 2 minutes for women
· 30 Sit-Ups within 2 minutes for men and 15 Sit-Ups within 2 minutes for women
Training
Once you start training your team once again make sure that they want to do it, and ensure them that if they don’t enjoy it then ask them why and at worst case scenario they might leave. Tell them what you’re going to teach them during the briefing session.
(Our Training Programme example will be available soon)
Then you have to start planning out your training. Make sure that at the start it will not be too hard but rather fun and enjoyable with plenty of practice. Training as a whole should consist of a lot of practical exercises with little theory about how the Airsoft guns work. Make sure that your training is adaptable for everyone, so it can be easily changed if needed and considers that others may need more time to improve a particular skill than others.
Once the actual plan is made then look at resources that you have available. We’ve made a possible kit list for you already:
· Airsoft Gun for every member of the team
· Camouflage uniform for every member of the team (not compulsory but recommended)
· At least 10,000 pellets to share between your team (although we recommend to have more depending on the size of your team)
· Targets (either made out of material or just paper targets)
· Spare guns if someone needs it
· Spare camouflage clothing is someone needs it
· Field that you have permission to do Airsoft in (DO NOT PLAY IN THE PUBLIC FIELD UNLESS DESIGNATED FOR AIRSOT!)
It is a good idea to check your team’s performance at the beginning so that you know what to focus on first. For example there is no point in focusing at one skill that everyone is good at and skipping those that should be a priority.
We listed out the most important skills to possess during your Airsoft career and also the ones that are not as vital but can be useful too.
· Shooting
· Fitness
· Using terrain as cover
· Using camouflage
· Knowledge in theory about Airsoft guns
· Teamwork
· Leadership for those in command
· Basic legal side of Airsoft
And those are the skills that aren’t a requirement but are also useful to have:
· Map Reading and Orienteering
· Knowledge on how to repair and upgrade Airsoft guns
· In-depth legal side of Airsoft
Roles and how to split them up between team members
There are different roles that your team members can do. Some of them have more responsibility than others and depending on the size of your team you can have:
· Airsofter (basically a frontline person)
· Squad Commander (if your team is large and you split them up in several squads then you also need someone in charge of each one)
· Frontline Assault (can be the guy with heavy stuff like machine guns and various grenades and explosive kit)
· Sniper (long rance Marksman takes out enemy at a long range)
· Technician (hands off person who fixes the guns)
· IT Technician (someone who is responsible for running the promotional material through editing it and publishing it online)
· Training Instructor (someone who trains new recruits for your team and is an expert in practical and theory of Airsoft)
Have a look on the video below (particularly useful if you aren't bothered reading through all of this ;)
Video taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhfUt1HmRtY