Tag 4 A Cause is a Success at Kynytyx

It was so much fun to bring Tag 4 A Cause to Kynytyx in Bellport, NY during their public vs staff night earlier this week! There was a great group of players and a wonderful show of support with donations being made to Action Against Hunger.

I arrived at this arena on Long Island by early afternoon and got everything set up and ready to go in the lobby.

Arena owners Nathan and Kim welcomed me back (I had been here twice earlier this year as this location was my 400th laser tag arena) and it was great to catch up with friends.

Sanch, Beanz, RNT and Kelly had already arrived and while the guys were adding some enhancements to the arena I enjoyed some time to relax after my travels and a bite to eat along with something cool to drink out of my Kynytyx water bottle. :)

It wasn’t long before the players started to show up. Edgar and Nadacia were the first from the staff to arrive, support the cause and claim their medals (which were well earned as everyone easily completed 5K of laser tag over the course of the night).

My thanks to everyone who donated in support of our cause. It just goes to show that you can have a great time AND make a difference when you play laser tag.

Once everyone had arrived, the teams were ready to face off against each other for some advanced squads games in the full arena. This site can be divided into two separate arena spaces, which can be used independently or opened up into the full sized arena that was perfect for accommodating five teams. Teams included…

The Managers

vs Team Syracuse

vs Team Honestly I Dunno

vs Team I’ll Think of Something

vs The Mighty Ones!

A special note about that first game…it was Beanz’s 5000th game of Laserforce. Congratulations, that’s awesome!

After a couple of squad games, we split up for rounds of Laser Ball. Half of team Syracuse was taking this VERY seriously! I did get the hat trick achievement for scoring three times in a row (the final time with a significant assist from Sanch) so that was a good time. And we even ended the night with a bit of SM5, so this was a fun night for enjoying a nice variety of game formats. 

However, my favorite game of the night was the high score trophy challenge game for all the players who supported Tag 4 A Cause. 

My thanks to everyone who participated! Aztec ended up winning the golden phaser trophy with his high score of 14308. Congratulations!

I am delighted to say this event generated $250 in support of Action Against Hunger. However, the laser tag 5K challenge will continue all the way through the month of September, so if you’d like to participate from any arena, anywhere find all the info at https://www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com/tag4actionagainsthunger.

My thanks to Nathan, Kim and the entire team at Kynytyx for hosting Tag 4 A Cause as their very first special event night! And thank you to everyone who helped us raise funds to support Action Against Hunger while enjoying a fantastic night of laser tag!

Comments or Questions?

Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com 

New Podcast Episode: The Story of the Last Photon Told by Jim Strother

Time for another episode of Laser Unfocused Tag Talk! This week I’m joined by Jim Strother, who shares his story as the last person to open and operate a Photon laser tag business back in 2008 in Broken Arrow, OK. Check out what he had to say on the podcast.

ON SPOTIFY:

https://open.spotify.com/show/0xzXT3aqGa2edIlXpcaJBS

ON APPLE PODCASTS:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/laser-unfocused-tag-talk-with-tivia/id1632442213

ON YOUTUBE:

https://youtu.be/9FkH9Q59JRc

Comments or Questions?

Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com 

Zone US Nationals 2022

I recently played in the 2022 Zone Laser Tag U.S. Championships alongside some of the most skillful Zone players in the country. I joined together with friends on the Blood, Sweat and Beers team (BSB) for an experience that was both a challenge and a privilege considering I am a player without a home Zone site. More accurately, it’s not just that I am without a home site, but at present there is no competition Zone site for practice anywhere in the entire state of New York, so my only opportunities to play these days are the arenas I visit when I travel. So, it was a delight to return to Ultrazone Bailey’s Crossroads in Falls Church, VA where I got to join with friends who I’ve met all along my journey.

 

RNT and Travis also fall into the “triple digit club” for laser tag arena visits and I have known both of them through Armageddon for several years. C.K. and I had played together on a team at Battle for the Fort in Indiana a few years back and I had last seen Dan (Voltron) at his site in Bensalem, PA when I was passing through only a couple of months ago. It was great to be on a team with some fun people!

 

When I arrived at Ultrazone on Friday night (night one of team competition) everyone was relaxing and visiting at a cookout behind the building. 

 

It was such a great way to chill with the other players before the tournament got underway.

 

We chatted with organizer Jason Elias about how nice it was that Liquid Death still and sparkling water was provided to the event courtesy of this company stepping up as a beverage sponsor. 

 

Big props to Liquid Death for keeping us all hydrated at the Zone Nats!

 

By the end of this weekend our entire team had become fans of both the product…and the name! #LiquidDeath

 

We had a break in between (during which RNT and Travis and I went off to explore more local laser tag in the area) and when the competition got underway we played overnight from a little after midnight right through 6:00 in the morning. Yes, I needed some coffee! :)

 

Seven teams rotated through three-team round robin competition all night, using only the bottom level of the Ultrazone arena, which has stunning comic-inspired artwork all throughout.

 

I do love a brightly decorated arena and used the character images as location indicators, which I tried to commit to memory during the final rounds of Elimination, which were the only “practice” rounds I got prior to the event. I had not been present for side events earlier in the week. It has been years since I last played at this arena, so to navigate I was largely relying on finding the familiar faces in this labyrinth.

 

The competition was intense and I think there is so much to be gained and learned from tagging with players of this caliber. Many of the players had excellent feedback and suggestions, which I appreciated greatly when it was offered up in a friendly and supportive manor. I’m not going to sugar coat the fact that there were a couple of passive aggressive comments that could have been delivered more constructively, but for the most part I find this to be a generally positive community with whom I enjoyed some excellent, heightened levels of competition.

 

As the saying goes. I’ll sleep when I’m dead! I only got a couple of hours rest before making the most of my day in Virginia area (including playing at my 450th laser tag arena!) and enjoying the local region. I had carbo-loaded before night one of the tournament, but before night two, how about fondue?

 

Team competition on the second night didn’t get underway until 1:00 am, so at this point I mixed my Liquid Death with instant coffee to keep me going through the remainder of the games leading up to ascensions. It was 6:00 in the morning when our team was taken out of the competition, which was actually for the best because my boss was scheduled to get married ten hours later, so I had a long drive back to upstate New York ahead of me. 

I received my tournament coin and headed back, feeling appreciative that I was able to be part of this event.

 

 

I want to offer my congratulations to Team Coast 2 Coast for winning this year’s Zone Laser Tag US Championships! 

Special recognitions were given to these players as well:

 

MVP - Hellfire

Rookie of the Year - SD Cratie 

All Stars - Arkangel, Lil D, Skywalker, Mumin and Hellfire

 

Tournaments are fun for me because I always leave with improved skills (never stop learning), new friends and awesome memories, which I reflected on during my drive back home. 

 

Did I make it back in time for the wedding? Barely! If we had advanced any further, I definitely would have missed the ceremony, but as it happens, I got into town and changed clothes for the wedding with only twenty minutes to spare! When Liz says “we’re all wearing pink” I knew I had better show up on time, in pink.

 

For the remainder of the night I tried to stay awake to recount my stories from the weekend (most people wanted to know why it is that we play overnights) as the lack of sleep was starting to catch up with me. However, it was a long, exhausting and exhilarating weekend playing Zone Nats 2022 and now all that was left was to repeat my perpetual mantra…coffee, please!

 

 

Comments or Questions?

Contact: Tivia@tiviachickloveslasertag.com

Websites: www.tiviachickloveslasertag.com and www.photonforever.com