WDP (company)

WDP, LTD, now doing business as Angel Paintball Sports [http://www.angelpaintballsports.com/FAQ.aspx Angel Paintball Sports - FAQs ] ] , is a manufacturer and distributor of paintball markers and equipment located in England. The company also owns and operates National Paintball Fields, a paintball playing site in Birmingham [http://www.warpig.com/paintball/articles/questions_20/ged_wdp.shtml WARPIG - World And Regional Paintball Information Guide ] ] . WDP is best-known for manufacturing the Angel line of electropneumatic paintball markers.

The origin of the name "WDP" has long been debated and disputed by company loyalists. Though it has never been officially confirmed, it is presumed that WDP stands for Who Dares Plays, a play on the SAS' motto, "Who Dares Wins".

History

WDP began operating in 1987 [http://www.paintballstar.com/pn/modules.php?op=modload&name=PagEd&file=index&topic_id=7&page_id=5 Owen Ronayne - WDP :: PAINTBALL: :: News, videos, reviews, tournaments & pictures by Pbstar.com ] ] with the opening of the National Paintball Fields playing site. Once the field became successful, the company opened a shop and soon began running paintball tournaments in order to stimulate local demand for paintball equipment. Not content with woodland tournament play, WDP pioneered the "arena" paintball concept, introducing what would be called "Hyperball" - a speedball arena field constructed from corrugated plastic pipe and designed for a much faster game format.

The first product introduced by the company was the Mamba Remote Coil hose - a coiled high pressure air line for connecting high pressure air and CO2 gas systems to paintball markers remotely.

Development of the Angel paintball marker began when engineer John Rice began working with the company in 1994 . The marker would remain in development for a further three years before being publicly released . The Angel, along with the Smart Parts Shocker released around the same time, introduced electronically controlled paintball markers to the industry and ushered in a new and unprecedented level of marker firing speed in paintball.

In 2007 WDP began using the trading name Angel Paintball Sports (APS) and internally restructured. During this restructuring, long-time sales manager Owen Ronayne departed from the company. Technician Frazer Colley has been promoted from within the company to become Technical and Team Sponsorship Manager and will be working more closely with US Master Techs Robert "PI" Moon and "Red" Ken Crane to provide technical support and service. Matt Green, previously WDP's Head of Sales, is the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Angel head quarters. Bart Walkerdine joins Matt as President and Chief Operating Officer.

References

External links

* [http://www.angelpaintballsports.com Angel Paintball Sports Official Website]