www.airsoftoutletnw.com

Name: Matt Rowell
Age: 29
Occupation: Multimedia Producer at ISITE design
First Replica(s): Kokusai CAR-15/Tokyo Marui P90 (purchased at the same time off eBay)

If you’re a local to the Northwest and are an active participant in the Airsoft community then you’ve probably heard of a website called AirsoftPacific.com. This Portland based website has become the centralized hub for everything Airsoft in the region. After going live December of 2001, it has to date steadily amassed an impressive 7,400 registered users who zealously post and discuss a rich variety of topics. Visitors can find subjects from the inevitable “what gun should I get???” to the hilarious picture thread “Candid Pictures of Your Mom”.

Now it may not have been Matt Rowell’s idea to create a thread to showcase images of Internet meme’s, but it was his vision to create AirsoftPacific.com.

The steady evolution of Airsoft Pacific (AP) is a long journey that corresponds with the growth of Airsoft in the Northwest. Long before the organization of AirsoftPacific.com, there were two rival groups who were very active: “Team-7” and “B.A.S.C” (who later became “F.L.A.C” after the team leader enlisted in the military). Essentially, anyone interested in playing organized Airsoft found themselves in one of these small communities. This caused a rift between Northwest Airsoft players with the old school airsoft veterans on Team-7, and all the "newbies" playing for F.L.A.C. Early 2001 is when Rowell, and his friend Matt Olson, stumbled upon the Team-7 website. After doing some more investigation into the sport, Rowell and Olson thought that Airsoft looked fun and decided that they would give it a try with the F.L.A.C community.

Rowell and Olson finally made it out to a skirmish with borrowed guns from Alex Pearson: a Tokyo Marui MC51 with a rickety stock and an AK47 that had seen better days. The game wasn’t much more than a two sided mismatch with players at opposite ends of the field shooting at each other; but it was enough for Rowell to take interest and buy two Airsoft guns in a package deal off eBay

It was around the third quarter of 2001 when Rowell went alone to attend a random backwoods skirmish. It was one of those skirms where you know it’s going to be miserable before it even starts. It was raining, bleak, and Matt knew that the game was going to be a bust as soon as he drove up and saw one guy waiting around. This is when Matt Rowell met Bill Youngblood. The two stood underneath the back window of Matt’s Jeep, rain pouring, and talked about what it would be like to have an organized Airsoft community in the Northwest. These were the first baby steps of what is now Airsoft Pacific, a website hub for Airsoft players to set aside rivalries and come together to organize safe events

Soon after their meeting, Rowell, Youngblood, and Olson began working together to create the first version of AirsoftPacific.com. News started to spread among the standing community that a new Airsoft forum was in the works. Many of the veteran teams and players scoffed at the idea of a neutral community website with rules and regulations. They claimed that this small underground niche sport didn't need rules, that it wasn't big enough to need a neutral website educating newbies about Airsoft, but Rowell and crew figured that a friendly community with open arms to the public was a better way to promote Airsoft rather than cater to a small group of avid players.

Airsoft Pacific had a small number of players come over and register when it went live, but interest in the new website was marginal at best. Many of the veteran players from Team-7 and F.L.A.C didn’t like the way AP was trying to regulate and standardize rules and FPS limits, so they stuck with the F.L.A.C forums. Gradually over time Airsoft Pacific began to establish itself with Northwest Airsoft players by putting on regulated games with new and interesting objectives. The team associated with AirsoftPacific.com, APST (Airsoft Pacific Strike Team), put a face to the name and were the people behind the scenes envisioning better ways to play. After hosting several small events APST thought it would be fun to host a skirmish incorporating "Sector Control". According to Rowell, they got the concept from the P.C. game "OP: Flashpoint" and were the first group to host a "Sector Control" game in Oregon. The concept of teams fighting over regions rather than aimlessly lobbing bb’s at each turned out to be a huge hit and propelled Airsoft Pacific into legitmacy.

In the first quarter of 2002 after their success with Sector Control, APST held Operation Jona, which was their coming of age event. Seemingly every active player in the community showed up for the OP that essentially brought the communities Team-7 and F.L.A.C together. The game was a major success not only in the game play, but also in its ability to unite the community to play a well organized event. It was then that Matt Rowell realized that AirsoftPacific.com was going to work.

CQC1

In 2003 F.L.A.C fell apart because the group leader left the hobby, which in turn took down the F.L.A.C EZboards and left AirsoftPacific.com as the ad hoc congregate for Northwest Airsoft players. Airsoft Pacific continued to host events throughout 2003 and 2004, but these OP’s began to run into the predictable outdoor run and gun style game play. Players wanted something fresh and new, so on December 12th, 2004 the first major indoor competition was held: CQC1.

Close Quarters Combat: 1 was a collaboration from Rowell, Youngblood, Jason Belcher and John Lewis. It was held in the Oregon Airsoft Association (OAA) building, which was probably the first Airsoft arena in Oregon (possibly the west coast). The OAA was nested in the adjacent building to the indoor pistol range “A Place to Shoot”. OAA had no idea that AirsoftPacific.com even existed until they were approached by Rowell and crew to host an event at their location. Even though CQC1 was a major hit with the growing community, it failed to bring enough attention to OAA which closed shortly after the event was held.

It was nearly a year after CQC:1 that Rowell witnessed the true fruition of their work. It was February 4th, 2006 when Airsoft Pacific hosted the event Grid 18, and it turned out to be much bigger than anticipated. The goal of Grid 18 was to host an event for the masses with hopes to promote new members into playing the sport regularly. They hoped for a good turn out, but had no idea that they would draw nearly 200 players to the event that was hosted at the Paintball Park “Splat Action”.

Grid 18

After Grid 18 AirsoftPacific.com became the name for Airsoft in the Northwest. Registration skyrocketed, sponsors began asking for advertising space, and some games began to peak with more than 400 players turning out to shoot each other. The popularity of Airsoft began to exponentially grow as word of mouth spread. People began actively searching for Airsoft Pacific to learn more about this new and interesting sport. Local retail establishments such as Airsoft Outlet NW began to supply the demand for guns and gear. Several arenas came and went in attempts to provide a place to play for the community. One can assume that the growth of Airsoft in the Northwest wouldn’t be what it is without Airsoft Pacific.

There’s no telling what condition Airsoft in the NW would be like if it hadn’t been for that dreary skirmish where Matt Rowell pondered with Youngblood what it would take to make an organized Airsoft community. Rowell’s enthusiasm and vision has helped develop and maintain one of the most organized, self-monitoring, Airsoft groups in the country. Airsoft Outlet NW is proud to be apart of this pioneering spirit and looks forward to the new directions that Matt Rowell will take Airsoft Pacific.