Robbo has decided to hand the reins of Nexus over to Dave Youngblood, owner of Dye in what looks like a marriage made in heaven. We caught up with Robbo as he was lazing in his garden and asked what the hell was going on.
‘As a lot of people know I had begun to take a back seat with Nexus, and this was for many reasons. I think I was becoming a bit too cynical with the way things were going within the tourney scene and to be honest, I certainly had nothing left to prove to anybody.
I certainly could not commit myself to the degree that was needed in 2007 for many different reasons not least of which is because I wanted to spend a lot more time with my family.
And so for me, the idea of handing it over was an easy choice and even more of an easy choice when Dave said he wanted to take Nexus on.
Dave and I had been discussing the option of him taking the team over when I told him I wanted to pull away from the front line a few months back.
The name of Nexus was synonymous with several things, one of which was our total adherence to aggressive and attractive play and a complete denial of designer cheat markers.
Generally speaking I think we had a great name and I certainly didn’t wanna see that die and so Dave was an obvious choice to take it over.
As soon as I realized I wanted to take a more sedentary role in Paintball, I contacted Dave and we begun talks.
Dave was the first sponsor to come on board when I begun Nexus, I didn’t even have to ask him for a damned thing, Bryon Bennini (number 2 at Dye) came up to me all those years ago and asked if he could sponsor us, I never forgot that gesture and have remained absolutely loyal to Dye from day one.
Dave and Bryon are close friends of mine anyway and so for me, it was and always has been a great relationship.
I was so proud to be part of that Dye camp and the Nexus look was, and always will be synonymous with Dye.
In fact, looking back on Nexus, we were all about relationships because if it wasn’t for some great and loyal friends I have, Nexus would have been nothing.
The likes of Duff and Matt at PGi backed me from day one and believed in everything I tried to do with the team.
These two guys I owe so much to, so much ….
I wanna thank Gino from NPS for sponsoring my team with the best loader out there, the Halo. Gino didn’t have to sponsor me, we don’t have any of his other products and yet he believed in what we were trying to do and supported us, a big thanks to him.
Billy Ceranski and Piper supplied us with some truly great paint for so long and I am truly grateful to those guys.
Both of these guys have been unwavering in their support of me……
And to Ledz, what can I say about that man, a giant in the game and when Ledz left me last year, I think that was the end for me really because along with him went Nicky T, Ju and Bo and these guys had all been with me from the start.
I wanna thank Ledz for what he did for me personally and for Nexus and I just wished our playing levels could have matched the marker he sponsored us with.
I ain’t really the schmaltzy type but in my head, that was Nexus right there and my love for the team began to wane during that period when they left.
Everything I wanted Nexus to be was achieved in our first fantastic year, we played fair, we played aggressive and we were successful. I am so intensely proud of what those guys achieved in 2003.
After that I think I got to becoming a tad too cynical regarding the way things were going with regard to cheating etc.
For me, my team was all about loyalty and friendship and commitment, that 2003 line up had it all, some people lost sight of that in future years but hey, that’s people for ya.
My sponsors were 100% loyal to me, unbelievably loyal in fact, I just wish some of the players had taken that lead.
Dave YB has the resources around him to hopefully get the Nexus name back up to where it belongs and I am sure they will achieve this with Dye.
I couldn’t have handed my team over to a better man or company, and I wish him well.
We also asked Dave YB for his comments as to his part in the new deal and he said, ‘We are really excited about this new opportunity for Team Nexus to become our flagship factory team for the European market. It is a great fit for us and I believe that Nexus is synonymous with the best that tournament paintball has to offer. Nexus has always been a well respected and admired team around the world and we believe that it is an excellent fit for our company's image and profile. We look forward to running the team in a positive, professional manner and striving to win events everywhere we can. Jeff Abbott, Director of Operations for DYE Europe, will assume the duties as team manager immediately and begin preparing the team for the Campaign Cup and the remaining 2006 events.