just so you know, people generally don't do very well the first they play 6v6 so if you dont do so hot, don't feel too bad.

Good luck man.

you don't really need a clan to do well, just start pubbing around with people on random servers and eventually you might find a friend group that shares your own interests. that's kinda how i met a lotta my videojuego buddies.
igu gaming admins do hl and 6s sometimes check dem out ahahaheheheeheaha they're cool

I've been doing that since I started in Nov. ( which is how I usually go about theses types of thing_ but for what ever reason it hasn't panned out. So I joined my current clan in the hopes of changing that and well ....

More then aware of this, I've played other competitive games before just not TF2. The old saying is "you have to learn to crwal before you run"

check out 4L, eGo and critfail

pretty friendly guys and have some players involved in comp

Critical Failure, or, Crit-fail for short, has both a "casual" and "competitive" community.

Competitive (we have our own pug system too :]):
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/critfail

Casual:
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/crit-fail

Crit-Fail dudes are awesome, I pug with them occasionally.

Thanks for the info. Yesterday when I checked out http://www.crit-fail.net/ but none of the server links worked. Is that an old site?

Of course that hope is realistic!
Every single competitive player in this game started out playing in pubs.
Get familiar with the 6v6 format, watch some TFTV casts, understand the metagame, learn your role, familiarize yourself with competitive terms/callouts.
But the most important thing is to just jump in when you're ready. Play some lobbies @ http://www.tf2lobby.com (they're always happening and they're not too serious) to get some 6v6 experience, and some DM/MGE servers to improve your aim/DM. Pretty soon you'll be having fun with the game at a competitive level. Get some practice in and try to join a 6v6 team next season in UGC!

And remember, everyone is allowed to play competitive TF2, and anyone that tells you otherwise is wrong.

Interesting, 'cuz many others have told me that http://www.tf2lobby.com is kind of a rough place for some one looking to start competitive play. Which has left me with the question of where the hell goes a "newbie" to competitive play go to get past being a newbie? It's not like the mixes sponsored here go on daily

lobbies can be rough for a new player just because there's usually a complete lack of communication and players are just expected to do what they're supposed to do.

They're definitely the most available in terms of playing competitive-format TF2 though. Once you've got a pretty good idea of what to do in a competitive game (you can do this in newbie mixes and via finding a mentor) lobbies are a good tool to actually see situations you'd face in a match.

Until you're confident in what you should do in a 6s or HL game, you may want to avoid lobbies. There's no punishment for being confused in a lobby, but people can be dicks.
You can continue to practice your DM using DM/MGE servers or just good old pubs until you're confident in playing your class.

Yeah, the site you want to go to is http://hl.crit-fail.net/

Also, if you join the competitive group, events will be posted when pugs go up, and the event page is always linked in the description of the event