About Paintball
Who plays, how a game works and why it is safer than it looks.
Paintball is one of the fastest growing extreme sports out there. It can be played for recreational reasons or for competition reasons. It is played by people from all walks of life, men, women, young people, doctors, welders, goldsmiths, businessmen, etc. There is no end to the kinds of people who play paintball, it is a sport for everyone. Paintball is basically capture the flag, tag and hide and go seek mixed together, and brought to the most extreme level and developed into a sport. The equipment consists of a mask specifically designed for paintball, a paintball marker, a “hopper” to store the paintballs in, carbon dioxide (CO2) or compressed air to power the marker, and lots and lots of fun and adrenaline.
Who can play paintball? Anybody can play paintball, whether over-weight, tall, small, young and old alike can all enjoy paintball. As young as twelve years old to ages in the seventies. Originally a male dominated sport, female players are making their way into the paintball scene with a big bang. All female paintball teams are showing up all around the place and proving to be much better than a lot of the all male teams.
How games are played, a group of people (generally ten or more) are divided into two groups and start from opposite sides of the “field”. When the referee counts down from three and yells “GO” the game starts, players run to positions to defend their area and try to eliminate the opposite team with their paintball markers. The game is over when a set time is over, when the team captures the flag and brings it to the opposing teams base, or when all opponents are eliminated from the game. Opponents are eliminated from the game by being hit by a paintball. The paintball does sting when hit upon impact, but only briefly.
For safety reasons paintball markers are chronographed to under 300 Feet Per Second (FPS), full paintball specific masks are worn, and are to be never taken off under ANY circumstances during a game in progress or playing area. Barrel blocking devices are then inserted into the barrel of the paintball marker when games are not in progress or in non-playing/goggle off areas at all times.
Paintball is a great way to develop team work, self-confidence and a great work-out. It is also a good social event for families, friends, business get togethers, etc. Paintball is also a good way to spend quality time as a family, and a great way to release stress.