The Pait Ball

Shooting Paint on Walking Canvass

BALMONTE, Kirk Anthony A.

OCAMPO, Guillermo O.

Ready, set, go! Set in the foggy scenery of Camp John Hay, an extreme sport is gaining more and more attention from spectators, sports enthusiasts, and tourists alike. Paintball, had increased popularity nowadays. It has a special appeal especially to teens and the male species. Who said that shooting balls of paint toward your opponent would not only is fun, but also allows the player to grow. Actually, there’s more to it than just sheer counter-strike-turned-reality sport. This game is so thrilling that it is the fastest growing sport in the world. It has grown so explosively and it’s now the third most popular extreme sport with 11 million players are playing right now.

Background…

Paiintball is a sport in which participants eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with paintballs (spherical gelatin capsules containing primarily polyethylene glycol, other non-toxic and water-soluble substances, and dye) shot from a compressed-gas-powered markers. Paintball draws a wide array of players, and the Sporting Goods Manufacturer's Association estimates that over 10 million people play annually in the United States alone. Insurance statistics show that paintball is one of the safest sports in existence, even more so than tennis. The first paintballs were created by the Nelson Paint Company in the 1950s for forestry service use in marking trees from a distance, and were also used by cattlemen to mark cows. Two decades later, paintballs were used in a survival game between two friends in the woods of Henniker, New Hampshire, and paintball as a sport was born. Here in Baguio, Camp John Hay was the site for the beginning of paintball. According to Mrs. Irene Kasuga, his spouse and other men were responsible for introducing Paintball to Baguio City. “ Yeah, that was in April 2003. It was uh… improved and introduced by four friends namely: Gilbert Soku, Gregg Lloy, Micheal Kasuga, and Lian Rivera...” she also added that these men were Paintball fanatics and at first playing Paintball for leisure. “… And then Kirby started to put up one here in scout hill and then eventually paintball republic took over. That was like April 2003. It was formed by like four… four paintball players and then here we are …”

Playing Paintball…

Before initial game a marshal will briefly orient the player about the Do’s and Don’ts, here are some basic rules: 1.) Always insert barrel plugs, or you might injure bystanders, always treat your markers loaded. 2.) Observe the 10 foot rule. The closer the shot the harder the impact. 3.) No blind shooting, It is just pulling trigger and not looking at your opponent. You may hit the marshal, waste paintball and worst of all loose. 4.) If you ran out of paintballs, you automatically eliminated Never try to pick up used bullets! It may jam your marker, and destroy the good ammo inside. 5.) You cannot win just by hiding under cover, pointing your gun from time to time and shooting. You have to be aggressive and learn to run, duck, roll, crawl, and scream if needed. Anticipating the movement of your opponents and coordinating with your teammates at the same time is an important key to winning the game

Advantages…

Though Paintball does incorporate shooting and screaming, doesn’t necessarily mean that it is war-oriented. So this sport has been receiving criticisms that these kinds of sports encourage war. “ In reality, We call it, not war game, but we call it team building. We call it interactive sports. Kasi you communicate with your team…” Mrs. Kasuga stated. In addition, Paintball’s advantages include: strengthens bond, doesn’t choose age and gender, employs both physical and mental alertness, determines strength and weaknesses of players, braking of personal barriers, and creation of teamwork. This game is fit for Filipinos because there is no advantage in being taller. In fact small, athletic players actually have a lead because they are more difficult to spot. Mrs. Kasuga even mentioned that a lot of local companies have undergone Paintball sessions for team enhancement purposes.

Trying Paintball…

Paintball Republic in Camp John Hay remains to be popular with other fanatics since it’s the only one of its kind to have a location woodland style. Other Paintball spots are usually flat and usually warm unlike in Paintball Republic that involves a lot of trees, slopes, and other Paintball paraphernalia. Remember that Paintball isn’t just a gunfight, it engages all the necessary elements of team building like forming a group and strategic planning, which can be found in this sport, which also includes having a good accuracy and maintaining self-determination. So, why not try and challenge yourself today. Bring along a team of 5 and see how good a team player or a team leader you can be.

*with some sources from Wikipedia and Encarta.