"Paintball is an exciting sport, and above all paintball is fun."

Paintball

Paintball! It's recognized as one of the world's most exiting outdoor participating sports. Paintball is played in more than 60 countries by millions of people of different ages and lifestyles. Whether high school students or homemakers, professionals or retirees, paintball players share a love for adventure and a strong competitive spirit.

Paintball is a combination of the childhood games Tag and Hide and Seek, but is more challenging and sophisticated. Paintball is a sport played by people from all professions and lifestyles; women and men compete equally, and age is not dominated by youth. Physical size and strength is not as important as intelligence and determination. The ability to think quickly and decisively, as in a game of chess, is what will make you a star.

Paintball is also a character-building sport. Players learn the importance of teamwork and gain self-confidence while developing leadership abilities.

Paintball is an exciting sport, and above all paintball is fun. It's a chance to shake off your day-to-day responsibilities and rekindle your spirit of adventure. Once the adrenaline starts pumping, you can't help but love the thrill of the game!

How the game is played

Although there are many different game formats, typically a group of players divides into two teams to play capture the flag. The object of the game is to capture the other teams flag and carry it back to your home base. While you are trying to capture a flag, you also try to eliminate opposing players by tagging them with a paintball expelled from a special airgun called a paintgun or marker.

In the two-flag game, each of two teams starts from its home base. The object of the game is to capture the other team's flag and hang it at your team's home base. In the one-flag game a single flag is placed at an equal distance from each of the two teams. The flag usually is in the centre of the field. The object of the centre flag game is to capture the flag and advance, carrying the flag to the opposing team's home base.

Paintball is usually played outdoors. Indoor play sites are becoming more common, usually in more urban areas. Arenaball (also called speedball) is paintball played in an arena (indoors or outdoors) where spectators can enjoy the excitement.

The number of players on each team can vary from four or five to more than five hundred on a side, the quantity limited only by the size of the playing field.

For safety, paintball players must always wear approved-for-paintball goggles and head protection systems to protect the eyes and face during a game and while in other areas (such as the target range or chronograph area) where shooting is permitted.

Games have time limits, depending on the number of players and the size of the field. For smaller groups of up to 25 on a side, the games usually have a time limit of 15 to 20 minutes. For games with more players, time limits may be 30 to 45 minutes per game. With teams of one to five players, games usually are from 3 to 10 minutes.

Referees on the field start and stop games, enforce the rule of fair play, and control the sport's safety. Paintball sites have referee staff and may run several games at the same time on different parts of the site. Each playing field has a marked boundary. A player who goes out-of-bounds is eliminated from that game.

Between games, players take a break to check their equipment, reload their paintballs, and have a snack or soda while they share stories about the thrills of victory and the (usually) funny agonies of defeat.

Win or lose, everyone has a good time, and there's always the next game waiting for you!

Paintballs

A paintball is a round capsule with colored liquid inside it. A paintball's thin outer shell is usually made of gelatine. Paintballs are similar to large, round vitamin capsules or bath-oil beads. The most common size of paintball is .68 inch in diameter. The fill inside a paintball is non-toxic, noncaustic, water soluble, and biodegradable. It rinses out of clothing and washes off skin with mild soap and water.

Paintballs come in a rainbow of colours, such as blue, pink, white, orange, yellow, green, and other bright hues. The outer shell of a paintball may be a color swirl or two-toned. The inner fill of the paintball may be a different color than the outer shell.

When a paintball tags a player, the thin outer layer of the paintball splits open, and the liquid fill inside leaves a bright paint mark. A player who is marked is eliminated from the game. Usually the mark must be the size of a 50c piece to be considered big enough to eliminate the player. Smaller amounts of fill that mark a player are called splatter and usually do not eliminate the player.

Flags and armbands

A flag used in paintball is generally a rectangular piece of cloth about 24 by 12 inches in size. Players wear colored armbands to distinguish one team from another. In tournament games where each team has a flag to protect, usually a team's armband color will match the color of the flag its members are protecting. In recreational games the two flags should be contrasting colors. Or one should be patterned or striped, so that the flags do not look alike.

Paintguns (Markers)

Paintball markers (paintguns) come in a variety of shapes and styles, ranging from simple to sophisticated.

With a pumpgun, each time a player wants to shoot a paintball, the player must first cock the paintgun by using a pump and then squeeze the trigger. The pumpgun must be recocked before the player can shoot again. Pumpguns are usually powered by refillable CO2 or compressed air cylinders that supply hundreds of shots per fill.



Semiautomatic paintball markers are generally powered by refillable cylinders. With a semiauto, he player must first cock the paintgun, once if needed, in order to shoot a paintball. After that the mechanics of the paintgun will recock the paintgun, so that the next time the player squeezes the trigger another paintball is shot.

Safety

Wearing an approved-for-Paintball Goggle sytem will ensure that you keep a smile on you face!