Dane Dickey, 16, gets hit in the face by a paintball in tournament competition. Dane is from Newnan, Ga., and competes on the Chaos in Augusta black team. (Trevor Frey/Staff)
Paintball fun
Stress relief attracts players to game
Paintball lesson 2: Play safe. Masks and protective gear should be used because balls of paint are fired at high speeds.
Paintball lesson 3: Have fun.
Such lessons are quickly learned on the paintball field as players dash across trying to escape the unwanted splat on their body, marker, or mask. An extreme sport, paintball has grown in popularity since it came on the scene in the early 1980s, local paintball field and paintball suppliers said.
"The sport itself is very new," said Bo Garrett, the co-owner of COLORS Paintball in North Augusta. "It's still in its infancy, so to speak."
Paintball pits two teams against each other in a game of elimination. Players try to mark people on the other team while trying to dodge the pellets of color being shot at them. After being hit, the player is out.
Players such as 16-year-old Brandon Reeves, who has played for about a year, are finding out that despite the youth of the sport, paintball already has many followers.
"You'd be surprised how many people that you talk to and they play," he said.
On a recent Saturday morning, parents cheered on their favorite paintball teams in a tournament, which are held most weekends at COLORS paintball field.
Paintball mom Lee Simmons, of Aiken, watched her son Kevin, a member of the team Chaos In Augusta, compete in the three-man-team tournament. Ms. Simmons remembers fondly when her son, who has been playing paintball for about six years, was part of the more benignly named Hungry Hippos, a name that now makes Kevin cringe with embarrassment.
The tournament brings out players such as 15-year-old Wesley Brown, who one day hopes to play professionally. "I try to get as many people as I can, because I want to get this sport out, he said. "I want to make it known to people."
The sport might not be added as an Olympic event any time soon, but the idea of getting a group together to relieve stress and have fun is a familiar concept that is attracting people to paintball.
Augusta dentist Michele Claeys chose paintball as a fun team-building activity for her employees. Dr. Claeys said the only bad part about it was having all her employees point guns at her at one time.
Her office manager, Phyllis Kelly, didn't agree with her boss about the "fun" in paintball. Ms. Kelley said being hit by paintballs hurt. "It's not in my Top 10 list of things to do again."
Tony Snyder, the co-owner of PB Sports-N-More on Washington Road in Martinez, said he has a lot of groups come in who want to play paintball for team building. His father, Jon, the co-owner of the business, said paintball is a great pastime for a family to use for quality time and forget about the week's frustrations.
"It's focused," John Snyder said. "It gives you the opportunity to think about something more than everyday work."
Tony Snyder said paintball is a great family activity. He said it is the safest sport to play "as long as everyone is safe, treats everyone with respect and realizes it is a game."
Wesley advises people to watch the game before they play.
"The best way to get started is to watch first. Watch, and try to get a feel of what is going on."
GET SPLATTERED
- COLORS Paintball, 5421 Augusta Road, North Augusta; 8 p.m. to midnight Friday, 10 a.m. to midnight Saturday; Web site colorspb.50meg.com; (803) 279-3494
- Fort Gordon Paintball field, Kilborne Street, moving to a larger course in August; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and by reservation only Monday-Friday; 294-7475 or 294-8677.
- Rush Paintball, 3644 Wrightsboro Road; 3:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, 3:30 to 10 p.m. Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, 3 to 8 p.m. Sunday and noon to 8 p.m. Monday; 228-5540.
- Ultimate Outdoors-Paintball, 522 Edgefield Road, North Augusta, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday; (803) 613-1255.
