Paintball

Paintball! It's recognized as one of the world's most exciting outdoor participation sports. Paintball is played in over 50 countries by millions of people, of different ages and lifestyles. Whether high-school students or homemakers, professionals or retirees, all paintball players share in common a love for adventure and a strong competitive spirit. Paintball is a combination of the childhood games "tag" and "hide & seek," but is much more challenging and sophisticated. Paintball is a sport played by people from all professions and life styles. It is a sport where women and men compete equally, and where age is not dominated by youth. Physical size and strength are not as important as intelligence and determination. Like a game of chess, being able to think quickly and decisively is what makes you a star. Paintball also is 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 spark your fire of adventure.

Although there are many different game formats, typically a group of players will divide into two teams to play "capture the flag." In the double flag game, each of two teams starts from its own home base. The object of the game is to capture the other team's flag and carry it back to your home base. In the single flag game, there is a single flag placed at an equal distance from each of two teams. The flag usually is in the center of the field. The object of the 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. 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 per team to over 500 on a side, limited only by the size of the playing field.

Games have time limits, varied by the number of players and the size of the field. For smaller games of up to 25 on a side, the games usually have a time limit of 15 or 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 rules of fair play, and control the sport's safety. Paintball fields have a referee staff and may run several games at the same time on different parts of their field. Each playing field has a marked boundary. A player who goes out of bounds is eliminated from that game.

A paintball is a round capsule with colored liquid inside it. A paintball's thin outer shell is usually made of gelatin. Paintballs are similar to large round vitamin capsules or bath oil beads. The most common paintball size is .68" in diameter. The fill inside a paintball is non-toxic, non-caustic, water-soluble and biodegradable. It rinses out of clothing and washes off skin with mild soap and water. Paintballs come in a rainbow of colors, such as blue, pink, white, orange, red, yellow, green, and other bright hues. The outer shell of a paintball may be a color swirl, or two-toned. The inner fill may be a different color from the color of 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 U.S. quarter to be considered big enough to eliminate the player. Smaller amounts