Paintball players insist the game is for fun, not pain
By Lisa Twiestmeyer
Staff Reporter
A white flag hangs motionless
from a gnarled branch deep in the
serenity of the woods.
Sunlight splatters through the
dense growth of trees and brush onto
the rough terrain of the forest floor.
Birds create a clamor that seems
deafening in the tense silence.
A twig snaps.
“You can smell 'em, they’re so
close,” a man dressed in camouflage
whispers in a low voice, crouching
invisibly in the weeds.
“I sec ’em in the bushes up
there,” says another man, his
weapon poised.
Suddenly, two masked, olive
drab figures spring from the growth a
few yards ahead and run.
“You got a line on any of them?”
“It’s not a clear shot!”
The second man aimshis weapon
and fires it through the trees at one of
the retreating figures.
“Hit!” the figure yells* and
freezes as a blue liquid runs from a
splotch down his arm.
“You got one, Lar!”
* P *'
An unknowing observer may
have assumed the 15 men were pre
paring for battle, or at least a military exercise.
Their activities on that August morning in the woods near
Conestoga Lake southwest of Lincoln required physical stam
ina, marksmanship and strategic planning. But war, or anything
military, they said, was the farthest thing from their minds.
The men were enjoying a game of Capture the Flag as part of
a sometimes controversial sport rapidly growing in popularity
across the country -- paintball.
Paintball is a sport some would call a war game involving
battle-type strategics and a weapon. Players fire air guns that
shoot gelatin capsules filled with water-soluble paint at the
“enemy” during games of strategy such as Capture the Flag or
Ambush.
The sport and the appearance of the players may conjure up
suspicious images of paramilitary training to many. But appear
ances are deceiving, the players contest, and they arc quick to
rebut any connections people see between paintball and “the
real thing.”
“If a military guy comes out here looking for realism, he’s
not going to have it, ’ ’ says Jon Cleal, 32, operations manager at
All-Makes Office Equipment Co. and organizer of the Lincoln
group of paintball players.
Jessica Sparks, a member of the board of directors for the
International Paintball Players Association, said the first
paintball game was played in New Hampshire in 1981.
Three people, a stockbroker, a writer and a ski-shop owner,
came up with the idea to get a group together to sec who would
be better at capturing flags in the woods. They fired paint guns
that were used for marking cattle and trees, she said.
The sport has grown to 675,0(X) annual participants nation
wide, Sparks said. The association estimates 3 million people
have played the sport in 21 countries, she said, and many
corporations have organized their own teams.
Cleal said he played paintball for the first time six or seven
years ago with friends in Chicago. The game already was big in
metropolitan areas and on the coasts, he said, but no one in
Nebraska was playing.
About two years ago, he said, he heard of a group in Omaha
who had tried the sport. He and a friend then decided to buy
some equipment and start a team in Lincoln.
By word of mouth, news of the sport spread to their friends
and colleagues. Now 15 to 20 men gather each time the group
gets together for a game, he said.
At a recent get-together about a week ago, the men began
with two half-hour games of Capture the Flag.
In that game, players divide into two teams and set up
“forts” on opposite sides of the woods, which measure about
150 by 300 yards. The teams try to capture their opponents’
team's (lag from its fort and return it to their home fort without
getting hit
After a lunch break, they began Ambush, similar to hide
and-seek. In Ambush, a few players hide in the woods and the
rest try to flush them out. The game ends when cither the
“hiders” or “seekers” all have been hit
Some of the men who participated that day were full-fledged
paintball enthusiasts, who play at least twice a month. Others
were playing for the first time. But no matter what their
experience level, all agreed that the game is just that - a game.
"Some people say it’s paramilitary but it isn’t,” CleaJsaid.
“It’s like a sport. It might look paramilitary, but that’s not the
atmosphere.”
Most of the players said they enjoy paintball simply for the
physical activity, like any other sport. Bruce Kolb, 28,a bindery
operator at Foote and Davies in Lincoln, said paintball is a sport
that gives him the chance to exercise and relieve stress.
Kolb compared paintball to rugby.
“You’ve both got a goal, but instead of tackling, you get hit
with a paintball... I never have a military mindset.”
“It’s like a game of hide and seek and tag for grown-ups,”
said Larry Kemgan, 29, a graduate student in gpography at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “Half the fun is dressing up.”
While the dressing up may be fun, some players admit that
the camouflage, military type outfits and masks the players
wear sometimes make people wary of the sport.
A man near Rulo once bought a franchise to sell paintball
equipment and organize a team, Cleal said. After two killings
there in 1985 believed to be associated with an ultra-conserva
tive group which believes it is responsible for law enforcement,
people began to associate the paintball players in their camou
flage uniforms with that group.
“As soon as dial happened, he sold his stuff and went out of
business,” Cleal said.
Sparks said the association is aware that some people don’t
understand what’s going on when they see a group of people
dressed in camouflage running around with weapons in the
woods.
To combat this, she said, the association has begun organizing
arena games that spectators can watch, much like football.
4 ‘That takes it out of the camouflage and the woods,” Sparks
said.
The association also is forming a code of conduct for paintball
players, she said, to encourage safety and to give the public a
positive image of the game.
“It’s a game, a game of tag,” she said. “The first lime I got
tagged by a paintball, I remember thinking ‘Oh boy, I’m glad this
isn treal.’ To say they (the players) glorify any actual killing, we
know it’s not true. We like it because it’s a game.”
Cleal said he stresses that players avoid military terminology
while playing. He discourages violent words like “shoot” or
“kill” during the games, and tells players to say “hit” or
“marked” instead.
Safety also is important, Cleal said. He requires all players to
follow strict rules while playing, including wearing goggles, ear
protection, masks, padding and having all skin covered. He will
notallow anyone under age 18 to play without a parent or
guardian present, he said.
Cleal said he also requires that if anyone who is not part of the
game is spotted in the woods, the players must stop the game
immediately.
With the proper clothing and protection, a player will not even
feel when he lias been hit, Cleal said, but a hit on bare skin feels
Lift:
Clockwise from left: Bruce Kolb, Jon
Cleal, Scott Workman, and Scott Keel
display some of the various weapons
used In Paintball.
Center:
Sam Rupp stuffs weeds In his fatigues
tor added camouflage. One player told
Rupp he looked like a welder from
cambodia.
Bolow right:
Two team members scurry through the
woods during a game of capture the
hag. Participants are required to wear
eye, ear and face protection.
Photos by William Lauer
similar to a snap by a rubber band.
"I spend about 20 minutes briefing everyone on the safety
regulations and equipment,” Cleal said. ‘‘There is really no
safety danger and we’ve never had any injuries or problems.”
Mike Kolb, Bruce Kolb’s cousin, who organizes the Lincoln
team with Cleal, said the lack of physical contact makes paintball
a less violent sport than most others.
“I’ve played a lot of working man’s flag football, ” said Kolb,
34. who works for the Lincoln Fire Department. “In this game
tempers don't flare. It's absolutely taboo to ran up and touch
someone. There is no physical contact.”
Paintball Sports, a magazine for paintball enthusiasts, pub
lished sports injury statistics from the National Safety Council in
its September issue. The statistics show that according to yearly
injuries per 1,000 participants, paintball is the safest sport out of
the 27 sports rated - safer than bowling and fishing.
Kolb said, paintball reminds him of his younger days.
* ‘Sometimes I feel old, but I get out there, and it’s kind of like
being a kid again. We’ve just got bigger toys. You know, they
say, the only difference between men and boys is the price of
their toys.”
And some players take their toys quite seriously.
The standard single-shot Splat Master gun, which Cleal leases
to players for $5 a day, costs about $90. But many players have
invested in more expensive, high-tech models.
For example, Kolb owns a fully automatic SMG 60 model,
which he said cost about $350.
Many of ihe gun owners justify buying expensive models
because they no longer buy regular guns. In fact, several of the
players who were once avid hunters said they virtually have
given up hunting.
“I get out there, get a lot of exercise, get to know a lot of
different people, and when I leave, I haven ’t hurt anyone,” Kolb
said.
Sam Rupp, a quality control inspector at I SCO who has played
paintball for two years, agreed.
“Lots of us used to hunt, and now we do this,” said Rupp, 29.
“Now when there’s nice weather... I think of paintball instead
of hunting.”
Cleal said he wants more hunters to try paintball, and also
would like to sec more college students try it. Eventually, he
said, he would like to sec paintball become an intramural sport
on campus.
Two UNL students tried paintball for the first lime that
morning, and were enthusiastic about playing again.
David Sipherd, a senior majoring in business administration,
and Dennis Champoux, a junior advertising major, said they
want to play again and would consider buying their own guns.
4 ‘This is cheap entertainment,” Champoux said. “Five dol
lars for a whole day is reasonable.”
Cleal said that although Nebraska has probably the smallest
group of paintball players in the country, he is confident the
numbers will grow if more Nebraskans hear about it and try n
“Nebraska is kind of a last frontier for paintball,” he said,
“but we’ll get it.”