The Sport Of Paintball

Paintball 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 marker.

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.

Games can be played either indoors or outdoors and take various forms, of which some of the most popular are speedball. Rules for playing paintball vary widely, with most designed to ensure that participants enjoy the sport in a safe environment. The sport requires a significant amount of equipment and has even developed its own slang.

A game of paintball usually involves two opposing teams seeking to eliminate all of the other team's players or to complete an objective, such as retrieving a flag, eliminating a specific player. An average, non-professional game of paintball usually lasts around five minutes to half an hour. Since its inception, paintball has drawn a crowd of both casual and serious players.

Types of players

Players usually fall into one of four categories: recreational, woods ball, scenario, and tournament.

The recreational class encompasses a range of levels of involvement in the sport, from occasional players (church groups, birthday parties, or bachelor parties) to more regular players who may own their own entry-level equipment but do not play in tournaments. Recreational players may play at commercial paintball parks or on private land.

According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturer's Association, of the approximately 10 million people who participate in paintball annually only about 15% (1.5 million) of them play 15 or more times per year. This 15% can be subdivided into three groups: scenario players, woods ball players and tournament players. While these three groups can differ in style of play and appearance, the most devoted members of all three groups may spend thousands of dollars per year not only on paintball equipment, but also on travel to paintball events.

Public acceptance & leagues

While paintball has received recognition and acceptance as a safe sport and is played by over 10 million people in the United States each year. Recent research has shown that paintball is one of the statistically safest sports to participate in, with a 0.2 chance of injury per 1000 players.

Professional, semi-professional, and divisional leagues regularly hold high-class, well-organized tournaments involving a large number of professional teams, crowds of spectators, and large cash prizes. Though most of the major leagues are based in the United States, many leagues in Europe have become powerhouses in their own right, drawing thousands of spectators at every event. Major national leagues include the National Professional Paintball League (United States), Paintball Sports Promotions (United States), NXL (United States), and the Millennium Series (Europe).