Watching paint fly
Bruised and battered, a group of novices are initiated into the world of paintball
Monday, April 30, 2007
CONWAY — Squatting behind the Styrofoam walls that transformed ordinary woods into “Ewok Village,” I aimed my gun at the tree house. With my co-worker in sight, I pulled the trigger. Miss. I shot again. Miss. The third time truly was the charm. I hit Sync writer Shea Stewart in the head, splattering yellow paint on his mask. Victory would soon be mine.
To find out what first-time paintball players need to know before they hit the field, Sync staffers spent an April afternoon at Paintball Arkansas, which touts itself as the largest paintball park in the state. Dressed in camouflage, old jeans and worn shoes, we anxiously left the safety of our office.
As we turned off the gravel road, just outside of Conway, a spectrum of colors invited us in. We knew that soon we would be splashed with color, too.
But, first, we had to sign a waiver. I began to feel a bit queasy after reading this line: “I fully understand that this activity involves risks of serious bodily injury, including permanent disability, paralysis and death.”
I had been told that paintballs hurt on impact; I had no idea they could kill me.
After signing our lives away, we headed to the pro shop to get our paintball gear and safety instructions. Most paintball parks provide basic equipment for a fee. Some provide instruction. On this particular day, T.J. Meiron was our referee and guide. He may as well have been speaking Latin as he rattled off paintball jargon.
He was careful to outline the safety tips before letting us load our guns and head to the field. The most important things to remember were to keep our masks down while on the field and to put our barrel plugs in when we were off.
Most paintball parks have several courses with different designs and for different skill levels.
We beginners bypassed “Hamburger Hill,” named after the famous Vietnam War battle, and went straight to the “Speedball” course, which is set up like the fields used for national tournaments. It was fast, fun and a great course for beginners because it offers a chance to learn basic paintball techniques.
I played conservatively at first, not really caring whether I hit anyone but making sure I didn’t get hit. And I didn’t.
When we felt more confident, we moved on to “Trenches,” a course with rocks to hide behind and trenches to burrow in. It wasn’t my favorite field, but it helped me loosen up. I still managed to avoid flying paintballs.
It was interesting to watch my co-workers and the strategies they used. Most beginners play defensively, staying in safe spots, while veteran players tend to move around more.
Finally, we tackled the “Ewok Village” course in the middle of the woods. It had Styrofoam walls and PVC pipes for us to hide behind. Right in the middle was a tree house with stairs, slides and bridges. A Yoda doll was sitting there waiting to be rescued — and we had to do it without getting hit. This was my favorite course; I got my first two hits here. And I still didn’t have a splatter of paint on me.
The ref remedied that. After all, I planned to write a story about playing paintball. How can you do that if you don’t know what it’s like to be hit? Being the idiot that I am, I agreed to run from one bunker to another while Meiron pelted me with paintballs.
The first hit — to the upper thigh — stung for a second. It probably would have hurt more if I had had time to think about it. I’m not sure how many times I got hit. There were four shooters standing about 35 feet from me, and I was their only target. I eventually reached the safety of a bunker.
We ended our day at the pro shop, where we cleaned our gear and compared battle scars. There was some blood and bruising, but we were definitely glad we played.
Where to play paintball in central Arkansas:
Paintball Arkansas
558 Sturgis Road, Conway
(501) 470-4400
www.paintballarkansas.com
Gator Park
11411 W. Baseline Road, Little Rock
(501) 455-3750
www.gatorparkfun.com.
T-Square Paintball
5327 Old Highway 67, Jacksonville
(501) 985-7729
http://hometown.aol.com/tsp8ntball/
Go to syncweekly.com to see more photos and video footage of the Sync staff getting pounded with paintballs.
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