Paintball

by Dr. Ferenc Bóka

We spend most of our time at work. Tasks, deadlines, plans and facts, phone calls, meetings – they all became part of our lives. Getting out of this environment can be beneficial for more than one reason. Paintball gives the opportunity of an adventurous team building. Facing unusual challenges, paying attention to each other, co-dependence get you out of your daily routine and fills you up with positive energy. This accelerated world requires meeting complex challenges, good individual achievements and excellent team work. Effective, conscious cooperation and knowing the limits of our co-workers and employees are the key to success. We can get to know new things about each other in unusual, highly stressful situations in an unfamiliar environment. We can see ourselves and our colleagues from a completely new perspective. Participating in an adventure together makes working together more efficient. It improves cooperation and tolerance, enhances better communication and highlights the importance of team work. Paintball in general is in many ways similar to business life. Strategy, cooperation, quick solutions to unexpected events, success in a hostile environment, stress and pain, immediate punishment of bad decisions – these are all common traits. The best, the most efficient, the most apt come down as winners from the field. There are no excuses. A good strategy, discipline and quick problems solving are vital. There is a powerful wave of adrenaline in the body even after a few minutes in the game. Experiencing stress together helps to build team spirit. Participating in such an adventure brings the problems to the surface immediately and shows the areas that need improvement. These can serve as guidelines to further team building activities.

In 1981, a group of friends developed an outdoor survivalist game where the hunter becomes the hunted. It began simply as a wager among the Wall Street “city boys” and outdoor huntsmen. The question – who fostered the best survival skills? With safety in mind, they needed a weapon that could tag the individual without harm, and through researching available equipment in a farming catalog, they came upon paint spray guns used to mark animals for breeding purposes. Both National Forest Park Rangers and cattle farmers were utilizing this spray paint equipment.

The actual first paintball game was officially held June 2, 1981, with a few friends competing against each other among 100 acres of woodland. One of the players, Bob Jones, a Sports Illustrated writer, published an article highlighting that game that spurred national interest. The first games were crude, compared to today’s standards, with limited ammunition and firearms. Players would even resort to throwing paintballs at each other. As equipment evolved, the intensity and competitiveness of the sport grew.

Competitive tournaments have been going on almost since the beginning of the sport. The first major paintball tournament was held in 1983, with the team based in Canada. Paintballs have developed over time as well. When the game began in the 1980s, paintballs were oil-based. Today, paintballs are filled with a gelatin coating of vegetable oil and the dye. A number of variations have been developed, including glow in the dark, scented, and cold-weather varieties.