“Yeah Dad, Pete and I are going to play some basketball and chill at his house, so I should be back around six.”  These are the stupid lies that most teenagers have to use in order to play paintball.  Parents just don't get it.  They come up with naïve excuses like, “you shouldn't play that sport, because it is to violent, it's warlike, and you don't need to be around that.”

        Anyone who takes paintball seriously knows that the outrageous stereotypes which people impose are based off assumed knowledge. People dismiss paintball as a game where people run around like chickens with their heads cut off, shooting each other like a bunch of immature freaks. Little do these people know is that paintball is actually a tightly controlled, competitive, team sport.

        I am eighteen years old and I have been playing paintball for two and a half years now and out of the numerous competitive sports that I have played, paintball tops my list.  Yet when I tell people that I am looking to become a professional paintball player rather than a college golf or college basketball player, all I get is laughs.  I get words of wisdom like, “there is no future in paintball,” or “how much money can you make?”  These words make me sick because these people want me to chose money over passion.

        I believe that this choice between material and happiness has to be made by most people who are looking to play paintball on a competitive level.  Sure it is unfortunate that people are forced to make this decision, but it is this decision that strengthens the sport. People who choose to play the sport are not making their decision based on the high hopes of becoming a millionaire, but because they actually respect and love the sport.
 

Ryan Beesley
MPN Columnist