Woods Paintball, It's Not About Winning

By Paul Knoch
5-20-2005

My buddies get together every other Saturday to play paintball on a small wooded field near one of our homes. Most of our games are pretty small and involve just a handful of players. We keep it fun and laid back. Nobody cheats or gets angry. It’s all about having fun.

This morning, we all showed up at 8:30 a.m. as usual. We gulped down the last of our coffee before taking the short walk to the field. I had promised my friend Tyler that he could use my new modified A-5A2 that I picked up from Special Ops Paintball. I suited him up with my vest, remote line, and A-5A2 and then grabbed my old faithful Tippmann 98 Custom.

Altogether, we had just seven players. One of the guys brought his 12-year-old son, Adam. We also had a brand new player, Justin. Justin recently returned from serving in Iraq and was interested in trying paintball. We set Justin up with one of our extra guns and headed out of the staging area. After splitting up into two teams, we started a quick warm-up game. Pretty soon I could hear Tyler off in the distance rat-a-tat-tatting with the A-5A2 on full auto. I knew he was going to have some fun with that gun.

After the warm-up game, we split the group into new teams; A-5s against everyone else. Although we outnumbered the A-5s, I was surprised how easily they won the first two games. I am not sure if it was firepower or confidence that gave them their advantage. Whatever the reason, the A-5s seemed to own us.

After three games, I hadn’t eliminated a single opponent. Tyler was having a great time using the A-5. The combination of his natural stealth and the A-5’s firepower made him a dangerous player. He kept mumbling to himself, “I got to get one of these.”

We re-loaded our hoppers and switched teams for a new game. My side made some good moves and we were able to take out two enemy players early on. I moved up to join one of my teammates who had a guy pinned down behind a large stump. Together we worked the angles and quickly eliminated the bad guy.

By my count, there was only one enemy player left. Just for fun, I made a Rambo-like charge up the field. I knew we had the game wrapped up so I figured it was time to be a little reckless. I bounded over stumps and crashed through the brush, ready to take out the last player when whap! My field of vision disappeared behind yellow goop. I was “gogged” on a dead run by 12-year-old Adam! Although he was eventually eliminated by the rest of my team, I made sure everyone knew what a great shot Adam had made. I called him the “Terminator” and said it was the shot of the day. He beamed and his dad looked pretty proud too. Like I said, paintball is about having a good time, not necessarily winning.

In the next game I found myself in an intense gunfight with Justin, the paintball newbie who had served in Iraq. Justin was using a $50 paintball marker but his military training was very effective. He moved like a cat and always seemed to be in the right spot. We blasted away at each other from opposite sides of a small hill until I felt a paintball break on my left wrist. “Hit!” I yelled as I lifted my marker and started walking off the field. After the game I told Justin “nice shot!” and complimented him on his maneuvers. In the back of my mind, I kept thinking that this was a guy who had served our country in a really dangerous place. People like Justin are true heroes in my opinion.

As we loaded up our gear, we traded stories. I got a lot of compliments for being a great “target”. Justin had a lot of questions about what equipment he needed to buy to get into the sport. I recommended he get a Tippmann A-5 with the Special Ops conversion (A-5A2, thermal goggles, and high pressure air tank for starters. I told Justin we play every other week and he was definitely welcome anytime. He said he would be back in a few weeks with a new A-5. A paintball player had been born.

As I cleaned up my gear back at my house, I thought about the morning. I ended up with zero eliminations. None. Zip. On the other hand, I was shot a half dozen times. The funny thing was that I still had a good time. I got a kick out of watching Tyler rock the woods with my new A-5. Seeing Adam’s big grin after he took me out was pretty cool too. I remember what a big deal it was as a kid when a grown up made you feel important. I also enjoyed meeting Justin. I look forward to playing more paintball with him. With his military training, he is going to be a very good woodsball ™ player in no time.

When you are playing with good friends, you can have a great time playing paintball – even when you don’t rack up good stats or make a flag pull. Paintball is more than just winning. It’s an experience you share with your friends. Win or lose, it’s always a good time.

Paul Knoch is a member of the Dirty Saints, an association of paintball players committed to preserving the sport’s original values of fair play and integrity. He lives in Oregon with his wife and two daughters and writes for SpecialOpsPaintball.com