02/11/2000

Paintball!

I had never heard of paintball until my son told me about playing it at a warehouse in Boston. When I looked into it further, I discovered that it's both an indoor and outdoor sport, for men and women, and growing in popularity around the US. Here's how my son described this new (to me) team sport.

"I played paintball as a bachelor party festivity. In addition to the people in our group, there were kids anywhere from 10-17, their fathers and a motley assortment of other testosterone-rich males.

"The "battlefield" was located in an old warehouse in downtown Boston. When you enter, everyone is given helmets with face shields, some padding and old, full-length coveralls. The referee gathers all the participants together and divides them into two different teams. In our case, teams were identified by the color of their helmets: either pink or blue.

"Once in teams, we got a quick orientation about how to use the gun, what to do if it jammed and how to leave the game if we were "hit" in battle. Safety rules were strict and comprehensive. A player who was "hit" must signal other players by raising his gun in the air and heading immediately for the battlefield exit, hugging the wall as he goes.

"After the rules explanation, we suited up, got our guns and paintball ammo and headed for the battlefield, blue helmets on one side and pink on the other. The field itself had lots of "bunkers" and other obstacles to hide behind. Once the whistle was blown, the object was simply to kill the enemy. At the end of the time period, marked by another whistle, whichever team had the most people left on the field was the winning team. Anyone who was "hit" had to leave the field and wait to get in on the next battle.

"Since we were part of a special party, the last game was to hunt down the groom and his best man (my closest friend and me) - not exactly my favorite battle of the night. Overall, paintball is extremely high on adrenaline and fun, although the paintballs can definitely hurt when they hit!"

Paintball Fields in Connecticut
(outdoors unless otherwise noted):

New England Air Games
132 Black Ash Road
Oakdale CT 06370
(203) 848-8598
Contact- Mike Brycki

Outdoor Adventure Games
Maslar's Pawnshop
Waterbury CT 06704
(203) 757-7961

Paintball Playground
179 Reaching Hill Road
Winsted CT 06098
Contact: Bob Rollins
Tel. (203) 379-1673
Toll Free in CT. 1-800-352-4762
1-800-FLAG-SNAG

Strategy Plus
East Hampton CT
Mailing address:
PO Box 760
Bethel CT 06801
(800) 952-9007 (in CT)
(203) 775-2029 (outside CT)

Paintball & More
Harwinton, CT, USA
485-5118

Waterbury Paintball Outdoor Arena
Waterbury, CT, USA
965-8888

B. @ E. Paintball
Orange, CT, USA
1-860-590-3141

Prospect Paintball
Prospect, CT, USA
Tom: (203)-758-6272

Tactical Paintball
South Kent, CT, USA
(860) 927-3123
jimhbmw@aol.com

Pizzella Bros. Paintball Sports
Marlborough, CT, USA
(860) 295-1170
pizbros@mail.idt.net

Tolland County Paintball Field
Riley Mountain Rd.
Coventry, CT 06238
(860) 742-0201

LINKS:

The Online Paintball Network

Connecticut Bush Raiders Paintball Team

Please send questions or comments to bbruno@snet.net.