Paintball is a team or individual sport in which participants eliminate opponents by marking them with capsules of nontoxic water-soluble paint inside gelatin outer shells fired from a gun called a marker. The game can be played indoors or outdoors on specially designed fields, and players wear camouflage clothing to protect themselves. Advanced players may use special loaders and harnesses to make it easier to run, load, and shoot while holding the marker. The game is popular with youth groups as a team-building exercise, and corporate groups to improve communication. It is most commonly played as a tournament, but it can also be used for recreational play or for birthday parties.
A player is considered hit if the capsules of paint mark them with solid markings of a specified minimum size (often nickel or quarter-sized) or if they are splattered on the surface of their equipment. Some variations of the game don’t count hits to a gun or pod pack, while others require multiple hits on the arms or legs. Most professional fields and tournaments, though, count any mark of a particular color anywhere on a player or their equipment.
1983 is a busy year for paintball as the Nation Paintball Players League (NPPL) organizes the first competitive tournament, separating into Pro and Amateur divisions. Also, the first Speedball arena opened at Sat Cong Village, a large paintball park in Southern California. This arena utilized brightly painted tires, pallets, and wood structures to create an open arena for fast-paced game play. It is also the first time that spectator bleachers were seen at paintball events. This format is now standard in many arenas and sets the stage for “concept fields” and a move away from camo.