Post by ASIATIC on Jul 17, 2003 7:49:35 GMT -5
WEEKEND WARRIORS -- Members of the Kaua‘i Paintball organization get together with visiting members of a Mau‘i club between one of their elimination games at the Puhi paintball facility. Bottom row (l to r): Royce Leeakwai, James Rocha. Middle row: Tyrel Corpuz, Eric Chau, Bryson Kurikawa, Bubba Kajiwara, Donald Kubisch. Back row: Thomas Labanon, Steven Pimental.
KAUAI Sports
Ready, aim, splat!
Jules Cannon shows off his personal weapon while on the left are CO2 cannisters used to charge paintball markers and on the right are a facemask as well as one of the jerseys available for paintball enthusiasts.
BY BARRY GRAHAM - TGI Sports Editor
Landon Gilbertson watched intently for several minutes as players shouted out signals, scurried for position and fired ball after ball with marksman-like precision on Saturday in Puhi.
After several games had finished, the 13-year old Gilbertson decided to go from spectator to competitor.
He was a little nervous.
After donning his mask, loading his marker and firing a few practice rounds, he made his initial appearance playing paintball, one of the most electric, tense and adrenaline-filled extreme sports in the world today.
As the referee belted out the final command, signaling the beginning of the contest, Gilbertson hurried to a spot and began launching shot after shot as balls whizzed past him.
The veterans didn't take it easy on him, and several minutes into the game, the rookie raised his hand telling the rest of the players that he had been hit and was eliminated from the action.
Gilbertson lost that battle but his day was far from over.
He, like many other first-timers, had his first experience competing in the game that is becoming one of the fastest growing extreme activities in the world.
"The camaraderie, adrenaline and excitement on the field when total strangers come together to play is tremendous," said paintball enthusiast Jules Cannon.
"Everybody has played cowboys and indians and hide and seek," Cannon said. "This is a combination of the two. It is the same concept, but you are shooting paintballs at each other.
"You don't want to get seen or get shot."
Like Cannon, Kaua‘i has its share of paintball fanatics who participate in "elimination" games on the weekends at the Menehune Paintball Field.
Two of the biggest supporters of the game on Kaua‘i are brothers Cannon and Anthony Spice.
The duo own Garden Isle Paintball in Lihu‘e, a business catering to the needs of paintball enthusiasts. In addition to selling paintball markers (guns), balls, apparel and various equipment, the brothers offer insight into the game they love.
"On the island in the last two years, the sport has boomed," Cannon said. "Even across the state, more and more people are playing in tournaments, showing up in retail stores. Worldwide, the numbers are there."
What began as a recreational activity in 1981 has grown immensely. In the 1980's there were only a few playing fields across the country and when you mentioned the word paintball, the majority of people had limited knowledge of the sport.
According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association, a little less than eight million legally registered people played the sport in 2001 and that almost 1.5 million people play paintball a minimum of 15 times a year.
Several other studies have shown that more than 16,000,000 players worldwide compete in the sport.
In addition, there are more than 23,400 paintball fields and stores in the U.S., and paintball is played in more than 140 countries including Russia and Korea.
The brothers also compete on one of three Kaua‘i teams that compete across the state in "Speed Ball", a popular paintball game in which opposing teams try and eliminate other squads on a playing field with fixed drums and air bunkers that can be used as cover and or points to launch an attack.
Approximately 75 percent of paintball players take part in recreational paintball in which enthusiasts create scenarios in forest and jungle settings.
However, speed ball is the game of choice for tournament-level competitors. Speed ball involves a great deal of strategy and requires players to be aware of their surrounding at all times.
"You have to have really good vision of what's happening around you," Cannon said. "You have to know when to hear things from the team behind you and the opposition.
"It's a team sport. There is no individual. You win with the whole team."
Gilbertson did his part in helping his teams claim victory on Saturday.
In the process, the game pulled in another big follower.
What a rush.
sourced from: www.kauaiworld.com
[glow=red,2,300]ONE...[/glow]
;D
