History of PaintBall
A Brief History of PaintBall
Ever wanted to know some cool info on the history of paintball? The first game ever played was in 1981. The game was between 12 friends and was played on a 100acre tract of land. Thats huge by todays standards. Before that the paintball gun (at that time called a marker) was used to "mark" property, trees, and even cows.
The first games didn't include any of the protective gear that we wear today. No headgear or anything. Ouch!
Here is a list of the 12 founders of paintball:
Jerome Gary, Bob Jones, Ronnie Simpkins, Ritchie White, Ken Barrett, Joe Drinon, Bob Carlson, Lionel Atwill, Charles Gaines, Bob Gurnsey, Hayes Noel, Carl Sandquist
The original games where pretty much every man for himself, but they eventually set up some rules that pretty much paralleled "capture the flag" (Capture the flag is played on some sort of playing field. Whether indoor or outdoor, the field is divided into two halves, known as territories. Players comprise two teams, one for each territory. from WikiPedia)
During the early 80s the game gained some popularity to the point that some teams where formed and gun manufacturers created crude guns that required cocking after each shot. (single shots) Later on semi-automatic paintball guns where created, the new semi automatic guns would soon be paired with hoppers to provide a much faster paced game.
Today paintball is growing more and more popular every year. There are currently over 10 million pballers in the United States alone! If you are interested in playing check out our paintball fields section of the site, and or join up in our forums and introduce yourself!