Paintball - History of Paintball

Played first in June of 1981, paintball is a relatively young sport. Between the first idea of paintball 1977 and its eventual creation in 1981 three men by the name of Bob Gurnsey, Hayes Noel, and Charles Gaines worked to create the sport. The idea was to produce a stalking game that would challenge the participants to survive in the woods effectively escaping from other huntsman.

The original game, played in Sutton, New Hampshire, was based on the "capture the flag" game. Twelve players searched throughout an 80-acre piece of land for 12 flags of the same color. Richie White, a forester from New Hampshire, was the first to gather his flags and became the winner of the first ever paintball games.

The two main pieces of equipment are needed to play a paintball game. These include the paintballs and the paintball marker. The paintballs are made up of a biodegradable, non-toxic, water-soluble material that is held together with a gelatin capsule. The balls are fired from a paintball marker. Paintball markers are shaped similar to that of a gun, but are specifically molded to shoot only paint balls. The first paintball marker to be used in a game was called the Nel-Spot 007.

Today, paintball games are played for entertainment and military purposes. Within the entertainment field, amateurs or professionals can play paintball. There are even numerous advanced paintball leagues and tournaments for paintball enthusiasts to join. For the military, paintball is used as a training method to teach soldiers and other professional necessary combat techniques.

Although paintball is a relatively new sport, its players have spread the game throughout the country and world. As its entertainment, and usefulness continues to grow for citizens and military personal, paintball will continue to be a fun and useful sport played for many years to come.