Splat!

Paintball has come in from the woods and onto the playing field. Once the sport of middleaged men lurking for hours in camouflage, paintball now belongs to millions of (mostly) young men who are picking up high-powered air guns and doing more painting than Sherwin- Williams.

Chuck Hendsch, president of the National Professional Paintball League based in Huntington Beach, Calif., says the sport evolved through the mid-'90s.

"We took the game out of the woods and into the arena, where people can watch and it's fast-paced," Hendsch says. "It's like a 10- minute adrenaline rush. It's not like you have to spend a day in the woods looking for somebody to shoot."

The NPPL is hosting a paintball tournament this weekend at Invesco Field at Mile High, in Denver. One hundred sixty teams will play in the tournament, including the oft-stoned rap crew Cypress Hill, who shoot the paintball brand "Chronic."

Competitive paintball consists of seven-player teams who play seven-minute matches. The game is essentially "capture the flag" using inflatable bunkers placed throughout the field.

The paint will fly fast and furiously. Oh yeah, and the winning professional team will pocket $20,000, not to mention the endorsement deals that top players ink.

Sixteen of the teams competing are from Colorado, with several from Colorado Springs and Pueblo.

Mark Steves of Pueblo is captain of the Colorado Shoot- ers, the top team in the state. The semi-pro team competes internationally, attracts players from Nevada and Idaho who fly in to practice, and is endorsed by industry heavyweight Zap Paintball Inc.

Mike FitzPatrick of Colorado Springs is leading a team in the lowest of four divisions at the tournament.

"It's all cutthroat," Fitz-Patrick says. "Even the teams in division 3 have been playing for years and years.

"A real rookie team couldn't win a game in this tournament."

FitzPatrick, 40, plays paintball for the exercise and the adrenaline rush. A successful businessman who runs Auto Nation in Denver, he admits he's not the stereotypical paintball player.

"I have employees and peers who say, 'You do what? Isn't that a kids' game?' " Fitz-Patrick says. "I just say, 'Why don't you come out and play, and then tell me?' "

Paintball is one of the fastest-growing extreme sports around. Consider these facts from the NPPL:

c 2,500 paintball fields dot the United States, including four in Colorado Springs.

c 10 million Americans are playing the game, and that number grows 15 percent to 20 percent each year.

c 9 billion paintballs were manufactured in 2003.

By the way, 90 percent of frequent paintball players (playing at least 15 days a year) are ages 12 to 24, and 85 percent are male.

"BB guns are out, and paint guns are in," Hendsch says.

The best paintball players are fast, agile and have a sixth sense to detect other players.

"It's like playing in a video game," Hendsch says.

Of course, they're motivated to be fast and agile. The downside of playing paintball is being blasted by speeding pellets of color.

Even Hendsch admits that part "still smarts."

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0226 or reed@gazette.com

THE DETAILS

National Professional Paintball League's 2004 Super 7 World Series

Where: Invesco Field at Mile High, in Denver

When: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday-Sunday

Tickets: Free admission

LOCAL CENTERS

Rocky Mountain Paintball, 430 W. Fillmore St., 473-3725, www.rmpball.com

Dragon Man's Paintball, 683-2200

Splat Master's Paintball, 6855 Constitution Ave., 574-7004, www.splatmasters.com

Copyright 2004
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.