Words from a Paintball Player
When I woke up on Sunday the 22nd of June and saw the state of the weather outside, the first thing that went through my head was the image of world-famous Ironmen player Ollie Lang (he's a famous paintballer, trust me on this) sliding into ankle-deep water, flanked by plumes of spray, looking for all the world like a speedboat. My second thought was that we might soon have to do the same ourselves. My third thought was in language not fit for public consumption.
Thus began my first paintball tournament experience as captain the 20th Legion, or 'XXL' for short. We're a group of friends who all happened to fall into the sport at the same time, one of the 15 teams that participated in the Singapore Paintball Novices Series leg 2, specifically one of that 8 new teams formed since the first leg, which was held in march. That is the single clearest indicator of the growing popularity of the sport.
We arrived at the water-logged Red Dynasty (home of the only speedball field in Singapore) slightly before 8 am, an ungodly time to be up on a Sunday, ready to play our first game. I got the feeling that all the teams didn't quite know what to expect; the organizers had always been more than competent during previous visits to the field, but this time there were a whopping 60-plus players and countless other sundry crew members and supporters thronging a venue that usually seemed comfortably filled with just 5 teams practicing.
Contrary to all our worries, we were greeted by a professionally-organized tournament that ran smoothly and according to schedule. It is a sad adage that people only talk about the organization of an event when something goes wrong and not at all when it goes right, but it is a strong testament to the organizing committee that throughout the course of the tournament there was not one complaint.
But enough about the event and the organization; all that was mere filler to the main theme: the sport of paintball, which appears to be gaining popularity quite rapidly in our little island city.
Simply put, I have not yet come across a sport as consistently exciting as paintball. I've had my share of wild experiences, being on the national fencing team, a fairly competant skiier and a fight enthusiast, and nothing I've tried yet delivers the same pure thrill of trying to mark your opponents with little spheres of paint-filled gelatin. If you won't take my word for it, just listen to the testamonies of people who have tried their hand at it, recreational or amateur. The two dominant themes are that its a heck of a great time, and that its over far too fast.
In the tournament itself, XXL had a somewhat roller coaster experience. High after winning our first two games by the slimmest of margins (with 1 guy left at the end of the first and 1 guy from each team left at the end of the second), low after losing our third, then high again as we beat another 3 teams, low as we lost our 7th match after being blitzed by a fast, aggressive team (the eventual champions), on top of the world as we won our tie-breaker one-on-one match (other sports just flip a coin; paintballers shoot it out) and qualified for the quarter finals 2nd out of 15 teams, then crashing down as we lost to the eventual runners-up in our first elimination match. You'll only get more ups and downs from a theme park. But I walked away with the overwhelming feeling that this sport was more than just enjoyable, it has also spawned a culture that rebuffed everything we've come to dread about fast-paced, urban societies where its perfectly acceptable to spend hours among people on the bus, train or sidewalk without ever saying a word to them. A paintball event is one of the few places where you can talk to complete strangers and expect a friendly response 10 times out of 10, where you play teams you've never met before and exchange encouragements before the match. It embodies the fundamental contradiction that characterises many great sports; we try to kill each other on the field, but afterwards we cherish great moves and spectacular plays, whether they worked or not, whether they were to our detriment or not. Eliminated teams give their expensive paintballs to other teams still in the running so they don't have to buy more.
If I may be so bold, what I saw during the tournament was fundamentally outstanding human behaviour. Coupled with this addictively exciting game, you have the next sport poised to capture the imagination of a generation. Competitive paintball is barely into its 6th month in Singapore, but it has made its presence here known in a big way, and it is here to stay. As are we.