History of Paintball

The Rules and History of Paintball

Paintball is a quite a popular game with Americans despite the fact that it is only 40 years old. An estimated five million people play paintball in the United States – as per statistics of The Sporting Goods Manufacturers’ Association.

Paintball History

In the early 1970s the forest department was using paintballs to mark trees for research and trail planning. Almost simultaneously, ranchers started using paintballs as a means to mark their cattle as a substitute to branding. Since they knew one another, it was not long before ranchers and forest department employees would meet on weekends to play a game of paintball.

The history of paintball as it is known today dates back to 1971 when James Hale of the Daisy Manufacturing Company made and patented the first actual paintball gun. Two other persons worth mentioning in the history of paintball are Bob Gurnsey and Hayes Noel. They made the guns that shoot the paintballs and are co-founders of a game called “capture the flag.”

The first commercial manufacturer of paintball guns was The Nelson Company in the history of paintball. Another noteworthy milestone in the history of paintball occurred in 1982, when the first paintball field opened in Rochester, New York. A little later the first indoor arena opened.

First ever Played “Capture the Flag”

In June of 1981 the first organized game in the history of paintball was played when twelve people headed together for the woods to play “capture the flag.” Till this day, this is the most popular game played by paintball players. Two teams start off at a distance from each other, and then try to capture the opponent’s flag. Players who are hit with paintballs are required to call themselves “out.”

Game of National Survival

The idea to market the game under its official name of National Survival Game is attributed to Charles Gaines. When it was first played, paintball was a survival of the fittest and an individual game. Present day paintball is more of a team game.

In 1983 the first NSG championships were held with a purse of $14,000. Today’s the prize money can reach some hundreds of thousands of dollars. In 1988 the International Paintball Players Association was founded.

Training like a Military

The US military history shows paintball being used as training for actual combat. Though the paintball guns are different from the normal ones used in actual combat, but by playing paintball the soldiers learn strategy thus improving their ability to avoid getting shot and grow stronger as a group.