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Extreme Sports Man Uses Spot-On Strategy

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By PHILIP MORGAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 24, 2007

LARGO - LARGO - Real paintball competitors sprint, dive and roll for cover. I did all that with abandon as a kid playing cowboys. But at the edge of 60, my body tells me that falling would be unwise and diving out of the question.

No need to worry. I don't last long enough to do either. In every practice game with the Tampa Damage, a Largo team competing for the $20,000 prize in the Paintball World Cup at Walt Disney World this week, a hail of yellow paintballs slam into me within seconds. I'm out.

Having never played, I figured I'd see what it's like at the serious-extreme-athlete level.

"I just want to let you know you will get shot a bunch," says Joey Blute, 29, coach and manager of the semipro team and owner of PSI Xtreme Sports, a paintball gear store and playing field in Largo.

Some call it a hobby, but enthusiasts call it the fastest-growing extreme sport in the country. Having started in the 1980s, when a few guys started shooting one another with guns used to mark cattle and trees, paintball is now a $44 million industry. Participants want to see it included in the Olympics.

"It's a game of strategy; it's a team sport; it has all the attributes to be an Olympic game at some time," says Chuck Hendsch, 40.

He's the founder of the championship Team Dynasty, former president of the National Professional Paintball League and a vice president of JT Sports, maker of paintball gear. He predicts paintball will be an exhibition sport in the Olympics by the 2016 Games.

JT Sports arranged my practice game, and Hendsch did nothing to assuage my concern. Paintballs do sting for a while, and they leave welts if you're shot from close range, he says. And, yes, the others may laugh at me if I cry. But the usual injuries come from running and diving: twisted ankles, scraped arms.

I'm way too old to play with this crowd. I'm even way too old for the 45-and-up division, the codger teams at the tournament.

"They move a bit slower," says Damage player C.J. Botsolas. "Their games are a little more old-school-looking."

At 28, Botsolas is the oldest player on the team. He's also the team's bankroller. The Oldsmar man, owner of a company that manufactures protective covering for pipe, pays all the team's expenses; any winnings go to reimbursing him. The team has come in fourth place twice but has yet to win a major tournament.

"We've won a little bit of money back but certainly not enough to cover expenses," says Botsolas, who has been playing since elementary school.

As practice, two squads start at each end of the 55-yard field and work toward each other. The first team to splat all the opposing players wins.

Botsolas, leader of my squad, tells me to stay toward the back and keep firing paintballs while he and the others advance.

I'm a bit disoriented by the fog of war — my glasses and mask steam up in the humidity. Nevertheless, as soon as my comrades move out on their mission, I step from my hiding place behind a big rubber barrier and let loose a flurry of paintballs, which hit no one.

In seconds, paintballs slam against me, hitting my hand, leg and mask. Instead of victory, I taste paint.

It's the same story through the next two games, though I make it about 45 seconds in the final round.

I'm able to scurry to the obstacle ahead and to the left. I shoot at an opponent about 30 yards away as he ducks for cover, and I pause to see if he'll come back up. That's when I became a palette of yellow. I fail to see his teammate sneak up to get a clear shot from my right.

A couple of paintballs smack against my head, making me feel like I'm being pelted with acorns. They do leave a couple of battle scars — well, battle red spots — that last a day or so.

I was kind of proud of them. I bragged that I participated in an extreme sport. As a target.

Reporter Philip Morgan can be reached at (813) 259-7609 or pmorgan@tampatrib.com.

EVENT PREVIEW

World Cup of Paintball

WHAT: Competition among 400 paintball teams from around the world for more than $100,000 in prizes; trade show

WHEN: Through Sunday; 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. today through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Disney's Wide World of Sports, Orlando. Take Interstate 4 to Exit 62, World Drive, then exit for Disney on Osceola Parkway East. Continue to the first traffic signal. Turn right onto Victory Way and continue to the sports complex.

ADMISSION: Free; grandstand seats are $15 per day. For information, go to www.pspevents.com.

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