Paintball a game for KIDS?

[Giganta]

Is it me or is it possible that this sport is totally dominated by teens?

I play on the east coast and I swear almost all of the regulars are under the age of 18.

What is the deal with that?

I just got into this sport and I'm 27. The only reason I'm getting involved now is because I can afford it, although I admit it is an expensive hobby.

I spend a minimum of $400 a month playing on top of upgrades on my gun and equipment.

How the heck do these kids afford this stuff?

Most of the kids I see playing do not come from rich families and I wonder what is the deal. There is no way in hell that my parents would let me play a sport that costed over $5000 a year to play.

I'm upgrading to electro, so it's going to cost me even twice as much going forward.

The funny thing is that I'm the one catching up since all of these teenagers already have Angels.

I just don't understand. Perhaps I grew up poor and I'm still poor or some parents must have poor control over their cash.

On top of that, where the heck are the old guys? At what age does this all get boring? I can probally play this sport until my mid 50s so I got lots of time, but frequently at 27 I feel like the old man in town playing the kid's game.

I don't know.

Please tell me what the heck is going on.

[FredRandle]

If you play paintball, you don't have to be super serious or competative. I'm only 15, and I can' afford to spend very much on paintball stuff. I only go maybe once a week, and I force myself to not use very much paint because of my lack of money. As for upgrades, that's what birthdays are for.

I think that rec paintball is for kids. If you want to be super competative, and enter big tournament and stuff, I think that's more for adults. But hey, do whatever you can afford.

[Ded]

i referee and am a soon to be lifegaurd at my local pool. I spend almost all the incoming money on paintball and presents for my family at birthdays and christmas. it's not all that expensive when you play outlaw but when you play speedball on a regular basis that can be really expensive. i only play speedball like every once in a while so it's not bad at all. i wish i had started off with an expensive electro right after my talon because maintanence and upgrades for my spyder have ended up costing more than a used bushy and a cheap nitro tank.

[Mushi]

One thing about kids...I've found they get what they want. I don't know how either, but the number of kids walking around in the local software store drooling over the next game their parents are going to buy for them for their nice new playstation 2 is amazing. A $300 toy. Plus $30-40 a game. Plus $20-60 for more controllers. Etc. And these are 8 year olds.

Same thing with paintball, I'm sure. But the influx of teenagers is more easily explained, I think. Basically 15 year olds, and older teenagers, they don't have to spend a lot of money to live. They go to school, their parents still pay for their room and food, bills, whatever. So they get a job and make a hundred bucks a week or so to go out and spend a couple bucks on the movies or their current hobby. If they're lucky, their parents will hook them up with a car, so they don't have to spend on that either. Plus, my friend and I were commenting on this just recently, it doesn't cast that much to get into paintball. We're just starting, and we expected it to cost a lot more than the $250 we're probably going to spend. Hell, snowboarding is another teen dominated sport, even college students who have to scrap to get a lift ticket have their own board.
It comes down to love of the game. If people want something bad enough, they will do what they can to get the money to participate. I've spent a lot on my computer just to run video games competently, and I'm a college student without a lot of cash to spend. People find the money for stuff somewhere.

Course, the 10 year old with $1000 guns...thats just rich parents spoiling their kids. It happens. Life isn't fair.

[Letchworth40]

damn those 10 year olds.

i was at this fat guys house and he asked his mom for $325 so he can get a paintball package. his mom said yes and she didn't know what paintball was. He has also never played a game in his life. DAMN THOSE FAT GUYS...and the 10year olds with angels

[SlamN64]

I don't know about you guys and where you guys are from, but when i play, there usually aren't too many kids out there. It's just simply too expensive for 13-16 kids in my opinion, unless they have a job or something. Most of the times, i'm the young one on the field, and i'm 18. Those guys i'm playing against look like they've been playing for a while(maybe cause i like playing speedball). Those damn old farts have all the best gear...hehe...maybe it's just a california thing...

[SandStorm]

I work to support my habit, and I try to save paint when I play, etc. etc. etc. In fact I'm low on funds so tonight when I play speedball I'm using my pump.

Also, there are older people playing paintball...I've seen 60 year old men play...Not to mention a regular at one of my local fields who is around 40 or 50. (Don't know his exact age.)

As for an angel...it would be a cold day in hell before I had something like that. Even IF I had the money, my parents wouldn't allow me to spend that much on a paintball gun.

[fate tempter]

it seems a lot of teens play (like me) and the way we afford it is we buy low end semi guns and try to conserve paint. or its like you said and they come from rich families.

[Creek]

Well when we play near this one air force base it mostly 28 too 50 year olds.
At the field near my house its kinda mixed. The older ones go as a group most of the time,I should know I am in the older group. The club is a mix from 12 too 45.And the club field is a mix of us.

[elTwitcho]

Well, personally I appreciate that you arent assuming I come from a rich family as many people tend to do, and I can say that the only thing my parents paid for was my gloves. Now, I've already invested around 2500 canadian into my gear, and I'll tell you how I got the money. Working 40 hours a week and putting all that money towards paintball. See, paintball is expensive, however I dont have kids to support, a car to pay for, a mortage to pay off, student loans, heating bills, electric bills, child support maybe etc. To be honest, alot of the kids I know with the higher end guns can afford it simply because they dont have alot of other expenses. I'd say nearly 80% of my money goes towards paintball, and the reason I can do it is because I'm young. Paintball may seem like a sport just for kids for the sole reason that not alot of people in "the real world" can afford to spend 80% of their wages in just one place. At least, that's my thoughts on the matter

[FredRandle]

I should've mentioned this originally...

I don't think paintball is for little kids. I think highshool is pretty much the minumum age that anyone should be to play paintball. It's a very serious game, and if you're not careful, and follow basic saftey rules at all time, people can get really injured. Plus some games can get really intense, and I just don't think anyone under highschool age is old enough to handle that big of a responsiblity, let alone afford to play.

[blake_sw]

I prefer playing with the adults or players on actual teams. Much better competition. The first timing adults don't want me to play with them...they ask me to leave once I bunker their a$$es.

[Ded]

i hate that fat kid too. he has a 400 dollar gun and a 100 dollar goggle system and nobody calls him anymore to play!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!! I would go out in the woods and play against my own shadow before i ever called that fat turd again.

[Super Nick]

I'm 15, and I support my habit by working several jobs. There is no way that my parents would pay for paint or air or any of my equipment. I work at a pizza place, for a construction company, for a trenching company, and I mow lawns.

[Archer99]

Here the Appy mountains in Virginia, most of the guys I play with are 20+ with a couple being 35+. I just started playing about 5 months ago and I am a 29 year old teacher. My students got me interested and after I tried it I was hoooked. This is a very poor economic region. I just got a shocker and it will be the most expensive gun at our local field. There are a lot of teens, but they all have 98's spiders and the ever popular stingray even shows up pretty often. There are 2 guys I play with that have clsssic mags and they formerly had the best guns around. A guy came in from about 2 hours away to play a couple weeks ago and he had a cocker. Eveyone was gathered around because most of the kids had never seen one. There are a lot of young people around here interested in paintball who simply cannot afford a marker, let alone spending $70 for a case of paint. These guys work in the mines when they are 18 and are usually disabled long before they can retire. Count yourself lucky if you live in a region where the kids can afford the high end guns.

[ShadowKi][er]

I'm 14 and the rest of the people in the team I play in are 20-40 year olds. They don't mind my age. I think a lot of parents don't know that you don't need a $1000000000 marker to play....

[orryn]

I feel your pain giganta. Even though I am still a teenager (I'm 18), I am way out of the age when parents buy me lots of **** (they still give me food though :)). All the paintball stuff I buy is with my own money. It is one expensive sport, but really fun too. I don't know how all these kids have angels and tricked-out cockers. As some other people said, kids are persausive.

[green_goblin]

I think parents should let their kids play based on their reason for playing and maturity, if a kid wants to play cuz he thinks blowing someone's head off is cool then nah he can wait. I think one reason there are mainly teen players is because if you think about it, this is a new sport

[|2estrictedArea]

Does it really matter who should be able to play the sport, I mean it all depends on skill level not age anyways! Its a new sport of course there are going to be alot of younger people playing the game because is just something new to brag about or something new to keep you off the streets. To those moms who do not like there kids playing the game because of what its about, its not about shooting people and attempting to "Kill" them. Its about striving to get better, striving to win, striving to get the best marker, striving to get the best equipment! I myself am a fourteen year old and I have not yet played the game, yet I still think it is a good game. It is fun to just sit on the internet and look at what I can get and look to find better deals. Its alot like real life, trying not to get ripped off turning people into business men/women! I beleive that this is a good game to get people off the street even though it involves "guns"

M

[unknown]

you must not be too smart of an adult if you think this sport is either for kids or adults! They can play together, unless adults get too sick of gettin their asses wooped!

-as for money, is it that unrealistic that a 14-16 y/o with a job could get a $300 gun? NO. so shaddup. i payed for my cocker ALL BY MYSELF!! blah-

[ry_goody]

By kids do you mean teens?

[FredRandle]

Yeah, like I said earlier. Paintball is not for kids...it's for teens. :) :)

[Giganta]

I liked the response about paintball being a new sport.

That is true.

I also think that paintball's extreme status limits the amount of people interested in it as a weekend activity. I think we'll see the average age of the paintballer getting older as time progresses since the batch of 12 to 18 year olds that are currently playing will probally continue to engage in the sport as they grow older.

I also think that many of the original paintballers left the game because they felt that it changed from its initial "survival" format to speedball. They also belly ached about moving from pumps to semis and from semis to electros.

I think that paintball is finally near its mature form. RPS has finally developed perfectly round dry setting paintballs, spectator arena ball has become standard, electros are becoming standard even for low end markers, and rate of fire has approached current automatic rifle fire of 800 to 1000 rounds per minute.
13 x 60 =~800 bpm

Paintball cannot change that much from its current state. Markers can only get better, cheaper, and more reliable. Thus, benefitting the consumer.

I do not forsee any game-altering changes emerging beyond changing the format of the game. As a result, chances are paintball will probally retain a significant amount its current community.

Since paintball is near its mature form, I believe there is good cause to believe that it will soon be recognized as a mainstream sport.

Perhaps things will change when UPN airs their Reality TV series entitled "Manhunt" where "mercenaries" and "bounty hunters" hunt contestants for five days in the tropical jungles of Kauai using paintball guns!!! People will WANT to play paintball to try and capture some of the adventure and action that they see on TV. Someone in senior management at UPN probally thinks that the general U.S. population is ready for paintball.
UPN will rock in August!!!

There are many reasons why paintball's demographics are the way that they are. I think that the Westcoast's average age may actually be older than that of the Eastcoast because of the different lifestyle and work ethic of the Eastcoast. The Westcoast is more oriented toward leisure while the Eastcoast is more oriented towards business. Many work 7 days a week on the Eastcoast or are on the golf course "conducting business". This probally explains why there aren't all that many older players on the East Coast.

Taking some of your responses I think I have come up with a reasonable explanation for the younger population on the Eastcoast.

1. Relative age of the sport
2. Paintball's current "extreme" sport status
3. Controversial technological changes that caused some to leave
4. Lifestyle differences b/w the East Coast and West Coast

This study has been fun and very productive.
Thank you for your input and much appreciated participation.

Cheers!


Gigantis





[Edited by giganta on 07-28-2001 at 09:34 PM]

[strongboy2005]

Originally posted by Mushi
One thing about kids...I've found they get what they want. I don't know how either, but the number of kids walking around in the local software store drooling over the next game their parents are going to buy for them for their nice new playstation 2 is amazing. A $300 toy. Plus $30-40 a game. Plus $20-60 for more controllers. Etc. And these are 8 year olds.

Same thing with paintball, I'm sure. But the influx of teenagers is more easily explained, I think. Basically 15 year olds, and older teenagers, they don't have to spend a lot of money to live. They go to school, their parents still pay for their room and food, bills, whatever. So they get a job and make a hundred bucks a week or so to go out and spend a couple bucks on the movies or their current hobby. If they're lucky, their parents will hook them up with a car, so they don't have to spend on that either. Plus, my friend and I were commenting on this just recently, it doesn't cast that much to get into paintball. We're just starting, and we expected it to cost a lot more than the $250 we're probably going to spend. Hell, snowboarding is another teen dominated sport, even college students who have to scrap to get a lift ticket have their own board.
It comes down to love of the game. If people want something bad enough, they will do what they can to get the money to participate. I've spent a lot on my computer just to run video games competently, and I'm a college student without a lot of cash to spend. People find the money for stuff somewhere.

Course, the 10 year old with $1000 guns...thats just rich parents spoiling their kids. It happens. Life isn't fair.
NO WAY! I always have to spend my own money on things for my paintball gun. I'm 15, and I go and mow lawns every week for my paintball money. But, I do have friends that get all the money they want from their parents. My friend has never had a hard working job in his life, and his parents allow him to go out and blow THEIR money on new upgrades for his gun. Sometimes life just isn't fair.

[krasher]

My parents put $320 US or $500 canadian toward my new marker for my birthday, but I had to pay the rest, $750 canadian. Then my tank, $270, drop, $50, mask, $100, all payed for by me.

I really could care less who bought you your equipment. I know my parents could afford to buy me a car, or a nice gun, or whatever, if they wanted to, but alas they do not ;)

[SIGSays]

i bought all the **** in my sig by my self and i bought it all brand new......
i saved up and i got a job and i get paid pretty good. i get 6.25 an hour plus commission. so on average i get from 8-13 an hour. and i saved up and it took me about 1 month and a half to about 2 months to save up enough.

[paintballer56]

paintball is for all ages

[SIGSays]

exactly........