Is Paintball A sport?

ditpaintball

Found this on youtube, it is a great 10min documentary on speedall, the tournament version of paintball.

Do the poll first and then watch the video. Then post up a reply if the vid made you change your mind.

Video Link: Ballers - Is Paintball a real sport?

Arcto

Yeah ive watched speedball vids before....even without watching a vid like that id still consider it a sport.

kdouglas

i'd consider it a sport just like any other but the average public perception of paintball tends to be that it is a stag night/corporate team building type of thing, but when you consider people like yourself that play on a regular basis and enter competitions etc... then that aspect of it is a sport

very well made video too

Wossack

is there a less enthusastic poll option for just 'yes' ? :P

ditpaintball

Wossack wrote: »

is there a less enthusastic poll option for just 'yes' ? :P

Hell No

Gizmodeon

great video
I agree that Paintball is a sport!
If there is an objective to be reached, then it should be considered a sport

Shiva

It didn't change my mind, but I thought it was a sport anyway.
I kinda agree with Gizmo regarding the achieving an objective thing, except when it comes to golf. Golf is just silly.

I suspect most people on here will view it as a sport, as that's how the airsofters view Airsoft, and we (Paintballers and Airsofters) do have a common history and a tenuous relationship, whether either of us like to acknowledge it or not

Cuddlesworth

Gizmodeon wrote: »

great video
I agree that Paintball is a sport!
If there is an objective to be reached, then it should be considered a sport

Should it not be,

"If there is a objective to be achieved in a competitive enviroment then it should be considered a sport"

But yes, I would consider paintball a sport.

Mweelrea

Its a sport no two ways about it.

ditpaintball is there any reason it shouldn't be?

Lemming

I view paintball as a sport, whether it be woods-ball (my own personal favourite) or speedball; speedball just makes for better/easier spectator-sport and hence public promotion I guess.

Hivemind187

At the end of the day (ha ha Dr. Pepper) we play essentially the same sport albeit in a different way.

Both Airsoft and Paintball are the practice of tagging someon and putting them out of the game. Dress up, corporate sponsorship, woodlands and logos not withstanding.

I doubt any Airsofter will actually say that Paintball isnt a sport.

Genghiz Cohen

Of course it is, and not just speed-ball, mil-sim is too, contrary to some banned individuals beliefs

Ciaran500

"Its just one step away those extremists groups you see on TV that kidnap people then hunt them"

...

LOL

unit88

it is a sport no question about it

extremetaz

of course it's a sport. :rolleyes:

Witcher

well if its not a sport what is it?


and lads who voted and said it wasnt a sport? :rolleyes:




:cool::cool::cool:

Caveat

Given that darts is a sport - yes.

Lemming

Caveat wrote: »

Given that darts is a sport - yes.

On that note, Chess is also a sport - given recognition by the IOC before anyone wonders "wtf?"

Hivemind187

As is baton twirling ...

c-90

good video, its more painfull than most other sports, you push yourself just as hard mentaly and phisically as any other sport, its near enough an extream sport

kdouglas

id love to know the reasons behind the 2 no votes... guess those 2 people didnt feel like giving posting


and yes, i guess paintball, like airsoft would be more of an extreme sport, but not to the same extent as moto-cross and the like

NakedDex

c-90 wrote: »

good video, its more painfull than most other sports, you push yourself just as hard mentaly and phisically as any other sport, its near enough an extream sport

Officially the most dangerous non-mainstream sport is actually Cheerleading.

c-90

NakedDex wrote: »

Officially the most dangerous non-mainstream sport is actually Cheerleading.

ha lol :D:D

NakedDex

Actually I think it's the most dangerous sport in North America altogether. Per capita, more cheerleaders end up in hospital for various injuries, sprains and breaks. There are even a few recorded deaths.

Hivemind187

NakedDex wrote: »

Actually I think it's the most dangerous sport in North America altogether. Per capita, more cheerleaders end up in hospital for various injuries, sprains and breaks. There are even a few recorded deaths.

Its only because white girls cant jump.

Hardly surprising with the kind of acrobatics they do.

Jump-rope (or skipping) is also a sport. Injuris are light and generally result in people chinning themselves after a bad trip...

... I might ask Dar a bit more about that.

ion c

Suprizingly paintball has less injuries per year than bowling. It also has more players worldwide than rugby, snowboarding or surfing.
Speedball is one of the fastest growing sport in the state too.
It's also becoming a fully professional sport with players getting over $150,000 a year to play + sponsorship.
Linkin Park and Cypress Hill (The Stoned Assassins) also play in the American Leagues

Hivemind187

ion c wrote: »

Suprizingly paintball has less injuries per year than bowling. It also has more players worldwide than rugby, snowboarding or surfing.
Speedball is one of the fastest growing sport in the state too.
It's also becoming a fully professional sport with players getting over $150,000 a year to play + sponsorship.
Linkin Park and Cypress Hill (The Stoned Assassins) also play in the American Leagues

William Shatner is a well known Paintballer.

Boston

Well that video has, to a degree, changed my view point of paintball. Is speed ball played to that level here? I played speedball once and really enjoyed it, but ultimately the facilities where closed due to lack of interest. I always associated paintball in Ireland to the convinces of "a bunch of lads, out on a stag" or the like.

Tigger

c-90 wrote: »

good video, its more painfull than most other sports, you push yourself just as hard mentaly and phisically as any other sport, its near enough an extream sport

its defo a sport (a sport with loads of headshots mmmm headshots)

NakedDex

Hivemind187 wrote: »

William Shatner is a well known Paintballer.

As is Howard Stern. Shatner convinced Howard to come with him one day and try it when he was on his radio show once with the temptation of "Come on, it'll be fun. You can shoot the Captain of the Enterprise."

Stern hasn't looked back

redzerdrog

no its not a sport.

Hivemind187

redzerdrog wrote: »

no its not a sport.

Why not? Or is this yet another "drive by posting" ....

N.O.I.P.

I think it was an attempt at humour, "Jeez wait till the lads see what I've posted they'll think its great. I'm mad me"

I can see him now High fiving himself ( a feat in and of itself) and giggling about how he "Burned" the whole forum.

Hivemind187

So .... he's a choad then?

N.O.I.P.

I doubt he is a fully fledged Choad more of a choadette (choadlite? Lil'Choad?) but once he passes those exams man watch out, he'll be back to tell us how ghey we are and how he's gonna kick our asses. I love the internet


Oh slightly on topic, yup Paintball is most definitely a sport

Shiva

This thread has raised a very important point for Airsoft, that I think we're all overlooking.

We need cheerleaders.








/ducks and runs

Hivemind187

Shiva wrote: »

This thread has raised a very important point for Airsoft, that I think we're all overlooking.

We need cheerleaders.

/ducks and runs

If I see NOIP with Pom-Poms I'll never play again ...

... there are several other things I might not be able to do again as well.

N.O.I.P.

The sheer unadulterated cheek








I use a baton not pom poms

NakedDex

I used to play american football in college (damn I miss it) and we had cheerleaders at our games. Some of the other teams did too. Good times...

Nalced_irl

I voted that it isnt a sport but to be honest i probably answered a bit too hastily. Before anyone asks me what my definition of a sport is, i honestly dont know how id define a sport but anything i think about that i would see as a trait of a sport (objectives, stamina, speed, teamwork, strategy etc) Airsoft and Paintball both have so i on further thinking i suppose i couldnt say it isnt a sport.

Spetzcong

Paintball a sport! Nevers!

I do think paintball is a sport. It involves all of the main elements of anything else that considers itself a sport, physical exertion, teamwork, stamina, tactics etc. There are competions and people play it professionally. It may still be an underground sport but that doesn't make it any less of a sport.

It wasn't all that long ago that surfing and skateboarding were struggling to be recognised as sports, you wouldn't hear many arguments against them being sports now though, same deal with snowboarding when it first started, it's an olympic discipline now.

Airsoft and paintball will both gain acceptance eventually, till then we'll probably have to keep dealing with people who can't understand that something can be a sport and not involve kicking a ball into the back of a net. Can't really ever see paintball or airsoft in the olympics though, the X-games perhaps, but not the olympics.

ion c

Boston wrote: »

Well that video has, to a degree, changed my view point of paintball. Is speed ball played to that level here? I played speedball once and really enjoyed it, but ultimately the facilities where closed due to lack of interest. I always associated paintball in Ireland to the convinces of "a bunch of lads, out on a stag" or the like.

Speedball has only really started in the Republic since last spring when barrage paintball got their Sup' Air field. Since then we have seen a massive growth in paintball. The number of markers owned and regular players increased more in the first 6 months of the field opening then in the whole of 2006.
This year we have the first irish xball league running too the IXL. You can read you on Xball and the IXL on paintballer.ie.
I play for the first republic of ireland team to play internationally. We used to train once a month in portadown, which meant leaving dublin at 6.20 am on a saturday
Its going to be a great year for paintball in 2008. I really encourage people to come along to our monthly SOD (speedball open days) where you can give speedball a shot, try out all the different markers and masks, chat with some of the experienced players and most of all have a cheaper than usual day of paintball with a full bar and warm showers at the end

Dar

Spetzcong wrote: »

Can't really ever see paintball or airsoft in the olympics though, the X-games perhaps, but not the olympics.

Actually afaik a few asian countries want to see airsoft practical pistol in the olympics - fingers crossed .

CerebralCortex

I played paint ball down in Limerick with a friend from college and a group he organised and when I finished(my team won) I couldn't help thinking what a pity it was that I couldn't play it more regularly. As far as I'm concerned its a sport and a brilliant team sport as well. Are there tourneys in Ireland or even teams (outside of Dublin)?

ditpaintball

Nothiing to stop you playing it regularly.... bar the cost.

There are is only one team out side dublin, that is escarmouche from belfast area. There is not enough interest else where to get a team going. The first ever speedball league is starting in march, the IXL, check it out www.paintballer.ie/ixl

ion c

Dit i would have to say its more a lack of knowlage than interest. There is only one air ball field in the republic. There are loads of tournies in europe the Millennium Series being the biggest one, Centrio (eastern european), there are also at least 3 major tourney organizations in Germany, England and France respectively.
Make sure you have a look at www.paintballer.ie CerebralCortex, hopefully you can make it down to one of our Speedball days, paint is only 50e for 1000 shots.

Dave!

Yes paintball is a sport -- both speedball and woodsball.