Painting the enemy

He moves in quickly for the capture, through the overgrown anise. In his excitement, he fails to hear the distant rustling.

The enemy has spotted him.

"He's right there, 12 o' clock," someone shouts. The lone intruder dives in vain as fluorescent pink and yellow paintballs rain upon him.

"I'm hit, I'm hit..."

War may be hell, but it can also be fun -- when you're playing with paint.

On one October Sunday, 60 SF State and UC Berkeley students found out just how much fun it could be.

"People look at us in camouflage, they think of armies, they think of militias. We're the total opposite of that. We play paintball for fun," said Richard Lee, 23, president and founder of CyberSports at SF State and organizer of Sunday's game.

The battle took place at Mare Island, on the grounds of an old naval base. The site has been converted into a paintball field for recreational players.

The yellow team, made up of mainly SF State students, seized the advantage when they took the first game in 10 minutes.

"It's my first flag. Most of the time I do the backup work," said Ricky Cheung, 22. "I nailed at least eight of them."

Paintball is not for the unfit. Several 30-minute games are played throughout the day.

Players are split into two teams and identified by the color of their armbands. The objective of the game is usually to capture the other team's flag. Once the flag is captured, the game is over. Players must leave the game immediately once they have been hit.

Two referees stay on the field to keep time and do the occasional "paint checks." Players can call for paint checks when they feel they have hit another player and that player has not left the field. If the clock runs out before a flag is captured, it is a draw.

For the game to be successful, players have to be honest, Lee said. "When you play a walk-on game, they might cheat and wipe the paint off," he said. "It only works if everyone is honest and fair."

CyberSports, Lee said, was set up to inform students about the latest trends in gaming.

SF State student Martin Stoufer, who has been playing the sport for seven years, said he does it for the adrenaline rush -- "To be stalked and to stalk someone," he said.

While paintball shots can cause bruises, most players say they don't hurt too badly.

Stoufer, who was shot in the arm in one game, describes the pain as a "one-second bee sting."

"After that, the humiliation sets in," said the computer science major.

While more than 60 players showed up Sunday, only a handful were women.
"Not many women play, so maybe it has to do with men's aggression," said Albert Kang, a UC Berkeley student.

Sandra Gee came with a friend from SF State. It was her first time, and she offered her own explanation for the lack of female players.

"Perhaps more girls would come if there were more bathrooms," she said, referring to the one portable toilet for the entire area.

Those who want to get involved in the paintball world need to know a few essentials.

There are three kinds of paintball guns -- single pump shots, semi-automatics and fully automatics, which are prohibited on paintball playing fields.

A pump gun is a single shot action paintball gun. You must cock or pump the gun each time you shoot a single shot. According to Lee, it is more accurate than a semi-automatic paintball gun.

A semi-automatic paintball gun shoots paintballs as fast as you can pull the trigger and takes less skill to use.

Some paintball guns cost over $800, but on average a good gun will run around $200 to $300, Lee said.

Lee, a business major, estimates that he has introduced more than 100 players to the sport in the past year by advertising his club through his web page.

Richard Miller, one of the players who came on Sunday, found out about the game as he surfed the Internet.

Miller, who used to play professionally, said paintball can be rough.
At one paintball field, he said the owners told him not to come back because of his "attitude."

"I guess I got too into it," he said, and smiled.

Lee said the "militia" image of paintball has led to a recent trend in some playing circles to stop wearing camouflage gear and begin calling paintball guns "markers."

"Playing paintball with me won't teach you survival skills," Lee said. "But it will teach you good sportsmanship, and it may even teach you better leadership and communication skills."

At Mare Island Paintball Games, $30 includes admission, the rental fee for a pump rifle and 100 paintballs. Richard Lee's web page can be found at http://www.sfsu.edu/~csports

[ Golden Gater Online October 26, 1995 ]

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