well i see alot of love for the game on this thread but i also see quite alot of unconscious negativity.
there is alot of comments about how proffesional tourney ball is with regard to fitness and dedication to training and how that particular part of paintball is marketable as a sport, fact is there isnt enough numbers playing sup air type tournaments for paintball to become a recognised sport on its own without the help from all types of paintballers
when i say unconscious negativity im referring to the fact that only sup air could be considered a sport by individuals whereas woodsball is a hobby which to me sounds like calling the kettle pot black ?
lets put it into context joe public thinks shooting an opponent behind a tree is any different from shooting an opponent who's behind an inflatable ?
its the same to them!!
if i see some lads having a kick around in the park or i'm at a premiership match paying to watch the game at the end of the day its a game of football thats being played in the park or at the ground
now i say paintball is paintball whether its sup air or woodsball pro or semi-pro and thats what the sports counsell will say
so if you want it to be a sport its all about the numbers
how do you get the numbers you say ? do what football and every other sport has done have local people from the area form a team and challenge your nearest team and eventually a league could be formed but i reckon it would have to be locality based
example liverpool verse preston ect, which always creates local support interest
but lets face it would a site owner allow a team to form using his/her land ?
or council backing ?
uk paintball federation ?
so realistactly paintball will not become a sport as none of the above will happen so lets enjoy our hobby with various degree's of fitness and passion
ive not meant to offend anyone but unless youve got teams from various parts of the country competing it wont be a sport
teams with made up names competing with other teams with made up names will always be considered hobby teams to joe public, because all sport teams hail from an area
i dont want to be flamed for this but its how i see it, i'd like to think i'm thinking outside the box but i do own some ego's
take it easy guys