Paintball as a sport - Question for players.
- Thread starter Raffles
- Start date
can i just ask, what do you imagine will happen at exactly the point paintball becomes recognised?
It wont be advertised that paintball has achieved recognition. It wont suddenly mean thousands of people decide 'hey you know what? paintballs a sport! Holy moly! I wanna play!'
Newspapers wont suddenly start reporting on the PA, UKM or NSPL....
The only way more people will get into the sport side of paintball (in this country) is when site owners realise what the industry is trying to tell them. Robbo has written countless times about this. The growth of us as a sport is directly proportional to the efforts of site owners changing their business practice.
Recognition will put a fractured community (at the best of times) in a place which it is not ready for. There are very few people in paintball in this country who can be regarded as actual sports persons, in terms of performance and attitude.
Also the above comment was in no way meant as a slur on those who have worked so hard to get us to where we are in terms of recognition. Lord knows i know how hard they do work. I just think ideally it would of been better to wait a few years. However we dont live in an ideal world. More's the pity.
edit - fu*king too slow...
OK - I'll get right on it 
.
Seriously though, I'd like to hear from more of the 'junior' players.
Cook$, Mikey and Mario - can you do me a real big favour - just hang fire for a page or so of posts, please? I think you 3 probably know where I am going with this. Ta.
.Seriously though, I'd like to hear from more of the 'junior' players.
Cook$, Mikey and Mario - can you do me a real big favour - just hang fire for a page or so of posts, please? I think you 3 probably know where I am going with this. Ta.
Would a huge injection of cash suddely make people want to play? Can't see how, people are drifting into (and out of) paintball all the time, and there is no massive cash floating round (well, there is, obviously, but not from sports status or government or etc).
Say for example "The Cook$ Centre for Paintballing Excellence and Tepanyaki Grill" opened, due to the general apathy of ballers, I'd only get visitors from the surrounding locale. If I opened it in my back garden in Wrexham, they'd still go to the NQuarter if it were closer.
But would it make new players want to start? if there is a paintballing practise centre opening? No, they'd still go and play rec-ball once or twice a lifetime with their mates, and then only if it were cheap. Cash injections/advertising/corporate logos would only make a difference if prices came down, which they won't.
Edit: Sorry Raffles, you posted your last as I was typing this. Will leave it for a while........
Say for example "The Cook$ Centre for Paintballing Excellence and Tepanyaki Grill" opened, due to the general apathy of ballers, I'd only get visitors from the surrounding locale. If I opened it in my back garden in Wrexham, they'd still go to the NQuarter if it were closer.
But would it make new players want to start? if there is a paintballing practise centre opening? No, they'd still go and play rec-ball once or twice a lifetime with their mates, and then only if it were cheap. Cash injections/advertising/corporate logos would only make a difference if prices came down, which they won't.
Edit: Sorry Raffles, you posted your last as I was typing this. Will leave it for a while........
OK - I'll get right on it
Seriously though, I'd like to hear from more of the 'junior' players.
Cook$, Mikey and Mario - can you do me a real big favour - just hang fire for a page or so of posts, please? I think you 3 probably know where I am going with this. Ta.
Jeesh like cutting of a limb asking me to do that.....but....not a problem....and yes its quite obvious
I would expect woodball tornements to feature heavily.
Media coverage including new techniques to make the sport appealing.
More players attacted to both sides of the sport.
Also for b*tches to stop moaning about how the public percieves their sport.
Media coverage including new techniques to make the sport appealing.
More players attacted to both sides of the sport.
Also for b*tches to stop moaning about how the public percieves their sport.
what makes it so unique is that its a niche sport. Its also more expensive than most other sports which puts most people off
But its deffo a sport and some media coverage would be pretty kool. Even if it is on Eurosport at 4am. Sky Plus can cover that one.
But its deffo a sport and some media coverage would be pretty kool. Even if it is on Eurosport at 4am. Sky Plus can cover that one.
Nothing at all. Official recognition as a sport wouldn't even enter into the public mind.
If you're talking about the perception of the weekend warrior stuff being all that paintball is about completely evaporating, then the sport's growth would probably increase as more people became interested in it as a hobby (because that's what it is for 99% of ballers). That swell would be over time though, not 984378956 battering on the doors of the Series tournament organisers wanting to play. External sponsorship would become easier to come by, but would still be no major thing, most of the cash would still be generated inside the community. Kit would probably improve a lot and get cheaper as more stuff like the ion would come out to satisfy people who don't have a lot of money to spend.
If you're talking about the perception of the weekend warrior stuff being all that paintball is about completely evaporating, then the sport's growth would probably increase as more people became interested in it as a hobby (because that's what it is for 99% of ballers). That swell would be over time though, not 984378956 battering on the doors of the Series tournament organisers wanting to play. External sponsorship would become easier to come by, but would still be no major thing, most of the cash would still be generated inside the community. Kit would probably improve a lot and get cheaper as more stuff like the ion would come out to satisfy people who don't have a lot of money to spend.