Teams try to paint foes into a corner

A flurry of brightly colored spheres the size of cherry tomatoes whiz by, having been shot from a futuristic “marker” gun. One ball finds its target: a well-armored player wearing ski goggles and a chest protector. Splat! The bright paint stains his mask. Reluctantly, he puts his hands in the air and walks off the playing field. It’s now up to his teammates to finish the battle without him.

So goes the action in the 2005 Super 7 World Series of Paintball at Pier Plaza in Huntington Beach starting Friday and culminating in the finals on Sunday. Last year’s winner, Team Dynasty, is one of the 200 teams vying for almost $100,000 in prize money.

Besides exploding paint, expect to see furious action. Two teams of seven players each have seven minutes to capture the flag of the opposing squad without getting stung by any brightly colored orbs. (And take it from a player, when those things hit flesh, they sting like crazy.) With each of the six playing fields only about the size of a tennis court, the inflatable barriers created to give cover are all the more important to prevent that stinging sensation.

Additionally, there will be a trade show to hawk the wares of the activity that bills itself as the “third most popular extreme sport,” behind in-line skating and skateboarding.

According to the National Professional Paintball League, organizer of the event, there are 10 million paintball participants in the U.S. alone. The phenomenon has even spawned its own video game, “Greg Hastings’ Tournament Paintball,” where players can battle it out just like the pros do. The addictive game gives you a taste of paintball competition without all those horrible bruises and all that running.

Oh, and attendees need not worry about catching an errant shot on their new argyle sweater — a protective screen is set up around each playing field.

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Pete Metzger

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