The games roots started in 1976 in Russia. It was Eger Club.
It was our club who started paintball!
"Hayes and his friend were walking through the woods
when Hayes heard the story. Hayes suggested that, as a lark, they try to
recreate some of that feeling, that on their way back to the house they stalk
one another as a hunter stalks his game. As they did so, Hayes recognized
something of what his friend had told him. A tingle. A feeling of being
particularly well toned and alive.
The new game of paintball
really did catch up. It was new and fun. It became big very fast.
"Later in the year, on the sand of Jupiter Beach,
Florida, where they were vacationing, Hayes told the story to Charles. ... The
problem, they saw, was creating the illusion of a dangerous atmosphere, for few
people would risk true danger for a sensory reward. Then they started talking
about Hayes mock stalk, and their dispositions began to shape the conversation.
Gaines argued that in such a situation, a country boy could outsmart a city boy,
because a country boy knows how to hunt, knows the woods, knows, in short, how
to survive.
"Not so, argued Hayes. The skills to survive on Wall
Street or in the subway could be transmuted successfully to the African veld or
the New Hampshire woods. Suddenly, an intellectual discussion of sensory
awareness turned into a debate--a challenge. Competition. Fun."
The argument went on for a few years. The Nel-Spot marker
was located and tested on a volunteer, Shelby, Charles son, who said it didnt
hurt much. The invitations for the first game drew 9 people, plus Bob, Charles,
and Hayes. The 9 each paid $175 each to cover equipment costs, and incidentals
such as food and adult beverages.
The large field had 12 flags on it. The object of the game
was to capture all the flags, and it was "every man for himself" (not
at all like todays two-flag team game that usually is played with each team
having its own flag).
For more game details, read the book, but in summary, the
first player to dye was Barrett. He surrendered to Gary. Simpkins hand marked
Gurnsey. Dr. Carlson shot five people, one being Noel when Noel had three flags
and was headed for a fourth. Atwill "hurled a moldy onion" at Gaines,
charged and tagged Gaines in the leg--but the ball bounced off. The tables
turned, and Gaines tagged Atwill.
The winner? Ritchie White, the New Hampshire forester.
"No one ever saw Ritchie, and he never fired a shot. He crept through the
woods from station to station, gathering flags as easily as a schoolgirl
gathers flowers."
Atwill wrote, "The play was less than spectacular
compared to some Games I've seen since, but there was a spirit to that first
Game that will be hard to capture again. The weekend bubbled with humor, honor,
fun and obnoxiously friendly, yet intense, competition. Those feelings, I
believe, reflected the dispositions of the founders of the Game."
