Paintball: the new ALTERNATIVE 

More than ever, high schools are debating paintball.

SPORTS | November 2024

Paintball is one of the biggest extreme sports with its younger brother airsoft coming also to a rise in recent years. The National Xball League NXL is also on the rise with ESPN showcasing them more and more often, and these sports are now more than ever popular with teens and young adults.

These sports are more prominent and according to Yahoo Finance a 6.2% rise of growth alone this year with some high schools debating if paintball specifically should be a high school sport. Many schools in the midwest and central United States have paintball as a sport, including North Dakota schools. Parks Sterling, a sophomore at Bismarck High School (BHS), said, “Many of our students including me want BHS to have paintball. We hope Century (CHS) also does, so we have a team to play against.” 

Alvin Troung, a freshman at CHS, said, “Personally, I would love to have paintball in the school because we already have trap shooting where we use real guns, and paintball is more or so a team-building sport than anything.”

According to Darin Davenport, a co-owner of Legacy Paintball, said, “The biggest thing here is the community.” The website states there are many friendly veterans willing to teach others to play. 

When getting started, newer players will have to decide how to invest their money. Paintball is divided into two categories: woodsball and speedball. Speedball is the option that is being considered for school leagues, and it is a quicker game with smaller teams. However, there is a higher chance of physical harm, and teamwork is required. Woodsball is when you usually use cheaper markers and is in a wooded area.

If paintball is not cutting it, airsoft is the more tactical alternative with more strategy involved and more teamwork needed. Airsoft variants usually depend on the gear you use and not the game itself. Players must take into account if it's an outdoor field, indoor field, short court, big court, and obstacles. The main difference with the variants is if it is an indoor or outdoor field. Indoor fields have a lot more speed-soft strategy. Speedball but more dependent on the player than the game itself. 

Depending on what to play, Legacy field owners of Legacy Paintball and  Revanent Airsoft have events every Saturday depending on the weather with Airsoft being their dominant sport. No matter if you like to play at a field or want it to be a school addition, these sports are experiencing a spike of popularity like never seen before.