Introduce a New Player to Paintball this Christmas

Finding just the right Christmas gift is often quite difficult. While many current paintball players have their ideal gift already picked out and let their loved ones know about it, they often don't realize that they could give the gift of paintball just as easily as they ask for it.

Every year countless parents buy paintball gun packages for their kids and then smile as their child is openly excited about the new "gun" that actually works. On the afternoon of Christmas day or during the week before New Year's they go out and shoot it in the backyard. They might even get a group of a few friends and try to go play in some local woods. They then often spend a day at the local field and spend most of their time getting shot up by intermediate players with their electros. By the time Summer rolls around all their gear is sitting in a closet and eventually will find it's way to eBay or CraigsList.

The solution to this problem is to give the gift of paintball rather than the gift of paintball equipment. As much fun as a Tippmann 98 package is, it doesn't include any information on how to actually get involved with the sport or any of the innumerable unwritten rules that exist. Rather than hoping equipment will get someone excited, give the gift of actually taking someone to a field and introducing them to the game the way it is meant to be played.

When I got involved with paintball I had some good friends who guided me every step of the way. At some point I knew enough to continue with the sport on my own, but their guidance and knowledge was invaluable. Now people do have the advantage of the internet with lots of paintball-related information, but reading a thread on PBNation is no where near the same as having a friend who can walk you through the steps of what really is happening at a field or who can explain what the hammer or solenoid in your paintball gun actually do.

The best way to grow the sport of paintball is to welcome people in, show them the ropes and help them develop their own passion for the game. What better Christmas gift could there be?