Paintball Gets Bad Press in Montreal

[SlartyBartFast]

http://www.muhc.ca/media/news/?ItemID=15555

The article isn't too incendiary. Unfortunately, the radio station I heard it reported on cut a lot of important details and came across more as fear-mongering against paintball.

The doctor (I think it was a doctor) iterviewed was clueless about the sport, and no information was given about safe play.

But wow. Nasty injury. I have to agree that a group of 10 year olds playing isn't the brightest idea.

[BuyMyMag]

In addition to eye injuries, some of our pediatricians have reported cases of children presenting with impressive welts to other parts of their bodies.


I don't think any paintballer has been out to the field for a day of fun and ended up with no welts... These people need to be more realistic.

[mcdkid]

its just Canada.





























lol sorry.

[MonsterMag]

Stuipid kids think they can do anything :rolleyes:

[bleachit]

"If parents choose to allow their children to participate in this activity, says Friedman, they need to ensure their children are being outfitted properly in equipment appropriate for their size and age, most important of which is eye protection and facemask that fits properly and meets approved standards. Also, they need to ensure there is close supervision to make sure kids follow the rules and safety measures such as never removing their eye protection while in play. Given all of these considerations one has to question how appropriate this activity is for children."

at the very end of the article.

[SlartyBartFast]

"If parents choose to allow their children to participate in this activity, says Friedman, they need to ensure their children are being outfitted properly in equipment appropriate for their size and age, most important of which is eye protection and facemask that fits properly and meets approved standards. Also, they need to ensure there is close supervision to make sure kids follow the rules and safety measures such as never removing their eye protection while in play. Given all of these considerations one has to question how appropriate this activity is for children."

at the very end of the article.


Which is why I'm annoyed at the radio stations report and not the hospital press release that it was based on.

The hospital was actually quite level about it. There's no denying that a group of 10 year olds aren't the most likely to understand restraint when firing or to NEVER remove a mask.

[BobDoleIsMyHero]

It is unfortunate that the kid was hurt so badly...
but i don't think paintball is to blame. when the article says that his mask came loose, IMO that means he took his mask off. i think ten is a little too young to play paintball simply because most 10 year olds are not mature enough to handle the responsibility of games that use projectiles flying at 300fps.

on another note

"Today, I still can't play any contact sports, and I get more severe headaches and nausea, especially while playing Play Station or watching TV. I really felt sick for a very long time."

um i don't know of many 10 year old kids who talk like that :tard:

[ultralight]

this is not a sport for small children.

the goggle systems aren't made to fit them and the force of the paintballs may be more than they are willing to endure. also, a certain ammount of maturity and responsibility is required that many children do not yet posess. i consider kids age 11 or younger to be small children.

this is not a sport for small children.

edit: we posted basically the same thing at the same time. i was also wondering about that "quote".

[bleachit]

Which is why I'm annoyed at the radio stations report and not the hospital press release that it was based on.

The hospital was actually quite level about it. There's no denying that a group of 10 year olds aren't the most likely to understand restraint when firing or to NEVER remove a mask.


stupid radio...

at least the hospital has a clue

[dolphin1823]

I also agree that 10 is too young to play. But how long now till we see differnet sized goggles for younger players?

[mag88888]

wow only a handfull of kids a year. that sure is alot, im being sarcastic. why doesnt canada take away hockey? thats a dangerous sport. they definitely get more than a handfull of kids everyday from hockey injuries. i play hockey. ive seen the ambulance go on the ice. ive had to go to the hospital, almost lost my knee. ive seen kids get temporary paralyzed. they should think beofre they talk. who lets some 10 year olds play with guns that fire objects at 300 fps? lets hope this doesnt spread into the US or anywhere else. and if kids are complining from welts, dont play or turn the velocity down or dont torture your frinends by shooting them from 5 feet. here i can acyually say...."BLAME CANADA".

[stop whining buy a mag]

Yes, 10 years old is basically to young. And it does sound like he took his mask off which means it would be his fault (or his parents for letting him play at such a young age). I'd love to see the death rate from high school football games compared to the number of ER visits from paintball. Hockey would be even worse.

Why they even mention the welts sounds rediculous. Can you consider welts "permanent damage" to your body? Not from the ones I've seen. It's the same as running from the cops and cutting yourself on a fence.

[AGD202]

dont play or turn the velocity down or dont torture your frinends by shooting them from 5 feet.

i gotta say, turning the velocity down hurts a LOT more than at 280-285 fps... a long time ago my friend has a pro carbine, and it wouldnt go anywhere near 280 fps and it hurt like hell compaired to guns shooting at 280+

[buzzboy]

Even the thing about his eye seems a little far fethced. I know two people who have been hit in the eye with paintballs and they both are fine. I personally got hit in the eye with a piece of wood shot out of a lawnmower and let me tell you it wasn't fun. I almost went blind, I had the hemmoraging and my retnia almost detached but my vision dropped from 20/15 to 20/20.

[Maggot6]

Poor kid, Even though I'd bet money that kid wasn't following EVERY rule perfectly and the mask wasn't fitted properly to his head. Being 10 years old and all. But the same group of thousands of 10 year olds who play probably don't have many eye problems..Accidents happen, sadly to 10 year olds playing an already edgy sport(media wise)...

[cdacda13]

Thats what happens when you dont tighten your mask. Its a shame that this could have been prevented. And over shooting is to blame also.

(that spelled mom, mum.)

[SlartyBartFast]

here i can acyually say...."BLAME CANADA".

Well, you didn't use smilies, but I sure hope that was tongue-in-cheek sarcasm and not ignorant raving.

Paintball has the same image problem in the US as it does in Canada. The traditional established sports are accepted and their risks and abuses are overlooked by society.

Making sure such reports put our sport in comparison to others is one of the important lessons of threads like these.

This was a hosptal new release. And, I've found them to be a bit overractive on a number of occasions. This past winter they kept goin on about the dangers of tobboganing on icy hills.

They'd have us all wrapped in cotton wool if it was up to them. :rolleyes:

[Jeffy-CanCon]

I also agree that 10 is too young to play. But how long now till we see differnet sized goggles for younger players?

JT started making kid-sized goggles (XFire) in the mid-90's. I don't know if anyone still makes smaller sizes.

I can speak from experience that by the time a person reaches 12-13, their head is usually as big as it's going to get.

[Temo Vryce]

I don't know what field that this happened at but I can guess which, mostly because I know the owners and I really feel bad for them. I feel worse for the kid though. I can't begin to imagine how badly the kid who lit his friend up feels about all of this. I hope that everything works out for everyone involved in the long run.

[CodeMA]

I gotta say, it sux when things are published like this, they dont bother consulting someone who plays, owns a feild or shop... They just spew the negitive... Im sure when they started playing or were playing they abolutely loved the sport... then they did something stupid... This something stupid appears to be lifting or throwing his goggles down after he got shot in the grill because paint tasted horrible and got hit in the face... So now there going to bash the sport because they didnt follow the rules...

I work at a feild, ref tournaments around the state, etc... at the feild I work at, we have never had an eye related injury, broken bones due to paintball impact, or anything relateing to a paint to body injury for that matter(besides the occational eternal welt from scaring)
I one of the more experianced refs, so I get to baby sit young and female players(the owner is a wee bit over protective at times...and I dont like to argue) on the feild... Not always a bad thing mind you... Id say on average for about half the day of most younger groups out there (we do occatonally allow players as young as 8 or 9 to play) for the first 6 games to half a day of play Im having to play super reff and go wrap my arms around some kids head or scream till my voice is horse to keep your mask on till your off the feild or I tell you you can...or to put there barrel sock on... Some kids are much better then others, some not so much... but with my experiance with the proper eqipment (keeping there masks tight, as they DO have a tendency to get loose) and most importantly GOOD refs to make sure they cant do anything stupid without getting tackled and such....lil kids can play without getting hurt... there new, common sence isnt a gift everyone has, experianced players have an obligation to step up and keep kids safe if they dont want negitive press about this sport...

[SlartyBartFast]

JT started making kid-sized goggles (XFire) in the mid-90's. I don't know if anyone still makes smaller sizes.

I can speak from experience that by the time a person reaches 12-13, their head is usually as big as it's going to get.

My kid is 3 and wears men's medium sized hats. :eek: I hope his head doesn't get too much bigger.

He also wears size 6 clothing...

Figure he might have a future playing football.

[gc82000]

I just feel sory for the kid.

[BlindeSeher]

I was in Canada once. The trees were all purple and giant beavers the size of semi trucks wandered the streets. Crazy times.

[Miscue]

Field safety can be horrible. Take a bunch of 10 year old kids, give them a mask and gun... no safety advice... nobody is really watching the kids well, if at all...

It's too bad that this kind of preventable stuff happens.

[athomas]

One of the members from our local paintball forums contacted the reporter that originally did the article. He admitted that the report was sensationalized for ratings.

Paintball was portrayed as dangerous but here is a list of sports with ratings for injuries.

http://www.americansportsdata.com/pr-sportsinjuries.asp

Paintball is very low on the list of injuries. It is a very safe sport. You never hear about a kid getting a baseball in the eye. It does happen You just never hear about it. It makes boring news because it is not as much of an obscure sport.

I think that 10 year olds should be very closely monitored on the field if they are allowed to play. If a group of 10 year olds play, then there should be more reffs on the field than with a normal group. Most young people do not have the thought process developed yet that allow them to figure out the long term consequences of their actions. That being said both the parents and the field have to take some of the responsibility here. Ultimately it was the kids fault for taking off the mask, but the field should review it procedures for safety when allowing younger kids to play.

[mag88888]

SLartyBartFast: yes i was being sarcastic. sorry for forgetting the smilies.........