Would you let your child play paintball today

[Lohman446]

I'm going to state flat out that I realize there are exceptions to the rules, but what we have addresses most commercial fields. I am also going to address speedball - and please do not make this into a woodsball / speedball debate.

The question is this - would you let your ten year old son or daughter play paintball?

We know the sport has some degree of violence and pain to it, we know that it is very likely that a player in a game is going to be bunkered eventually, we also know that said bunkering is likely to be two or three shots at very close range.

Add onto this ramping that seems to suddenly have just become acceptable. Have you tried to get off the field lately after being shot?

Add to this a number of players that seem to think velocity cheats are "cool"

Add to this the general attitude towards cheating in the game, and lack of fair play.

Many of us beleive it is only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt when these factors come together.

So... would you let / encourage your child to play this game? I've been thinking about letting my daughter start in five years (when she is ten) and kind of getting her ready for it. I question now seriously if I should? And after two days (one of which was spent playing a tournament (we won btw)) I don't have the answer

[BD_Paintball]

if i had a kid that was 10 i would let him/her play if he/she wanted to. my friends brother who is 11 plays. just dont let them play with ppl who are real hard core or people who have played alot. let them play a game or two and see if they would like to play more, dont force them into playing or make them stop if they are having fun. i would talk to her and see if she wants to play and let her know that it will hurt when she gets shot.

[cdacda13]

IMO, 10 years is way too young. I think 13 is the best starting young.

[Maggot6]

I think 13+ is good. I wouldn't let my 10 year old play....Although, I am only 14 myself. Unless you played in a private party, but I wouldn't just bring a 10 year old to play a quiet game of rec even.

[polemos]

Yes,

my 10 year old has played recball with me since he was 8. We just went to our first field this weekend. Took my 12 year old and 16 year old and had a blast.

Then again my fear was him getting overshot.
Didn't happen though....

[LS1 WS6]

I think it is up to the child. If the child is aggressive enought and wants to play I don't see a problem letting them play. I would only let them start out with new players or a game with adults/ mature players that know the child is new and not to bunker them or overshoot. I only play woods ball and several guys have brough their kids out and we all have fun.

My oldest is 9 and does not seem to want to play right now. I have the feeling when he is 12 or 13 he will really want to play.

My only fear for letting a young child play is the possability of them being turned off of the sport if they can't handle the pain or have a bad expieriance at a young age. If you feel your daughter is ready and she wants to I would let her.

[Chronobreak]

depends on the kid

some kids are fine playing by themse;ves at 11 or so(when i started as well)

so i would say thats a good age to start.

i would aslo reccomend or urge the kid played a few private games with lower velocities and friends their own age to get them into it softly, and teach important safety measures.

[Skoad]

I would say, if he wanted to play I would let him...As long as I was there to make sure nothing gets out of hand.

[personman]

If I had kids I do not think I would let them play with strangers until they understood and were comfortable with the basic aspects of the game. Then I would slowly introduce them to public paintball games.

[Lohman446]

I would say, if he wanted to play I would let him...As long as I was there to make sure nothing gets out of hand.

What are you going to do if it does - lets presume open rec play, you are bound to have a few there for no reason other than to show off how good they are to there buddies. Now in my particular situation I could stand on field and call my child out if I felt fit, and that would end any aggressive move against them, and the people around me that I play with would be careful... can you expect the same if you were not a "part" of the community that is what paintball is today.

[B.A.M.]

im gonna be taking my 11yr old cousing paintballing and i asked his parents and they didnt even care. Then agian its gonna be an all pump day so i dont have to worry about him gettin over shot

[tdogreb]

My boy has played since he was eight, but it has been in controled envirments, birthday partieswhere only kids played, outlaw with just friends. I have not let him play at any the local fields for two reasons, I don't want him to get overshot and get turned off on the game, but mostly because I would beat the moron that did it into the ground and plant a tree in his butt.

[punkncat]

EVERY field I have played in this area has open play based on Skill/Experiance level. Generally what is done is a unexperianced/mech only game or field, and then you have the open field where anyone can play. If the play will involve the same field then its rotated on/off. Generally works out well as one group is refilling while the other is playing.

My daughter has played since she was about that age, and my son is looking forward to being able to, as I told him he could after 10.

[Blazestorm]

I'm going to state flat out that I realize there are exceptions to the rules, but what we have addresses most commercial fields. I am also going to address speedball - and please do not make this into a woodsball / speedball debate.

The question is this - would you let your ten year old son or daughter play paintball?

We know the sport has some degree of violence and pain to it, we know that it is very likely that a player in a game is going to be bunkered eventually, we also know that said bunkering is likely to be two or three shots at very close range.

Add onto this ramping that seems to suddenly have just become acceptable. Have you tried to get off the field lately after being shot?

Add to this a number of players that seem to think velocity cheats are "cool"

Add to this the general attitude towards cheating in the game, and lack of fair play.

Many of us beleive it is only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt when these factors come together.

So... would you let / encourage your child to play this game? I've been thinking about letting my daughter start in five years (when she is ten) and kind of getting her ready for it. I question now seriously if I should? And after two days (one of which was spent playing a tournament (we won btw)) I don't have the answer

At a local field with players at a much higher level? No. But if they played with eachother (like friends) and give them goggles, turn down the velocity to 200's and let them play like that... it would be cool. But not with the rest of us... I think it's just too intense/too much, and I'm not saying that ramping makes a difference either.

BTW... "Velocity" ramping would only affect velocity slightly. Enough to bring it to 320-330... Spool-valve guns it wouldn't matter because the dump chamber doesn't change in size... dwell is just used to determine how long the dump chamber should be open so that it can be efficient. On stacked tube guns it doesn't make a huge difference either. The only gun it would really be attempted on would be a matrix because they can take chips and it's easier to program and cheaper to do. But with stacked tube guns they'd require entire boards... not many people are making boards in their garage...

I'd let them play in their own skill bracket with their friends at lower velocities... but not anything else...

[HoboJudge]

My father first took me to play when I was nine. It was definitely a few years early. I was too afraid to do much of anything and mostly just hid in the back. I didn't really develop any real interest in paintball for another three years after that. However, I di feel really cool telling all of my friends about paintball. :)