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Paintball: fun for everyone

JBLM course open to service members and their families

Paintball Inc. at JBLM offers a great way for service members and their families to work off stress and have fun. Photo credit: Paintball, Inc.

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Paintball is FUN!

"This is exactly what we promote and provide," began Nick Goobin, who with his wife Denize has owned and operated Paintball, Inc. at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for two decades.

"We are an entertainment industry and there is a lot of competition for this, and to ensure our continuing success we offer paintball in a safe and friendly environment."

Developed in 1981, paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players use a low-energy air weapon called a "paintball marker" that is powered by compressed air (nitrogen) or carbon dioxide that fires a dye-filled paintball that breaks on impact when it hits an opponent.

"Just the physical side of playing is good for you, but something else occurs," explained Goobin, "and that is that this activity ‘burns up' stress and anxiety, that participants don't spend time thinking about other concerns."

He added that the sport is unique in that age, background, education, gender, and athletic abilities are not needed for families and teams to play and have fun.

"In playing a game of paintball you really do find out a lot about yourself and in the process have a whole lot of fun doing so," continued Goobin.

In providing clear directions on how a game is played, he explained what team players -- from the age of 10 to 80 -- can expect.

After checking in, signing waivers, renting gear (players can also use their own) and loading up on paintballs, everyone receives a mandatory and thorough safety briefing about the game and on how their gear operates.

"The safety of all players is our number one concern," added Goobin.

Teams are then created by balancing the experience levels of the participants. 

"We will never ‘stack' teams where one team has an advantage over another."

With the teams set, they can then pick from a variety of four different courses on which to compete -- the Village, the Hill, the Woods or the Compound. 

If teams want a faster pace of paintball, they can also choose to play Speedball, where they move through and around air-inflated bunkers on a 20,000-square-foot turf field.

The paintball course is only open on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. No reservations are required.

"Most people are playing about three to four hours these days," continued Goobin, "and everyone has a lot of fun."

He added that Paintball, Inc. hosts private parties for groups of 10 or more on either the weekends or on weekdays. Reservations for these events are required in advance.

Not surprisingly, he has supported specific units' training needs and/or morale-building exercises.

"'Unit days' during the week or weekends are offered at a discount rate and can be utilized for training purposes or as a day of recreation for a job well done," he concluded.

"But one thing is for sure -- everyone has FUN!"

Paintball, Inc., 4535 Flora Rd., JBLM, 253.912.8000, jblmpaintball.com or jblm.armymwr.com/programs/jblm-paintball, or email dzpaintball@hotmail.com

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