Cape Town - Paintball is growing beyond an exciting activity where you get to be methodically taken out with coloured dye, into a full-fledged adrenalin sport.
The Cape Argus SportShow will not only offer participants their own day of fun, but also show how the experts do it.
The SA Paintball Association (Sanpa) in conjunction the SA Regional Paintball League (Sarpl) will give SportShow visitors the opportunity to experience the adrenalin sport of competitive paintball, also known as speedball.
“On the first day of the three-day event, from March 24 to 26 in Sandringham, there will be open sessions for the public,” said Paul Grobler from Sanpa.
“On Saturday, the Sanpa provincial cup will take place when teams in both the men’s and women’s U19 divisions will compete to see which province is currently the best.
“Sunday March 26 will then see the first round of the Sarpl Western Cape five-man event taking place at the SportShow where teams from clubs in the Western Cape will compete.
“There is also a beginners division on the Sunday for players/teams that would like to enter.”
Grobler explained there are currently around 600 players competing at Sarpl events around South Africa, with Sarpl being the largest national league in Africa. He said organisational structures for paintball were growing as the rules for the sport were slowly being standardised and developed by the Word Paintball Organisation (WPBO).
“Sanpa also works proactively on a provincial, as well as national teams to grow the sport in a structured
environment.”
However, Grobler said that while the sport was growing, it wasn’t always easy because the biggest change in moving from a hobby to a sport was commitment.
“Over and above speedball, you also get Woodballs/Bushball, Milsim (Military Simulated) and MagFed (limited paint).
“We would love to see people taking in the fast-paced, action-packed games on the field and having the opportunity to come and experience the game first hand.”
Tickets for the event are available at the SportShow site ( www.sportshow.co.za) as well as at Computicket. Gates are open from 9am to 6pm. Entrance cost R150 (adults), R80 (children) and R200 for a weekend pass.