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Josh: How long have you been playing paintball and where did you get
started?
James: I started playing paintball on September 24th 2004, my birthday, just shy of ten
years ago when I was turning fourteen years
of age. Prior to my birthday my friends at
my middle school and I were all in 8th grade
when the paintball craze started to spread to
younger kids.
By the time I was getting started I remember
almost all of my friends started playing before me and had all kinds of awesome markers. I thought they were so cool especially
my friends purple Spyder. I just remember
how awesome a paintball gun looked to me
in those beginning days. A paintball marker
was so much better than any super soaker
or Nerf gun ever. Even the paintballs had an
awesomeness to them. But even while being
excited for a new “thing” to do as a kid it took
me a while to get my guts up and actually
play paintball.
My Dad, Jim Butts, who is a huge paintball
supporter, bought me my first marker. A PMI
Piranha semi auto, and for two months I didn’t
touch it at all. I was scared to get shot, plain
january 2014
and simple. But finally the guys at school
were getting a game going that upcoming
weekend and I was invited. The game was on
my birthday. I couldn’t be scared anymore of
being shot and I finally had all the gear. I was
ready to try it out. Needless to say I had one
of the best times of my life playing paintball
that first time and I became an instant addict.
I always will love sports and their stories. I like
team sports and individual. And well paintball
was a mix of both styles at different times and
could be played at a slow or fast pace. So it
was similar to soccer when you are on the
attack or football where someone’s presence
alone makes your play win the game.
In paintball “everything” was always a variable
in the game. Your position your teammates
position and most importantly the enemies’ location, and that’s what got me and my adrenaline hooked to the game of paintball. You
never know where a person could be. I continued playing in the woods with my friends,
my dad and my brother. Eventually it became
apparent that I really enjoyed paintball a lot
and luckily with the support of my family I was
able to start visiting the local paintball field for
me at the time, Paintball Central Greensboro,
NC. WcK4life!