Students darted around inflated bunkers and dodged bullets of paint from guns that shot about 12 paintballs per second. Everyone was covered in paint from mask to boot.
The Cal State Long Beach paintball team recently placed second at a national competition in Lakeland, Fla.
The national scene
Since its start in 2007, the team has been nationally ranked every year. In fact, the team took first place in the Western Conference competing under the National Collegiate Paintball Association in 2007.
“There’s, like, 78 other college teams there,” said Erik Muto, president of the paintball club. “It’s pretty crazy. There are only two teams from the West Coast that come out to play – and that’s us and Fullerton.”
The competition is divided into two divisions, AA and single A. Cal State Fullerton competes in the AA division, because they do not have funding and are not fully equipped. CSULB competed in the AA division for the first two years of the club before graduating to the single A division, among the top competing teams.
CSULB took second place last year – its first time competing in the single A division.
Making it work
Teams from the East Coast, on the other hand, are known for spending thousands of dollars on conferences that provide tips and workshops, as well as promote the newest equipment.
“We don’t have that because we don’t have the money or the schools to be committed,” Muto said. “The conferences are designed to help teams improve and become eligible for nationals. Then we come over and we’re the very last place, wild card seed and knock them out of the tournaments. So we go and beat them and the whole entire east coast just hates us.”
CSULB also competes regionally against other campuses like Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine and Cal Poly Pomona. However, at the end of every year, the team travels to Lakeland, Fla. to compete in nationals.
Cone, a paintball merchandise company, has offered the paintball club a full-time sponsorship. For the club, that means free T-shirts, jerseys and other promotional merchandise like stickers. The club is also going to be featured on the television network Fox College Sports during the summer, where the national championship game will be broadcast.
The love of the game
People are drawn to paintball for many reasons including the adrenaline addiction. Muto was introduced to paintball by a friend in the sixth grade and has been hooked ever since.
“It’s people shooting back at you, you’re trying to get them … It gets the blood pumping, it’s fun,” Muto said. “I think that’s why a ton of people join.”
The club currently has approximately 30 members.
Around 15 to 16 members are chosen from the club to be on the competing team. In competition, teams pit five members against each other and a “pit” crew of 10 members’ aides. It takes team members about 90 seconds to run to the pit and reload.
Other teams bring larger groups to help, making it more difficult for the less-equipped CSULB team.
“We’re sitting there with just our team, trying to do everything,” Muto said. “And we’re just like, ‘Whatever, we’ll still beat you guys.'”
By paintball rules, a player is out if hit by a paint capsule. With bullets of paint flying by at high speeds, simply running as fast as you can will not suffice.
Regional competitions typically cost around $300 to register. However, for nationals, bills can run up to $12,000 — travel to Florida and entrance into the tournament included.
“Every year, we make sure to save money out of our [club] account and that goes to the entry [fee], because it’s $2,000,” Muto said. “Everything else: Plane tickets, board, rental car comes out of our pocket.”
The club has also done its share of fundraisers, like teaming up with L&W pizza to receive 20 percent of proceeds when customers presented a paintball flyer. Still, the income is minimal, considering the club made around $20 this year from fundraising.
Muto said the club mostly runs off donations.
Since taking the position this year as president of the paintball club, Muto has tried to increase promotion of the club on the CSULB campus with the help of T-shirts and press releases.
“Really, we don’t get a lot of publicity,” Muto said. “Then I took over this year and I was like, ‘Well, we’re winning all this stuff and no one knows about it,’ so I’ve been trying to get the word out.”
CSULB students who want to play paintball for recreation can do so without paying the club fees. The only fee that has to be paid is that of Action Star Games in Colton, Calif., where the team practices.
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