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Paul DeZarn: More Than Four Decades in Paintball

From the Backwoods of Springboro to Championship Paintball

Paul DeZarn began playing paintball in 1983 on a backwoods lot in Springboro, Ohio, when the sport was still in its infancy. Long before modern professional leagues, standardized player classifications, and ranking systems, Paul was part of the generation that helped shape competitive paintball.

His journey began with the Dyehards, a team competing in a league associated with the Dayton All-Stars. That early chapter included participation in one of the sport’s first world championships, held in Morrow, Ohio.

What started with a group of players competing on local fields became a lifelong commitment to the sport. Over the next four decades, Paul would experience paintball from nearly every perspective: player, professional competitor, coach, manager, and team owner.

The Playing Years: Building a Legacy on the Field

Throughout his playing career, Paul competed with a succession of teams that carried him through different eras of competitive paintball.

His playing journey included the Dyehards, Crow Warriors, Zero Tolerance, Method, Freak Factory, Detroit Fusion, and Ohio Black Rain (OBR), the last professional team for which he played.

One important chapter began when Paul and Eric Hamre left Detroit Fusion to create Method. The two went on to achieve considerable competitive success together.

Following that chapter, Paul returned to Freak Factory. He later returned to Detroit Fusion as a professional player. Eric Hamre and several of the Freak Factory players joined Detroit Fusion the following season.

These years unfolded during a very different era of paintball. Paul competed before the APPA player classification and ranking systems became established features of the sport. His professional career developed during a time when reputations were built through competition, performance, and results on the field rather than the formal ranking structures familiar to later generations.

After his professional career ended with Ohio Black Rain, Paul continued to guest-play on occasion. Although he had stepped away from full-time professional competition, his involvement in paintball was far from over.

His next chapter would take him from the playing field to the sidelines, where he could apply decades of experience to developing other players and building competitive teams.

From Player to Coach: Vintage and the MSXL

Paul continued his involvement in competitive paintball by coaching a team called Vintage in the MSXL.

His playing experience, understanding of competitive strategy, and familiarity with the demands of tournament paintball provided a foundation for this next stage of his career.

Coaching offered Paul a different opportunity to influence the game. Instead of relying on his own performance alone, he could help develop players, establish team systems, build confidence, and bring people together around a common objective.

That experience helped set the stage for his return to a larger leadership role in the sport.

The Return: Danny Manning and Brimstone Smoke

Around 2017–2018, Danny Manning approached Paul about returning to paintball to coach and manage Brimstone Smoke.

That opportunity marked the beginning of a new era in Paul’s career.

Returning not simply as a player but as a coach, manager, and organizational leader, Paul brought decades of competitive experience to the program. His mission extended beyond winning individual tournaments. He wanted to develop players, build roster depth, establish accountability, and create an organization capable of competing for championships year after year.

Since 2018, Paul has helped lead Brimstone Smoke through numerous tournament victories and championship performances across multiple divisions and formats.

The journey has required more than tactical knowledge. It has demanded leadership, adaptability, player development, and the ability to maintain a competitive culture through adversity, roster changes, and the pressures of tournament competition.

Brimstone Smoke: Building a Championship Organization

Under Paul’s leadership, Brimstone Smoke has developed into a competitive program participating across the ICPL and NXL, with players competing in multiple formats and divisions.

Among the organization’s significant accomplishments are:

• 2025 Classic Cup Champions
• 2026 Classic Cup Champions, securing back-to-back titles
• 2026 Free Flow Open Champions in New York
• 2026 ICPL Pro Division: Second place overall
• Continued competition across three-, five-, seven-, and ten-player formats, with opportunities to pursue additional tournament victories and series championships

The 2026 season demonstrated the program’s ability to compete against established teams and perform under pressure. Winning the Free Flow Open and successfully defending the Classic Cup title added further milestones to the organization’s history.

Finishing second place overall in the 2026 ICPL Pro Division was another significant accomplishment, reflecting the program’s ability to compete at the highest level of ICPL competition.

The 2026 Classic Cup Championship was especially meaningful. Winning consecutive titles reflected the work required to sustain a competitive program and return to the field prepared to defend a championship.

These accomplishments belong to the entire organization: the players, coaches, staff, ownership, sponsors, families, and supporters who contribute to its success.

Paul’s role is to help bring those elements together. His focus is on creating an environment where talent can develop, teammates can trust one another, and individual ability becomes collective performance.

For Paul, building a championship organization means developing more than a starting lineup. It means creating depth, preparing people for different roles, and establishing a culture capable of enduring the challenges of a long season.

Ownership, Partnership, and Family

Paul remains actively involved in Brimstone Smoke as an owner alongside Anthony Call and Jonathan Call. Milt Call also remains part of the organization’s ownership legacy. Though Milt has passed away, his place in the team’s story is remembered with respect.

Brimstone Smoke has become more than a collection of players assembled for tournaments. It is an organization built around relationships, shared responsibility, and the pursuit of excellence.

Its guiding principles include Communication, Commitment, Connection, and Confidence.

Those principles reflect Paul’s broader approach to competitive paintball. Success requires players to communicate effectively, commit to the work, connect as teammates, and develop the confidence to perform when the pressure is greatest.

For Paul, success is not measured solely by trophies and championship rings. It is also measured by the players who develop within the program, the relationships formed along the way, and the culture established through shared adversity and achievement.

The objective is to build something that lasts: an organization capable of developing talent, competing at a high level, and creating opportunities for players to contribute to something larger than themselves.

The Next Chapter: NXL World Cup 2026

Following the 2026 Classic Cup Championship, Brimstone Smoke is preparing for the NXL World Cup, with plans to compete in the three-, five-, seven-, and ten-player formats.

The organization is also pursuing opportunities to contend for additional tournament victories and series championships.

World Cup represents another opportunity to demonstrate the depth, preparation, and competitiveness that the program has worked to build.

For Paul, this is not the beginning of a new relationship with paintball. It is the continuation of a journey that began in 1983 and has evolved through every major stage of his life in the sport.

The equipment has changed. The fields have changed. The leagues and competitive structures have changed. But the fundamental challenge remains the same: bring talented people together, prepare them to compete, and give them the opportunity to achieve something extraordinary as a team.

A Career That Continues to Evolve

Paul DeZarn’s paintball career spans more than four decades, beginning on a backwoods lot in Springboro, Ohio, and progressing through the Dyehards, Crow Warriors, Zero Tolerance, Method, Freak Factory, Detroit Fusion, and Ohio Black Rain.

He competed during the formative years of the sport, played professionally, continued participating after his professional career, coached Vintage in the MSXL, and eventually returned to help lead Brimstone Smoke.

His journey illustrates the many ways a person can contribute to a sport over a lifetime. A player can become a coach. A coach can become an organizational leader. And a leader can continue building championship teams long after his own professional playing days have ended.

Today, Paul remains actively involved in competitive paintball as an owner, coach, and leader of Brimstone Smoke. His experience connects the early days of the sport to its modern competitive landscape.

More than 40 years after he first picked up a paintball marker, Paul DeZarn is still helping develop players, build teams, and pursue championships.

His story is not simply about the years he spent playing paintball. It is about a lifetime devoted to the sport, the people who have shared that journey, and the championship legacy he continues to build.