Paintball in California

Paintball in California has played a significant role in the development of competitive and recreational paintball in the United States. The state became associated with some of the sport's early commercial playing fields, the development of speedball, professional tournament teams and major paintball equipment manufacturers.

California's paintball history is particularly associated with SC Village, the Ironmen, San Diego Dynasty, Worr Game Products and DYE Precision. The state has also hosted national tournament events, including the NPPL Huntington Beach Open and Los Angeles Open.[1][2][3]

History

Early development

Commercial paintball developed in California during the early 1980s, following the introduction of the sport in the United States in 1981.

One of the state's earliest major commercial venues was SC Village, originally known as Sat Cong Village, established in the Chino area by Dennis Bukowski during the 1980s.

SC Village became an important recreational and tournament venue, hosting woodland competitions and large recreational games.

Its operators also developed Monsterball, an early large-scale recreational event intended to accommodate hundreds of participants on the park's extensive woodland playing areas.[1]

Development of speedball

In 1989, SC Village introduced an early version of speedball, a format using a compact playing field and artificial obstacles instead of conventional woodland terrain.

The original arena included centrally positioned scoring horns that players attempted to activate while avoiding elimination.

The format was intended to create faster games with improved visibility for spectators.[2]

SC Village subsequently developed the SC Arenas tournament facility, incorporating purpose-built playing fields and training areas.

During the 1990s, the venue helped popularise Hyperball, a tournament field format using large corrugated plastic pipes as bunkers.

SC Arenas became an established training location for professional teams including the Ironmen, Avalanche and San Diego Dynasty.[3]

Tournament development

California hosted professional and amateur tournament paintball throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

The Great Western Tournament Series operated events across the western United States, including a 1997 tournament at Mare Island in the San Francisco Bay Area.

That event included five-player and 10-player competitions. Teams participating included Hostile Takeover, Outta Control, Marine Team Gold and Bob Long's Ironmen II.[4]

Southern California also became an established venue for the National Professional Paintball League (NPPL).

The 2000 Los Angeles Open took place at SC Village in Corona from 10 to 12 March. Organised by Dave Youngblood of DYE Precision, the tournament featured five-player and 10-player competition.[5]

The Los Angeles Open returned to SC Arenas in subsequent seasons. In March 2002, San Diego Dynasty won the professional 10-player division.[6]

Huntington Beach and the Super 7

In February 2003, the NPPL launched its Super 7 World Series with a tournament at Huntington Beach, California.

The event was staged near the Huntington Beach Pier, introducing a seven-player format and an emphasis on spectator access, television production and commercial presentation.

San Diego Dynasty won the professional division, defeating French team Toulouse TonTon in the final.[7]

The tournament returned to Huntington Beach in March 2004, with Dynasty again winning the professional competition.

Later in 2004, the NPPL staged its Commander's Cup championship event at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. The Men won the professional division.[8]

Professional teams

Several historically significant professional paintball teams developed strong connections with California.

The Southern California Ironmen were associated with SC Village and became one of the leading tournament teams of the late 1980s and 1990s.

Players associated with the team included Bob Long, Shane Pestana, Dave Youngblood and Marty Bush.[9]

San Diego Dynasty emerged as another major California professional team during the early 2000s.

Dynasty competed in the NPPL and other national competitions, winning the 2002 Los Angeles Open and the inaugural 2003 NPPL Huntington Beach tournament.[6][7]

The SC Village and SC Arenas facilities were also associated with the training and development of other professional teams, including Avalanche.[9]

Equipment manufacturing

California became an important centre for the development and manufacturing of paintball equipment.

Worr Game Products

Worr Game Products (WGP), founded by Bud Orr, developed in Southern California during the 1980s.

Orr worked as an airsmith at SC Village, where he developed equipment and contributed to early tournament field construction.

WGP became best known for the WGP Sniper pump marker and the Autococker, which became a major semiautomatic tournament marker during the 1990s.

The company's manufacturing operations were based in Corona, California.

In April 2004, sporting-goods manufacturer K2 acquired WGP, incorporating the business into its existing paintball equipment portfolio.[10]

DYE Precision

DYE Precision was established in California in 1994 by professional player Dave "Youngblood" DeHaan and Rhonda DeHaan.

The company initially specialised in precision-manufactured paintball barrels before expanding into markers, loaders, goggles, clothing and accessories.

DYE became closely associated with professional tournament competition and equipment development, including products used by the California Ironmen and Avalanche.[11]

Recreational and scenario paintball

California's paintball industry also developed through commercial recreational parks and large-scale scenario events.

In 2002, SC Village operators Dennis Bukowski and Giovanni D'Egidio opened Hollywood Sports Park in Bellflower.

The facility combined paintball with other action sports and incorporated genuine motion-picture props and sets into its playing fields.

Its themed environments included structures associated with films such as Starship Troopers and Waterworld.[12]

Hollywood Sports Park also hosted scenario games, including a 2003 event associated with the release of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.[13]

At SC Village, the earlier Monsterball concept contributed to the development of large recreational and scenario events, including Decay of Nations, which became an established annual event in Southern California.[1]

References

External links