• History of Paintball
• Evolution of paintball
• Teachings of paintball
• Paintball games

Evolution of paintball

Here´s a timeline of events that have occurred during the evolution of paintball:

1970 James Hale invented the first paintgun.

1981 Paintball begins in New Hampshire and the first game of paintball was played. The principal creators of include Bob Gurnsey, Hayes Noel, and Charles Gaines.

1982 The first outdoor playing field was opened in Rochester, N.Y. by Caleb Strong. Charles Gaines marketed paintball as the National Survival Game (NSG). Pursuit Marketing Inc. (PMI) was founed to market and distribute paintball products.

1983 The first NSG National Championship took place and had a cash purse of $14,000. The first outdoor paintball fields opened in Toronto, Canada. Lionell Atwill writes "The Official Survival Game Manual", the first paintball publication.

1984 The first indoor paintball field was opened by Caleb Strong. Paintball started in Australia under the name of Skirmish Games.

1985 The first outdoor paintball field was opened in England.

1988 The International Paintball Players Association (IPPA) was founded.

1991 Paintball begins in France, Denmark, and other countries in Europe.

1992-1993 The National Paintball Players Association (NPPL) was founded and began its NPPL Pro-Am Series across the U.S. Rec.Sport.Paintball became an official newsgroup. Team Internet is formed as players prepared for the World Record Game at Jack Frost Mountain, PA.

1995 Paintball fields are open in Europe, Asia, and South America.

1996 Paintball fields, stores, and tournaments can be found in many countries around the world. The IPPA is officially disbanded.

1997-1999 The first electro-pneumatic markers are designed and produced.

Now, there are competitive leagues globally. At the professional level, in the USA, there exists the National Professional Paintball League (NPPL) and the Paintball Sports Promotion League (PSP). In Europe, there is the Millennium Series and in the Asia Pacific region, there is the Paintball Asia League Series. Paintball is currently played in over 50 countries at present, with competition from the recreational level to professional.