How I got here: Part 1- In the Beginning

By Salvatore Santamaria
My first paintball memory isn’t of paintball at all. I was in 8th grade and a friend of mine was having a birthday party. I was saving money up for it, so I wasn’t getting any fries at school for awhile. (Fries were the only thing I bought at school.) I don’t actually remember the paintball party, but I do remember convincing my Dad to take me and my two brothers out the next summer. It was 1998 and I was scarred skinny kid hiding behind a log the whole day, because I remembered getting shot from the birthday party earlier that year. I think I wore three sweatshirts. I’m not sure if I shot anyone that day. I had a serious pair of rental foggles, and in retrospect whatever rental rust chucker I was firing made a nerf gun look like a sniper rifle.



I had a great time though! It took year before I begged a Spyder Compact 2000 out of my dad. Well, I begged him enough to buy it with my allowance money. My brothers got GT-2000’s. We spent a summer pacing 20 steps from a stick in a the backyard, loading our guns with 10 paintballs, and running full speed to “Capture the Flag.” If only more paintball fields offered this game!





At 16 I managed to get hired at a local, but now defunct, field called Hole in the Wall, in Black Diamond, Washington. After a few months I got my license and the ability to drive to work. (Side note: Promptly, I crashed my truck, a 79 Chevy Pickup, while blasting “Enter Sandman” through the tape deck.) While working at Hole, I got to really delve into paintball. I played almost every weekend, and added a 16 inch All American and a remote to the Spyder. It was all woods and no sticker vines. Lots of old growth 4 ft logs and fern cover. Back then, most people played with mechanical guns. Anyone with an Automag or a Autococker would be divided onto separate teams so one team didn’t get dominated. Angels and Shocker Turbo’s/4x4’s (aka the Brick) weren’t too common in the woods, but were around too. Heck, I even remember the Brass Eagle Rainmaker, and that funky t-shirt gun some company modded to shoot paintballs.



It was truly the golden age of paintball memories for me. 200 people at the field on Saturdays between the private parties and the 40 on 40 walk-on games I got to ref. I soon started to hear about speedball…



Next week: Part 2- Addiction