Students need two more players to be recognized

Jake Barash dodges bullets and protects the flag, and he's recruiting more UA students to join him.

Barash, a civil engineering freshman, along with two other students, Lloyd Miller and Owen Panzica, said he has been looking for experienced paintball players at the University of Arizona since the beginning of the semester.

"I want a team of competitive players," Barash said. "I want to come back in 10 years and say, 'Oh my gosh, the paintball team that I started won six times.'"

Universities nationwide participate in competitive paintball, or speedball, through the National Collegiate Paintball Association. A paintball team of five students from the same university is all that is required to compete in NCPA tournaments, said Chris Raehl, NCPA president.

Paintball, a war-like competition between teams of five or 10, has more than 8 million players worldwide, said Miller, a political science freshman.

In speedball, a fast-paced tournament version of paintball, two teams start at opposite ends of the field geared with markers, or paintball guns, protective masks and team jerseys. The teams gain or lose points by eliminating players and capturing a flag in the middle of the field.

"It's a passion. It's a sport," Miller said. "It builds friendship and comradeship. It requires a certain amount of dedication."

To Barash, dodging and shooting paintballs gets the adrenaline pumping and reminds him of being young.

"It's like when you were kids playing cowboys and Indians," Barash said. "It's like a combat mission without bullets."

A five-man team to play in NCPA tournaments is not the club founders' only goal. If enough students respond, they will form a recreational paintball club to play at local fields on the weekends.

"We want as many people as possible for the club," said Panzica, an economics freshman, who is also a co-director for the NCPA's southwest region division. "Don't be afraid of paintball - it doesn't hurt that much."

Forming a paintball club will not be difficult, said Mary O'Mahoney, assistant director of UA sports clubs and family programs.

"Any group that gets themselves organized can become a club," she said. "The Corndog Society got recognized; I don't see why paintball wouldn't."

For now, the three founders need two dedicated and experienced paintball players to complete their team and compete in the 2002 NCPA College Paintball National Championships on April 27 in Joliet, Ill.

Teams will play between six and 12 five-minute games that day, Raehl said.

Some of the top-ranked teams hail from Drexel University, Purdue University and Michigan State University.

Anyone interested in joining the team should contact Jake Barash at 695-0951.