Talked to Calgar about this before, and after reading Arthur’s (Arthur is the captain Red Sevens, go google) blog, it sort of reminded me to blog about this.
I’m sure most people know what the chicken & egg problem is and that is exactly what is happening locally; it’s such a paradox i don’t know where to begin but let me try.
Definition of a sport by dictionary.com:
sport 
–noun
1.an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.
Okay so we know a sport is something that requires skill or exceptional physical ability and competitive.
Here’s the thing: in Paintball, particularly Speedball, your brains are working before you play the game because there are a lot planning and strategising; you need to plan where to go, which bunker to hold, which lane to shoot, jargons to remember, etc. There are so many things to do i cannot list them out.
When the game starts, you have to run, dive, slide, crouch, prone, shoot at your opponent, dodging paintballs coming at you, think on your feet, change the game plan as the game moves along, shout, control the team, reload, and usually you have to do several things at one time. (Don’t be an idiot asking me how to run and crouch at the same time, it speaks a lot about your IQ)
There is absolutely no single player mode in a game of Speedball; everything is about the team, the team and the team. There are 3-men, 5-men and 7-men games but regardless, it’s always a team effort to win the game.
So i guess Paintball fits the bill as a ’sport’ aye? Good, now we move on.
From what i know, the Paintball Association of Singapore has a letter from the Singapore Sports Council saying (or should i say certifying) that Paintball is a sport. *Hooray* Surely, a letter from the Singapore SPORTS Council that Paintball is a sport is definitely a landmark victory for the sport in Singapore!
I.. guess not.
Let’s see, sports in Singapore are the likes of soccer, basketball, badminton, pool(?) and even *gasps* ballroom dancing and they’re, no surprise now, sponsored and backed by the Singapore SPORTS Council. Great! Paintball will be in the list next!
Make a wild guess what happens when sponsorship was asked to back the sport of Paintball?
It’s like this: Nope, sorry, son. Paintball just isn’t as mass-participated as other sports. You don’t need to quote the exact reply to imply the meaning behind it.
I’m speaking from a point of a Paintballer who loves the sport but sees no participation from the almighty Singapore Sports Council.
So where’s the chicken & egg problem you ask?
#1: Paintball is a sport
#2: To grow it, to promote it, you need funds and backing from a mighty body
#3: You ask for it from SSC
#4: Rejected cos’ it’s not a mass-participated sport
And it repeats. Talk about being retarded here.
Disclaimer: The above post is entirely MY opinion and MY thoughts as an active paintballer. No one directly or indirectly related to me have influenced me in anyway.
But i’m not done.
I don’t want to cuss here but take a step back think about other ’sports’ being a real sport, no pun intended.
Ballroom dancing? Ha, i’m sure it’s as tough as Paintball. Wow, i’m going to get my team to switch to dancing instead. How come i didn’t think of that earlier?!
Like what Arthur said before, it’ll probably take Singapore another 10 years to acknowledge Paintball; like how they so stupidly ignored F1 eons ago.
Good luck Singapore Sports Council and thank you for acknowledging my sport as a sport.
Oh i thank you on behalf of ballroom dancing too. 
And i’d suggest for anyone who wishes to comment to leave their real name and identity; don’t be a anonymous keyboard warrior.
Thank you and have a good day. Paintball will go on with or without some mighty covering of some almighty council (wow, council) and just so you want to know, you can go sit in the air-conditioned halls and watch your other sports.
