Playing paintball may seem just a casual pastime. A group of weekend warriors grab their plastic guns and run out to the nearest field to do some serious damage to each other with paint pellets. But increasing the game of paintball has evolved into a sport and with the sport comes gear. And no sport would be complete without its uniform and the paintball jersey has come into its own as a necessary part of the paintball industry.
Paintball Jersey Sport Sponsors and Legacy
Jeans and T-shirts were the requisite uniform for the historical paintball player. Then woodsball became popular and camouflage shirts and pants began to be the norm among those paintball players who leaned toward the tactical side. But when tournament leagues and competitions began to grow in numbers it was not long before a paintball jersey became popular. Like most sports jerseys, the paintball jersey offers players an opportunity to identify with other team members, show their team pride, tell the difference between teammates and opponents while on and off the field and, with advancements in technology, provide paintball participants with a slight edge while they are locked in battle.
Warnings about the Paintball Jersey Bounce
Whenever the subjects of paintball jerseys arise inevitably some hard-core paintball players will bring up what some participants say amounts to cheating. Called the “Jersey Bounce,” (presumably after the jersey itself and not the state of New Jersey), paintball players point out that some players may wear oversize jerseys to a tournament. They claim these oversize jerseys offer players an opportunity to cheat because the paintballs tend to “bounce,” off the jerseys instead of splatter. But paintball player leagues, tournament sponsors and tournament referees are hip to this trick. There are more than 11 paintball leagues and all of them sponsor tournaments and competitions around North America. Even if you are not a professional paintball player you may end up playing in one of these tournaments. And all of these tournaments have rules and regulations. There are rules around how to play, how far away you have to be before shooting others and, of course, there are rules and regulations about what one can wear. The National Professional Paintball League states in its rule book that a player’s uniform must fit well, and not too loose and that the jersey should be tucked inside the pants.