The Field or Facility. Check out the Field or Facility your child will be playing at to make sure the following is adequately addressed:

Protection This starts with knowing your child is playing at a commercial Field with insurance. This in itself guarantees nothing but knowing that the facility is financially responsible. It is only the first step in assessing the safety of your child.

Look for these safety precautions:
Barrel Plugs. Are they required? When and where exactly? I still see shooting in the parking lot!

Goggles. Are there designated “goggles-on” areas in relationship to designated “barrel plugs-in” areas? There should always be an overlapping area of both…. Goggles-on before they go into target range area or to the sidelines of any field and, consequently, barrel plugs-in must be required before leaving the target range or any playing field. Goggles cannot come off before barrel plugs are in…period.<b>Referees.</b> How old is an important question to ask, especially if the kids playing are slightly older than the kids reffing. Another question to ask is how many refs do we get?

This answer must be taken in context to the age of the Referees…..One military personnel or adult male can usually handle 20 to 30 like-minded players (church groups, company party, school or birthday party), but are loath to handle twelve 10 year olds. Better to have the 16 year old in this case. A rule of thumb is the younger the Ref, the more of them you need. One Ref to 10 or 15 players is all most young Refs can handle competently. Fifteen
10 year olds on cake, ice cream and anticipation definitely warrants the need for two Refs.

Velocity limits? How fast are the markers allowed to shoot? 250fps to 290fps is normal

Safety Equipment and Rules.

Approved goggles and full face shields. Look at the goggle
lens for clarity. Look at the edge of the lens for tiny cracks. Is the strap snug? Is the foam
face all there?

How close can they shoot? Anything under 10 to 15 feet hurts too much and can cause unnecessary skin contusions.

What kind of paintball guns are allowed? Single-shot or fully-automatic? 30 round bursts, 3 round bursts? One pull, one shot? The field should have a stated policy on all of the above.

What You Can Do

Follow these common sense guidelines to make sure your child is prepared for a safe, fun-filled, adventuresome day:

Nutrition. Don’t feed your kids sugar before the game. There is enough adrenaline in the
sport already! Don’t hydrate your kids with soft drinks. This is the perfect time to
introduce the sweetness of chilled zero-calorie water. Also, a cold fresh orange or apple
will slack their need for sweet swill. Kids seem to pay attention and follow safety rules
better when they are not infused with sugar accelerantes. Kids also seem to sweat a lot
more with sugar in them and that can lead to the fogging and then the lifting of their
goggles up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Dress. Dress them in layers so they can peel off clothing as they see fit. Baggy is better than tight. Girls and women should not, under any circumstances, wear tight clothes, especially pants. If we can tell your gender, your asking for welts. Baggy, baggy, baggy. Look at the guy’s pants….Does it look like he might get welted by a paintball? Look at the nearest woman’s pants….Does it look like it might be conducive to welts?

NO nylon or spandex pants.
Wear sturdy shoes; NO open-toed shoes or sandals.
Wear at least one long-sleeved shirt.
Wear a wool cap during cold weather.

Young kids with small hat size - a baseball cap turned backwards makes the goggles fit better and protects the back of the neck.

Gloves on cold days. Any glove will work….99 cents store, women’s garden gloves, cut tips of fingers off, you have great and inexpensive protection for young kids’ hands.

Male protection! It happens, but it’s your call. If you have it, I strongly suggest you wear it!

Female protection, if needed. Baggy flannel shirts or sweat shirts two sizes too large pad well. I’ve seen the cardboard from a paintball box work.

A Parent’s Perspective. Here’s the perfect Birthday Party, as provided from a few parent’s:

Feed them oatmeal and orange juice in the morning. Chilled apple or oranges and water only for breaks…..No headaches later. Whatever for lunch, but let them determine the time they eat or have crackers and juice. Save the pizza for the end of the day, take them to a pool, take them home and they’ll be asleep by 8 pm. We have four sons and it worked on all of them and their friends.

Don’t be afraid to send a small child or a daughter. It’s mostly eye-hand coordination and this is one sport that small people rule. If all things are equal, a 10 year old is a lot harder to hit than a 20 year old and most kids figure this out quickly. It’s the parents that need convincing.