By KATHLEEN VEREEN DAYTON
The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News

MYRTLE BEACH — On an ordinary day, Anthony Penzara, 38, works as a computer systems analyst for a Virginia foam manufacturing company. But on Saturday, he was in Myrtle Beach firing marble-sized paint pellets from a mean-looking piece of equipment resembling a toy machine gun.

Penzara, captain of the Procyon Warriors, said the game of paint ball takes as much strategy as playing chess.

“Paint ball in America is growing by leaps and bounds,” Penzara said. “Kids just love it.”

Public play was offered Sunday in a new, inflatable playing field called a Megarena, which was set up at Broadway at the Beach. For $10, players could play three games, which last about five minutes each.

Penzara got into the game five years ago as a way of mentoring his young nephew.

Since founding the Procyon Warriors, Penzara estimates he has spent $40,000 on team expenses, including at least $12,000 a year for paint. Team members pay dues to help with costs.

The Procyon Warriors participated in a regional paint ball competition Saturday at Broadway at the Beach, where its Green Squad won first place in the Rookie division and its Red Squad won the Sportsmanship Award, also in the Rookie division.

The games, a joint production of the S.C. Paintball Field Owners Association and the Atlantic Coast Tournament Series, were sponsored by Paintball USA of Myrtle Beach, Coastal Paintball of Jacksonville, N.C., and the city of Myrtle Beach.

Bambi Bullard, owner and director of the Atlantic Coast Tournament Series and owner of Coastal Paintball, said she wanted to provide paint ball players with a new venue and spent the past 13 months planning the event at Broadway at the Beach, where she plans to host a national paint ball tournament in November.

Forty-three regional teams competed Saturday, and Bullard estimated at least 200 spectators attended.

“What I’m hoping to do is get paint ball out in front of the public more,” Bullard said.

Retired from the U.S. Marine Corps., Bullard has been involved in paint ball for 15 years and has watched the sport grow from a game played in the woods with plastic pistols to tournaments played with electronic markers that cost hundreds of dollars.

Bullard, who also owns playing fields and paint ball retail stores, said the sport hit the $1 billion sales mark in 2004 and has attracted more than 11 million recreational players in the United States.

The sport targets players between the ages of 14 and 21, but Bullard said she has had three generations of players on her playing fields, including some older than 70.

Ten is the minimum age on a certified paint ball field, and face masks and protective clothing must be worn.

A team’s objective is to capture a flag and raise it on their opponent’s turf. Players who get hit with paint balls that splatter to at least the size of a quarter are out of the game.

During public play Sunday, the 50-by-90 inflatable enclosure attracted a number of local paint ball enthusiasts including a team known as Invictus.

“I like to run. I don’t like to stand still,” said 13-year-old Makala Brooks, the only girl on the team.

For 16-year-old Mike Brzyski, paint ball is a rush.

“Nothing gets your adrenaline going more than trying not to get hit,” Brzyski said.

Source: http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate...l/11421556.htm