[quote=SaharaJunkee;161800]maybe certain ages should be allowed only if accompanied by an adult......then kind of puts parents under some responsibility out on the field.

I have long agreed with this. I mean for a player under 18 an adult has to sign a waiver right? I believe that it should be mandatory that if the minor is going to play, that the parent/guardian must remain at the field. I'm not saying that they have to play too (although that is a much better situation) but it bothers me to no end to see these parents that simply use paintball as a weekend babysitter.
I don't know,... maybe even give the adult a discount if they play, too? This might get many more folks interested in paintball as a family sport, and not a 16-25 year old boy's sport. (sorry, I tend to lean toward scenarios myself )

What do other paintball parents think of this???

I feel that it should be left up to the field. I also agree that I have known players at all ages that just can't handle it. Some 10 year olds play just as fair and harder then olders players. Personaly, I like sending the little ones to the base "looking for daddy" and they get a base blow!!

FIREBUG, TEAM CAPTIAN, RECON 1

LMAO... she called you a mean bastard??? boy..she's gonna grow up to be a classy little lady...

ROFL its not the ones who cry who piss me off, its the ones who can't handle it and get all huffy puffy and shoot the hell out of you in rage. that happened to me once, i swear i almost slapped him... AND THE PARENT DIDN'T SAY A DAMN WORD!!

my setup is better than yours......i hope.....
http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o114/spyderman84/

I don't take my meds
because I like being ANGRY!

yeah lets raise the age limit we can slow the sport from growing ..........................everyone needs to teach safety, every field needs to do a safety speech to new players and the refs do a little talking too.... just my thoughts, i am a ref also

gonna make someone a good wife

well im glad that little girl didnt go ms. rambo on me

again...that's when you need to drag the parent out on the field to play and see what "junior" is doing vs. what should be done, THEN they can TALK about it when they get back home.

Learning doesn't take place without teaching and repetition.
If the parent is clueless how can the kid learn?
NOTE: this leaves out the kids that listen and learn on the field like most of us did...parents too, including myself, pickup the most by Talking to folks that have been around and actually listening Isn't that what it's all about anyway??????????

I don't really think raising the age limit is going to be the answer... All kids are going to react differently to the pain, and relate to the sport on different levels of aggressiveness and sportsmanship and play style. All kids are built differently too, mentally and physically.
It is a parent's responsibility to learn about the sport before sending a child out to play. Ultimately a parent should go out with the kid to see what it feels like to be hit by a paintball... then they can somewhat judge if their child is going to be able to deal with the "pain" and play on...or if it will end up a traumatic experience.
I know as a ref, any chance I get to talk with new kids and their parents, I encourage them to don the goggles and a safety vest and go out on the field and watch what the kids are doing, hopefully they will catch a stray ball ...for learning purposes of course... and if they can't actually take the time to go out and bond with their kid through paintball, at least they have a clue of what's going on out on the field.
My daughter can't wait to get out there...she is only 8 and we are slowly building her pain tolerance up to a point where she will be able to deal with the pain positively...sometimes we allow her to practice target shooting with our markers, but we keep telling her that she will not be ready to play until she can take a hit without crying! We have a rather long road ahead I think, but I know she will get there!!

...Looking forward to nailing you between the eyes with my balls!!! *MWAH*