He peeks his head around the corner, his eyes scanning for intruders. Seeing none, he cautiously takes a few steps around the corner, still fully alert with his gun — marker — raised. Out of the corner of his eye, he spots movement. He sees a bunker with the promise of protection and he breaks into a full sprint, but he’s too late. As the flurry of paintballs catch him in the chest and head, he hangs his head in dejection and raises his hands in the air to signal, “Hey guys, I’m out” and walks off the field. Welcome to the intense world of the N.C. State Paintball Club. Composed of mainly sophomores and juniors with a few freshmen thrown in, members of the club are serious about their sport but also know how to have a good time with it. Michael Patti, a sophomore in biological sciences and the club’s creator, said he likes playing paintball just because of the people.

“I just like meeting people. Paintball players are usually great guys,” he said. “Plus, where else do you get to shoot at people for fun?” And fun is what they have. Sure, they will bark directions about cover fire and put a shot or two into each other’s backs without batting an eye, but after the game they’ll laugh right along with everyone and pat each other on that same back they so happily lined up in their crosshairs moments ago. Josh Burrell, sophomore in mechanical engineering and paintball player for more than nine and a half years, said it’s the team aspect that draws him in.

“It has always just been lots of fun, playing on teams and the camaraderie that goes along with it,” he said. Drawing on that team aspect, the club hopes to start competing in tournaments and leagues across the East Coast.

“We are having one practice a month starting in December and are looking into getting a sponsor,” Patti said. “We are all interested in playing at a serious level in tournaments and such.” Brian Besterman, a freshman in biological sciences and player for more than eight and a half years, claims it’s the tournaments and competition that attract him to the sport.

“I used to play on a team in Charlotte and we would travel all around the Southeast playing tournaments,” he said. “I like that aspect because you get to hang out with your friends and go to hotels and stuff.” To start playing competitively they are going to need some support from the University, according to Patti. Just having a place to store their gear would be a good way to start, for example.

“We’ve asked the Student Senate for an off-campus locker and they’ve given us some money but not enough,” he said. “Currently, a lot of our stuff is at one of our friend’s apartments and we don’t want to have to trust thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment to him.” T.J. Appling, the club treasurer and a sophomore in computer science, said it’s his job to try to get money for the club.

“I basically petition the Student Government for appropriations and collect club dues so we can have more money and do more things, like travel to tournaments,” Appling, player for five years, said. Appling said he was drawn to paintball because of the lack of choices of sports in his hometown. “I like playing because it is so different. Where I grew up you either played football or baseball and paintball was something different and fun,” he said. Being able to do something unlike many of the other mainstream sports is what drew many of the club’s members to paintball. But just like any other sport, the cost to play can pile up. Several of the members can attest to spending thousands of dollars on various markers and other pieces of equipment, and most have body bags full of gear they’ve put together over the years. “I’ve been collecting paintball stuff ever since I’ve started playing and I never throw anything away, but I don’t even want to think about how much I’ve spent over the years on this sport,” Burrell said.

A few members, such as Burrell, can also stake the claim of getting a job just to feed their addiction to the game. And it is that same passion that all paintball players seem to have for their sport that is making it wildly popular, especially among young males.