Paintball Magazine August 2017 Paintball.Media Issue | Page 36

IN THEIR OWN WORDS - FROM THE FIELD
FALLING IN LOVE WITH
PAINTBALL & ION
By Robert Lynch
ION is one of
the reasons
that my family
truly fell in love
with the sport
of paintball. My
brother Michael,
22, and my father,
Dan, celebrated
their tenth year
of ION this past
year, while I, 17, celebrated my eight year
of ION, and my other brother, Danny,28,
celebrated his seventh ION this year. As most
players do, we all started playing paintball
in the woods on a small scale, but after a
trip to Skirmish for ION in 2007 my brothers
and father were hooked. Not one year
was skipped throughout the run. As I dove
neck deep into the sport when I was ten, I
quickly realized the passion felt by my family
members. As my brother Michael and I found
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our way into the tournament scene, playing
on circuits such as NXL and EPL, we began
to lose touch of the correlation between our
family and the sport. However, every year
we were reminded about this bond through
ION, the props returned by all four of us
together, the hours spent in swamps and off
the speedball field, and hours of “Oohs”
and “Ahs” following the game every year
as we exclaim in soreness, these are all the
moments that bring us together through ION.
As years flew by, hopping from team to team,
my brother and I found a perfect home for
our abilities with the world renowned Master
Blasters paintball organization. Now, with the
honor of representing this wonderful team,
and paintball family, we have found a new
love for the sport on both a tournament, and
scenario level. With a decade of ION in the
books, the Lynch family, with representation of
the Master Blasters by the family, will continue
to dominate the event for decades to come.
From a once in a lifetime experience, to
an annual family tradition that leaves you
planning for the next one, the day after the
event, Skirmish ION is special to us.