Paintball Magazine Paintball Extravaganza Special Edition | Page 48

through the netting. My carrier said if I didn’t get a handle
on it they would pull out. So I investigated the netting
and came up with netting that would stop paintballs and
started selling netting under Warrior Sports Gear also. In
2000 I was at the World Cup and my barrel plug kept
falling out of my Angel and of course everyone jumped
on yelling at the insurance guy to put my barrel plug in!
Payback. So at lunch I was sitting with Tom Kaye and Bud
Orr discussing the challenge and they told me that we
were into making stuff, just sew something together and
put over the barrel. The barrel condom was born that next
week to make it a safer industry.
How many fields do you serve?
We serve 247 paintball fields and 32 airsoft fields, as well
as a multitude of other businesses.
The minimum coverage age to play paintball has
dropped over the years. Has this brought more
people to the game? 
When we first started our insurance program, my boys
were 5 and 7 and did everything with me. So I never put
an insurance age limit on players. I felt that if correctly
managed, having young players could be safer than
having adults.
What is your favorite part of this industry? 

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Seeing my shirts and barrel condoms on so many people
and guns, as well as all the friendships I have made.
What is your company’s vision? 
The Cossio Insurance Agency specializes in hard to
place risks including paintball, airsoft, mud runs, special
events, family fun centers, inflatable rental companies,
rock climbing, Halloween events, zombie shoots, zip
lines, and trampoline parks to name a few. We have
offices in California and South Carolina and an agent in
Illinois ! Education is the main thing that I do now and I
travel across the USA giving safety speeches in these
niche industries. I look to continue building our insurance
agency and continue the education of business operators
on running a safe business. Weekend Warrior Sportz will
continue to make custom barrel socks and sell paintball
netting, and providing products for the airsoft industry. We
have so many other venues of netting that we have ready
to launch but are so busy we need more time!
How is the paintball industry treating you?
Interestingly, very good! The insurance guys are not the
guys that they invite to Christmas dinner. I am not the guy
they like due to the rules we ask that they follow, but they
love the fact that I stand my ground and fight for them.
What response did you get at Paintball Extravaganza?