Collins and Santos as the out-of-town team, Pink started with an advantage. But DJ Productions held in his pocket a wildcard: the Swamp Monkeys. To level the playing field, the emerging stars of the youth paintball scene who always show up in force were held in reserve to support the team that needed them to balance the scales. After acquiring them, Collins says that the teams were only separated by a difference of a six-player headcount.
Placing the emphasis and value on the Swamp Monkeys serves a secondary purpose in the culture of this game, as well: the growth of kids in the sport. To underscore this, DJ Productions includes several kids’ missions throughout the weekend. This year, the mission everyone was talking about was the kids’ mission to build a dinosaur out of empty paint boxes.
The kids who were 16U scrambled all morning trying to scavenge empty paint boxes from players and trash cans alike. They then brought the boxes to the main stage and had to assemble a dinosaur out of them. According to one participant, Jaxson Womack, this mission ended in a tie. It appears that there were two categories to score: Height and realism. The Pink team built a 25-foot brontosaurus, while the Yellow team expressed their artistic skills in the construction of a triceratops complete with a plume and horns. They both deserved credit on that one.
Saturday was structured as missionbased play with missions completed by the generals scoring for double points. This gave the commanders an opportunity to learn the machinations of the game. As Sundays are typically lighter in attendance at any two-day event, the
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