The Swamp Monkeys are doing exactly what that young coach envisioned all those years ago . The battle to get here was hard , but well earned . From conceptualization to implementation , every step received the necessary resources and attention to launch the team forward into its next phase . Starting from that treacherous first year of the unknown , when the kinks and bugs had to be ironed out , to the recordbreaking membership of its fifth year , and through every stage in between , the team has grown immensely , and it ’ s not slowing down anytime soon .
Of course , the team hopes to be a leader in its own right , on the frontier of a concept that ’ s not new , but has never been part of paintball the way it is in other sports : youth leagues and clubs . Every other major sport has some kind of kid ’ s league , team , or club that children can join from an early age . But that has never been the case with paintball ; in fact , kid ’ s teams and leagues are not very common in paintball at all ! As the Swamp Monkeys have grown these past five years , we are starting to see a breakthrough in this arena , the NXL adding a youth division being one example . The team hopes to see other fields create and support their own youth teams , keeping the kid ’ s growth and development at the forefront of their focus . The hope is that , eventually , paintball youth leagues and recreational play can become as commonplace a sports activity as any other – for the growth of the sport as well as the growth of the individual player .
You can help too . Any paintball player , anytime and anywhere that you step onto that field , can be a guide for our youth . Teach them . Run with them for an objective . Work with the youth , and you will see exactly how attention and support from adults can influence their actions , and ultimately , their growth . If we all help our children be better today , then we will see a massive shift in the youth of tomorrow .
The Swamp Monkeys welcomes any and all kids between the ages of 10 and 16 in central Florida to join the team , whether they ’ re a seasoned paintball player or have never stepped foot onto a paintball field . Their homefield is located in Orlando , Florida at Outdoor Xtreme Battlefield Orlando ( 1251 S Co Rd 13 Orlando , FL 32833 ) and hosts practices every other Saturday from 9am to 11am . You can request more information by email : swampmonkeykids @ gmail . com .
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