BILLERICA'S PAINTBALL BATTLEGROUND: It's about teamwork, honor and sportsmanship. But mostly it's about the SPLAT!
By Chris Camire, ccamire@lowellsun.com

BILLERICA -- Dead leaves rustle beneath my Nikes as I crouch behind the thick trunk of a maple tree.

I repeat advice given to me by Nick Gott, my 11-year-old paintball teammate: Stay close to the ground. Don't make a noise. Remain hidden.

Gun in hand, eyes focused, knees bent, I take a deep breath and creep toward the enemy.

Suddenly, shots cut through the woods. Two spheres, no bigger than a quarter, whistle past my ear.

Then a stinging sensation in my left leg buckles my knees. My head snaps backward. A splotch of yellow paint drips down my eye goggles.

Where did the shots come from? It's impossible to tell.

"I've been hit!" I scream, reaching my arms toward the sky.

My two teammates scatter.

The gunfire pauses. My first game of paintball is over almost as soon as it started.

Tony Fiore, 42, started playing paintball in the mid-1980s. The sport, which pits mask-wearing players wielding guns loaded with paint pellets against each other in a splattery variation of capture-the-flag, was in its infancy then.

After his two children were born, Fiore put the paintball gun down. But he started playing again a couple of years ago when his son, Nick, 11, was old enough. "We had the time of our lives, and we just decided this was the sport for us," said Fiore.

Paintball was no longer an underground activity by then. The Sporting Goods Marketing Association recently ranked it as the third most-popular "extreme" sport in America, with more than 7 million players.
After trekking to various paintball fields in the region, Fiore and his business partner, Joe Arsenault, hatched a plan to open a field closer to Greater Lowell.

"We wanted to provide a safe supervised environment for kids to play paintball," said Fiore. "The kids are outside, not sitting on a couch playing video games, but out keeping active and making friends."

The two asked the Billerica Rod and Gun Club if they could lease a 100-square-yard parcel on the club's land at 216 Pond St. The club said yes.

On July 11, Ultimate Adventure Paintball opened for the first time to the public. The company, which is currently reservation-only, has enough paintball guns to accommodate 40 players.

While the appeal of paintball is in the thrill of the hunt, Fiore places a heavy emphasis on safety.

He rattles off a list of safety precautions: Always keep the guns pointed down outside the paintball field. Do not remove the protective bags that stretch over the barrel of the gun to trap errant shots. Keep the gun's safety switch on.

The paintball gun, known as a "marker," is also not allowed to shoot the paintballs faster than 280 feet per second."We make it a point to stress safety at all times," says Fiore.

The appeal of the sport knows no age barriers: Plenty of young kids frequent the fields, which Fiore also hopes will be rented out for bachelor and birthday parties and corporate outings.

"Some people are like, 'Oh, it's guns, and you're just shooting at people,' but that's not what it's all about," says Fiore. "We stress teamwork, respect, good sportsmanship. The honor system plays a big part in paintball."

Finding shelter is also a big part of paintball, Gott, my teammate, tells me.

See a big tree? Hide behind it. A hole in the ground? Crouch in it. Then wait for your opponent to expose himself and shoot.

In my second game I resolve not to be eliminated right away and spend the first few minutes hiding behind a wooden board nailed between two trees.

I peer out from each side and see nothing but green vegetation. I hear one of my teammates in a shoot-out in the distance.

Then I spot Joey Nickerson, 12, poking his head up from behind a board 60 feet away. I fire four shots in his direction. They sail over his head.

Steadying my gun against my upper thigh, I wait for him to reappear, like a game of Whac-A-Mole. As soon as I see the tip of his helmet I shoot, nailing him in the right shoulder.

"I'm hit!" he screams.

Moments later, I'm in an exchange with Britnee Dellarciprete, 13, of Tewksbury.
After five minutes I run out from behind my shelter, and charge toward her.

As soon as I stand up, I'm exposed, and a paintball strikes me in my left ribcage, stopping me in my tracks. Another one pops me in the lower back. Two more sting me in the left hamstring.

I fall on the ground, stunned.

The whole time, Nick Fiore was stalking me, just 30 feet away.

"Sorry," he says to me after the game. "But I had to get you."

No worries, I tell him. It's all part of the game.

All rentals at Ultimate Adventure Paintball include admission, semi-automatic marker, barrel cover, mask, one full CO2 tank and pod pack. The price is $29.95 for 250 paintballs and $35.95 for 500 paintballs.
To make a reservation Call 978.663.8822