Ball Blacks to face the world’s best

‘‘We are a group of athletes who have come together with a great skill set to form what will be team New Zealand.’’

Like a game of chess at a hundred miles per hour is how a team of paintball champions describe the sport.

Members of the self-proclaimed New Zealand Ball Blacks are training every weekend at Asylum Paintball in Karaka as they prepare for the Paintball World Cup Asia 2017 in Kuala Lumpur.

Team captain Sam Comport has competed in the sport for four years and says the players are taking their skills to ‘‘the next level’’ for the three-day tournament, starting on November 10.

Thousands of rounds of paintsplattering ammunition is being unleashed in the lead up to the event.

Getting shot has the same ‘‘sting’’ as being ‘‘whipped with a tea towel’’, Comport says.

It’s all part of the fun as they prepare to tackle top teams such as the US and Russia and up to 20 other countries.

‘‘We are a group of athletes who have come together with a great skill set to form what will be team New Zealand.

‘‘We are winding up the tempo to sharpen our skills and fitness in order to be the best and show that New Zealand is a force to be reckoned with, be it in rugby, sailing or competition paintball.’’

The team is made up of players from Auckland and Hamilton aged 22 to 30.

They came together from other paintball teams and are funding the trip themselves.

Team member Chris Waters is one of the ‘‘veterans’’.

He played his first paintball game at the of age of 14 and has been shot ‘‘thousands of times’’.

It started at his friend’s birthday party and that’s how many people first get hooked, he says.

‘‘You get the adrenaline and get quite addicted to it,’’ he says.

‘‘When you’re in there you’re zoned out and you’re definitely not thinking about what’s for dinner.’’

Waters says there’s a lot of intellect and strategy involved in a 10 minute paintball match.

The teams have five players on each side.

And each team is trying to eliminate as many players as possible.

A player is eliminated from the field of play once they are hit.

The team that presses the buzzer first wins the game.

Go to facebook.com/ NZLBallBlacks for more.