Being an athlete: how many paintballers..?

[Reptile Smile]

Something that @Buddha 3 said recently about the guesting of pros being indicative of why paintball cannot be viewed as professional reminded me of something I read maybe a decade ago in PGI - I think in a column by @Robbo, though I apologise if I'm misquoting, in which he said something along the lines of 'most paintballers like to think of themselves as professional sportsmen, but it's not even a sport - it's a customer service industry masquerading as a sport'.

I've been doing a lot of cycling in the last few years, and even your average club cyclist takes care of their body, watches what they eat, and knows their body fat percentage. I genuinely wouldn't know how this is in the upper-echelons of paintball - all I've ever done is bimble around the arse-end of domestic leagues, but what level (if any) do you get to in paintball before people treat their role as 'professional athletes' - that is, eat a specific diet for the purposes of paintball/go to the gym for the purposes of paintball/etc?

This level of commitment isn't evident in every sport, I accept. I don't think many snooker players. I think you never used to have it in golf, though at the top level, you do now. Rugby probably is an interesting halfway-house.

Anyway. Just wondering...

 

[I used to good.Honest]

I think now, the top pros train every single day, working on fitness and skills and strength.
Back in our day, us pros worked on our drug intake and throwing up before a game to focus. i think it's changed a lot.
I know a lot of guys who play the PSP and Millenium and they train as a team at least once a week, and sometimes the fortnight leading up to a tournament they will train everyday on the field as well as working out in the gym.

 

[Liam92]

there's a difference between acting professional and being professional. In my mind eating right, conditioning your body and working on skills every other day is 'acting professional' whereas being a professional at your chosen sport is doing it for a living and earning a living (or at least getting by) on the money gained by it. if money in>money out then I'd say you are a true professional.

However in this sport I'd agree with Robbo, I can't think of a single player in the world that plays, and ONLY plays paintball for a living. every single pro that exists actually makes their money (or sustains their playing) by working for companies within the industry. Even when the russians had players on the payroll it was for such a minimal amount that if they had wanted to live somewhere else, do other things on the weekends or anything to that affect then they needed additional income (so basically they were paid expenses). I'm basing this on what I've been told by a chap who was invited to join the russians back in the day so somebody correct me if this has been exaggerated to me.

I think everybody likes to be able to give themselves taglines and titles where they can, not gonna lie when i finish my degree i'm looking forward to getting a sign for my desk that says 'Liam White LL.B.' and I definitely enjoy telling people i play semi professional paintball in europe when the reality is i'm a broke student working in a call centre for sky, who can barely afford rent let alone a social life, because he chucks every penny in to the 'sport' that he loves.
So yes i think as long as this sport exists, those at the top funding themselves by any means will alwasy tag themselves as pros.

 

[Bolter]

I played "Pro" I think between 2001 and 2005 but all that meant was I played in the top Euro division that was labelled "Pro", and I make no qualms telling people I was not a professional athlete! Far from it. Yes we trained, no I didnt dedicate my entire life to it, I relied on my youth for fitness, and my once or twice a week training sessions for my skills (which if applied to the modern game now would amount to a much lower division)

I just really enjoyed shooting people in the face, and went with the ride in a relatively new sport. Felt like pioneers of a snapshot of paintballs history, but at the most, I just have a few stories/trophies to show the grandkids.

 

[Andy Steele]

First of all, to be a professional at any sport, it has to be a sport in the first place.

Paintball is not a sport..........therefore there can be no professionals within this game/hobby we all play.

When it becomes one, which I'm sure it will with the efforts of the ukpsf, then, and only then, can people start to label themselves as "professionals"

 

[Buddha 3]

Your logic is flawed. Yes, in order to be professional at a sport, it needs to be a sport. But it doesn't need to be a sport, in order to be able to be professional in something.
I would rate those that make their money off this game as professional hobbyists.

 

[ToniH]

I agree with Buddha, what makes professional at sport is getting paid for doing it. To be paid for doing sports you have to be one of the best. In many sports being the best means working your ass of as Arnold said

About what is sport and what is not. Chess is considered as sport.

 

[Tom]

Back in the day it was deemed the ideal to be a sports amateur and not a professional
Professionals were the people who worked, possibly in a field relating to their sport, an amateur trained well, was a gentleman with an alternate income allowing them to dedicate that bit more time, and retired early after achieving their best

Sounds like what we call a paintball pro, except for the gentlemanly ideals

 

[Missy-Q]

Professional just means that you play it for a living, in its most literal sense.
There are a few legit 'pro's out there, just very few, and I would definitely not swap paychecks with any of them.
You have to have either no ambition or unrealistic ambition to play pro.
No ambition - because you will not get paid much, and most people with ambition would find something else to do that paid them more.
Unrealistic ambition - because some people think that this status quo will change and they will find themselves raking in the cash just as soon as 'blahblahblah'.

 

[Tony Harrison]

Scott Kemp (currently with X-Factor) trains like an athlete. The other end of the scale is Mark Kressin (Mr H) who just drinks.