It’s been quite the summer for paintball so far and we’ve got much more in store for the rest of the year. Welcome everyone, to Buffalo Paintball’s Spotlight. Every few weeks, we interview players and ask them to share their thoughts about the game.
This week we have a player from our neighbor to the north. Eli Gallibois is from Petawawa, Ontario, Canada and has a love for paintball just like so many others. He was in the military service for fifteen years, and is now in the reserves. He started playing paintball when he was fourteen years old, making it seventeen years he’s been playing. There’s a local field he plays at every so often called 13th Monkey but he tends to travel around and see what other fields have to offer. His travel record is impressive to say the least: Soldiers of Fortune, Hamilton; Cameron Speedway and Paintball Hamilton; Commando Action Center, Ottawa; Paint Storm, Ottawa; Gatineau, Ottawa; Paintball Mountain, Ontario; Marked, Ottawa; Karters Korners, Ottawa; PRZ, Picton; Wasaga Paintball Adventures, Ontario. He’s also been to fields in Winnipeg and West Edmonton Mall.
Everyone has their favorite part of paintball, and Eli loves to ref games as much as he loves playing. As he refs games with rental players, he enjoys seeing the excitement they get out of just playing the game with whatever they have.
We all know what it’s like to play normal paintball, but what about the massive games everyone is always talking about? There’s always one particular game that is on every players mind for the year and they’re always talking about it. Eli told us that he would love to attend the Mirrabel Tippman Challenge, saying how he would arrive in a convoy of buses and storm in all at once. “The experience is the next level.”, he said.
Woodsball, or speedball? Here, we have a woodsball player, as Eli likes to avoid diving into snakes as he becomes more ‘seasoned’. “It’s much more than just about winning or losing.” he told us. His experience is like many others, having a passion for the sport and the love of just being on the field. As far as equipment goes, Eli prefers to use his Spyder Victor, although he says he’s still deciding on what his new go-to marker will be.
Sharing paintball stories is what makes the community so immersive and welcoming and we love hearing stories from all sides of the game. Eli says the most memorable paintball experience he’s had so far, is when he was reffing a game for a younger group of hockey players, and being the player that he is, kept trying to get their family and friends to play as well. One of the hockey players’ sister showed up one time and wanted to try it out for a change. She asked for Eli by name, knowing that her brother had him as a ref for previous games. Since it was the girls birthday, Eli decided to give her a marker, and saw her face light up. That’s a perfect example of the kind of people you encounter in the paintball community, spreading the love of the game with as many people as possible.
Traveling is always a must in paintball, and Eli has traveled….far. He’s on his way to Germany soon; although not paintball related, he’ll be checking out a field while there. His advice to new players is this: “The game is fun, the community is amazing, don't let one bad hit or bad apple in a group ruin either of those things for you. This applies to paintball and life as a whole.”
Thank you everyone for reading this week’s edition of Spotlight. Be sure to like, comment or share to possibly be selected / featured in a future spotlight! Check back in the coming weeks for the next player interview - get out there and play some paintball!
Jacob Rozsa
Buffalo Paintball