‘Paintball without the bruises’ hits NCG
Rapid-fire Nelson College for Girls sports committee members Giorgia Doblanovic, left, Isabella Doblanovic, and Brydie Paterson. Photo: Gordon Preece.
Foam bullets flew across the Nelson College for Girls gymnasium for the opening shots of a new initiative.
The college became a Nerf Blaster battlefield venue on Sunday with the aim to promote fun and fitness for all ages.
Each Sunday, the gymnasium will again transform into a battlefield for the community, with guns, bullets and obstacles supplied free of charge.
NCG sports director Jon Routhan says the initiative, which he describes as “not like paintball where you get the bruises,” was struck up during a Hawaiian vacation in April.
“We’re always looking for new ways to get all sections of society involved and active, and for a lot of people getting out and doing Saturday or weekday sport might not fit them,” he says.
“So, I had a look, and the idea came when me and my family [sic] were on holiday overseas and we came across laser tag but with Nerf guns… it was in this giant mall.
“I thought ‘what the hell, I’ll give it a go’, and after half an hour of running round and shooting up everything and crawling under various obstacles, we had an awesome time.”
Jon says he soon fired his idea to establish a local Nerf gun battle zone to Sport Tasman and received $9000 through its Tū Manawa Active Aotearoa Fund.
He says the funding covers the cost of 30 Nerf guns, the foam bullets, safety goggles, obstacles for the battle zone, and four onsite staff each Sunday to ensure health and safety.
Jon says the funding also enables people to enter the battle for free.
“Sometimes cost can be a bit of a factor with families getting active, so as long as they book, it’s free of charge and they can come and have as much fun as possible,” he says.
“We put [the message] out towards all the schools in the Nelson City area to see what sort of buy-in and feedback we get, and it’s been really strong.”
Jon says 30 players will be locked and loaded for each shooting session.
For bookings contact [email protected].