The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

t‘s a glorified game of tag, with Ihighâ€"puwercd paintball guns and tactics that would make any counterâ€"terrorism unit smile. But like a lot of other extreme sports that have made their mark in the Xâ€"Games or on cable TV netâ€" works around the world, it‘s achieving a certain level of popuâ€" larity. So much so, the sport has its first $100,000 player: Oliver Lang. Waterloo‘s Ryan Uherek is a long way from reaching that level, but he‘d like to think he and his teammates at Maverick paintball are on their way. The Canadian team, featuring other local players like Zach Lankveld and Zak Kirkâ€" land, will be heading to Orlando, Fla., to play some of the world‘s best teams at the World Cup. "It‘s fast paced," said the 17â€" yearâ€"old, who has been playing competitive paintball for the last two years. "It‘s an adrenaline rush the entire time. "It‘s hard not to get hooked." So is it a sport? The Grade 12 student at Bluevale collegiate instiâ€" tute likes to think so. He grew up playing hockey and said that the training he does for paintball is just as strenuous if not more than when he prepared to play hockey. Local paintballer makes strong case for his sport "It is a sport," said Uherek. "There are rules and regulations, different teams and tournaments and training. t had been almost 25 years since Barb Il)ahrowski had picked up a javelin and launched it as a member of the University of Waterloo track team. So when her daughter Hannah took up the event at WCI last year, the mother of four girls decided she could show her daughter a few tips. Little did she know a year later she would be a world champion in her age class taking the gold in the 50 to 54 age group at the World Masters Track and Field Champiâ€" onships in Riccione, Italy. as third in the country while competing for the Warriors. Dabrowski had and outstanding throwâ€" ing career in high school in Sarnia before she attended the University of Waterloo to study biology. At one time she was ranked as high Local mother of four wins World Masters title in the javelin By Bos VrBANAC Chronicle Staff . By Bos VRrBANAC Chronicle Staff â€" Waterloo‘s Ryan Uherek lays down some covering fire for his Mavericks teammates during a recent competition. The Bluevale student said paintball is a sport like any other and he has the bruises to prove it. susmitTeD rroto "It‘s just like you‘re playing a _ favourite part of the sport is all the _ at the end of a game a player gets a sport like hockey. You can‘t just sit _ dryâ€"land training he has to do to _ real workout. around; you have to be in top _ stay fit enough for the paintball "It‘s just that your goal is to physical condition." field. There‘s a lot of running, _ shoot up the other team and get And like hockey, the least â€" dodging, bending and crawling so _ their flag, instead of skating down "It‘s just like you‘re playing a sport like hockey. You can‘t just sit around; you have to be in top physical condition." And like hockev, the least Barb Dabrowski, in the centre, won the gold medal at the World Masters games after 25 years away from the sport. She is now planning to break the world record. suemitteo proto SPORTS Sleep well...Live well. At NATVURAL LATEX MATTRESSES Naturally aerating product that is: * highly hygienic * antiâ€"microbial * dust mite resistant * offers maximum support for all body types COME IN TODAY AND TRY ONE FOR YOURSELF WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, October 3, 2007 * 27 But marriage and children took her away from it until one of her daughters showed an interest in the sport she was formerly pasâ€" sionate about. "I stopped because 1 got injured and 1 started having kids," said Dabrowski. "But when my third daughter looked like she could be a pretty good athlete 1 thought she could be a good thrower." Mom researched the sport again online, and started to do her own coaching. "Everyâ€" thing is online these days," she laughed. "It‘s wonderful." While looking up her daughter‘s results at OFSAA, Dabrowski came across a Masters site that offered the same kind of competiâ€" tion to more mature athletes. She became intrigued and decided to pick up the sport again last summer. "I didn‘t even know they had Masters the ice to score a goal," he said. "In hockey you go down and put the puck in the net, and just like that it takes a lot of teamwork." There are three sorts of posiâ€" tions a player can play â€" front, mid or back â€" all with different responsibilities. Uherek is one of the snipers at the back that moves up quickly to the front when the team is closing in on the kill. "Your object is to pinch out the other team," he said. "You push up the field and eliminate targets, and then you go back and grab the flag and run it to the deadzone." Paintball, like hockey, also involves a lot of expensive equipâ€" ment to play. It can cost thousands to equip a player with the best nitrousâ€"oxide powered gun plus all the protective parts of the uniform they wear. With the gun he can shoot up to 15 balls a second, which also means there‘s a lot of ammunition costs that go with the sport. Luckiâ€" ly, the success of his team, based out of Zurich, has earned them some sponsorships that help defray some of those costs. And while it‘s not a body check, you can feel those highâ€"pressured paintballs when they hit. _______ _ LonceToba MALE pavenpont AD _ "It stings a bit," said Uherek. "When you get hit it stings for 10 seconds and after that it‘s like, ‘eh.‘ "You‘re so fuelled with adrenaâ€" line you don‘t feel it half the time." The other half of the time Continued on page 30 Continued on page 31