(PAINT)BALLIN’ LIKE PROS

To most students, paintball is simply a painfully fun way to a kill few hours with friends.

But for one dedicated squad at this university, the sport is a way of life.

"It's pretty much — outside of school and planning for my career — the biggest thing in my life right now," said junior kinesiology major Forest Plourde-Cole, captain of the university's club paintball team. "I work out every day because of it."

Formed in 2002, the 25-man team currently ranks first in the National Collegiate Paintball Association's Mid-Atlantic Conference. The team boasts a 6-0 record after it swept a tournament — one of four it will play this season — that included Rutgers University, Towson University and Penn State University a few weeks ago, Plourde-Cole said.

Plourde-Cole said he expects his team to finish in the top five at April's national championships in Lakeland, Fla. Considering the enormous role paintball played in his college decision — every school to which he applied had an established paintball program — that reward would be well worth it.

"This was the only sport that I couldn't give up at college," he said. "I like to compete, and it gives me a productive way to spend my free time."

But team members did not always carry such high expectations. In its first few years, the team usually finished near the bottom of its division.

Club president Matt Novak said he marveled at the team's progression, particularly after a number of members graduated in 2010.

"We grew up a lot together last year," he said. "We hang out a lot outside of practice and that really helps."

The team — which is split into two groups: the more competitive A-team and the less competitive AA-team — works out together twice a week in Cole Field House and drives an hour and a half every Sunday to practice.

Members of the team often wake up at about 7 a.m. on Sundays and don't return to campus until about 5 p.m., they said.

"Paintball is a luxury sport — it's expensive — and we can't play that often," sophomore letters and sciences major Patrick Emad said. "So when we practice we have to make the most of it."

The team's success stems from the support it receives from the university, members said. Because the squad has existed for nearly 10 years — and because its $250 dues each semester are among the largest for any student group — the team gets substantial support from the Student Government Association.

"If you really love the sport, you come here, and we have one of the more heavily funded teams because we've been here for a while," Plourde-Cole said.

Novak said that's part of what drew him to join the team.

"I spent thousands of dollars on paintball in high school, so to come here and have the school support us, it's a steal for the price," said Novak, a junior civil engineering major.

Although this university's club has become one of the more stable collegiate paintball teams, members said they are not exempt from the financial troubles that have plagued student groups.

"If the club field hockey team loses their extra funding, they can't get new uniforms," said Plourde-Cole. "If our funding gets cut, we can't play, the club's gone," he said.

israel@umdbk.com