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AMERICAN EAGLE PAINTBALL was created due to the lack
of a scenario field in El Paso. I started with 8 rental guns and some cheap paint, doing business out of the bed of my
truck on the weekends at a local renegade paintball hotspot. After being asked to leave from several locations around
town, I began to settle down on the far Eastside and set up a field. At the current location, 11950 Montana, I have begun
to construct a once in a lifetime paintball experience available to everyone in El Paso.
I will keep my prices low and affordable. I believe in
having more people playing on the field instead of making more money off of the few that can afford the high prices. I believe
paintball should be fun for all, not just the few who think they are better at the sport than everyone
else because they play in tournaments everywhere or have played for years.
I believe in stellar customer service. If my customers need
something, I will do everything in my power to get it for them and keep it affordable.
I don't want to come accross as bashing speedball, I like all forms of the sport.
What I don't like are the players that think they are god's gift to paintball and think they should be treated as royalty
on and off the field. That is detrimental to paintball as a whole. The first timers see this and the first impression they
get is paintball is an elitist sport and they feel inferior then don't want to play it again. I welcome everyone; professional,
first timer, seasoned veteran, renegade, EVERYONE.
Let me tell you a story, a true story that happened not too long ago. I had a very
young boy come to my new field while we were building it and ask if he could play. He's very small, looked like he was 7 years
old. I had to tell him to come back in a few weeks when the field opened.
On grand opening day, I was surprised to see him with his Mom waiting to sign in.
I asked him his real age, he was 10. His Mom signed him in and he showed me his new pump gun he got at Wal Mart that morning.
"That's all my Mom can afford", he said. He was so anxious to play. After a few games he rested a little and I talked
with him. He described the shots he got with his pump gun and wished he had a better one to play with, comparing it to the
ones he saw the other players with. But he kept coming back with that pump gun and playing his heart out every game. All of
the other players were giving him pointers and how to use different techniques and tactics on the field.
He ended up joining the American Eagle Talon Brigade and was still using that pump
gun on the pee-wee team. He could hold his own against anyone on the field and on numerous occasions, was the last one out
from his side. The other team members noticed his devotion to the sport and decided to do someting about his gun situation.
They pitched in what they could, then I donated the rest of the purchase price of a Spyder Victor 07 I had for sale along
with a flashy flamed out co2 tank he really liked. You should've seen his eyes light up when I handed him the gun and told
him the team bought it for him. It made everyone's day to see it.
He is a regular at the field and everyone loves to play on his side. We even gave him
a nickname; Snake. He can hide behind every barricade standing up while most of us are crouching on 1 knee. He is the example
of how paintball should be fun and kept affordable. He will continue to get better and with everyone's help, become one of
the best at the field.
This is what paintball is all about, what it was meant to be like. Not some game
that everyone has an ego and thinks they are better than everyone else. It takes more than a gun to make a paintball player,
it takes honesty, integrity, respect for the other players, and the willingness to help the less experienced players get the
most out of their paintball experiences. It's not about the money, it's all about the FUN!
This is American Eagle Paintball !
I will be adding content from time to time about other thoughts and concerns
I have. As always, if you have any questions or opinions about this blog, please E-Mail me -
Feb. 13, 2010.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but I cannot stand cheaters. I have noticed that cheating
is on the rise at the field. I will not tolerate any cheating on my field what so ever. If I catch anyone cheating, I will
ask them to leave immediately with no refund! The referees have been instructed to give warnings to people who they see cheating,
I won't give warnings. I feel it takes away from the fun experience that everyone else is trying to have. I feel my field
is the best in town, I listen to my customers, and make sure that everyone has a chance to make the most out of their fun
day. Even when problems crop up, I take care of the situation as fairly as possible.
March 2, 2010
As American Eagle Paintball continues to grow, I will be adding more games to help keep it
interesting. Today I added a survivor game to take place at the field after regular hours. It's a cross between free for all,
capture the flag, and snipers delight. This is the type of game that was played in the beginning, before speedball, before
the commercialization of the sport, before it had really caught on. This game is grass roots paintball.
There are of course rules and safety concerns that have been addressed. Within the next 3 weeks, I
will be setting up the survivor field. I plan on holding these games as much as possible depending on the turn out and the
feedback I receive.
March 8, 2010;
Nothing makes me upset more than someone taking advantage of someone else's
kindness. I loaned a Tippmann Rental gun to a customer and it never came back. This is one of the newer Tippmann Platinum
rental marker specifically marked as a Tippmann Rental and engraved rental number AEM043 on it. This will never happen again.
This is the second gun I had grow legs and walk off. These things are not cheap to replace. Everytime one disappears, thats
less money I can put back into the field to make it better, that's more money out the door I have to spend in order to stay
in business, that's more money that I have to make up by raising prices. In order to keep prices low, everything has to come
back in at the end of the day. This next weekend, I will be implementing new rental policies and procedures to elliminate
the possibility of this happenning again. I do appologize ahead of time if this increases wait times or inconveniences anyone
in any way, but it has to be done. Loaner markers will no longer be offered for free, they will have to be rented as well
as the proper paperwork be submitted in order to keep playing.
All it takes is one bad apple to spoil the bunch, in this instance it causes me to raise
prices and make good customers wait in line longer. I hope the person that did this reads my blog, I hope they get ridden
with guilt on how they ruin good things for other people because they want something for free that isn't theirs. Although
I will not wish ill will on anyone, I wish them well, karma does bite back.
March 29th, 2010
I would really like to thank everyone for their business over the last few weeks. We continue
to set records and meet our goals for the business. Over the next month, everyone will notice some changes at the field. We
are looking into a portable structure to better serve our customers as well as double the parking areas. We will also begin
to install more netting and expand the field a little more, possibly adding a recball field to better accomodate our speedball
clientel and party goers. This recball field would also serve as a first timer field and pee-wee field as well.
The pre-registering for the Night Owl game is outstanding. That's why I felt I needed
to extend the deadline another week to give more players the opportunity to pre-register when they or their parents get paid
on the first. I had to move the Survivor game because I wasn't able to promote it the way I wanted to and nobody registered
for it.
For Myself, my wife, and my two sons it's all about customer service. If any of my customers
need anything at all, I will do what I have to do to make sure they are taken care of. When I hire employees, I will be able
to get out and talk with the customers more and make sure everything is O.K., not to mention, play a little more ( I need
to have some fun too ya know ).
April 19, 2010
It looks like I'm right back to square one. CO2 and Nitrogen keep going up in price which means
I have to raise prices again. I hate raising prices! This all started with the oil companies getting greedy and raising prices
to almost $4 a gallon. Even after prices came down, Everyone still pays more for everything. It makes me sick to my stomach
thinking there's some rich as hell S.O.B. sitting in their office coming up with ideas on how to make everyone else pay for
his retirement at 50.
I'm sorry if this price raising upsets anyone, but this is a business and businesses need to
make money to stay open. I will keep prices as low as possible and continue to allow fun paintball to happen at my field.
I do not and will never expect everyone to finace my retirement with overly inflated prices. I will keep paintball affordable
and accessable to everyone that want's to play.
May 4th, 2010
Another great weekend! I really enjoy watching everyone have fun at something I have created
with a lot of help from others. It makes me feel good, ya' know that fuzzy feeling you get when something good is happening.
The sky is the limit.
Summer camps will be held at the field this year thanks to a suggestion from and good
friend. It makes perfect sense. We all want good players to come to the field, why not begin to train them and show them how
to play correctly when they first start. The camps will begin on June 7th and go on every other week, Mondays, Wednesdays,
and Fridays. I can also expand them to every week if needed.
Thank you El Paso paintball players for the opportunity to provide a quality and fun paintball
experience to all. I can't do it without you guys and gals coming out on a regular basis.
After another successfull Red Cross fund raiser, it's come to my attention that I am the only paintball
business in town doing this. Why is this? If all of the businesses came together and did one big fund raiser for the community,
not only would it be good for the sport of paintball but it helps the community. Maybe it will help keep some of these kids
out of the gang situation, who knows? I will be working to get something going where all of the businesses and the community
will benefit.
June 4th, 2010:
If you get into paintball for malicious reasons all you're doing is hurting yourself and the
sport of paintball as a whole. It takes dedication, commitment, patience, and understanding to be in this business. It also
takes honor and integrity of which I've seen in short supply lately.
I started this business with nothing more than an income tax check. I've put a lot more
than that into it since then. I guess everyone thinks it's easy running a paintball business, it's not. You have to love the
sport and what you are doing to make it. You can't just throw money at it and expect it to work, that's a recipe for doom.
I heard someone say to me once, "It takes honor and integrity to play paintball. If you don't have that, get out of my sport",
I totally agree.
June 11th
I love it when other fields imitate me by trying to be open the same days and hours as me, or try
to offer the same games as me. I have the only scenario field in town and offer a one of a kind experience due to my
large field. Other fields in town cater to speedball or recball with small fields and a watered down almost same game experience
over and over again. I opened my field because I saw this and I think El Paso deserves better than a generic, one sided look
at paintball. That's another reason why I am holding 3 team games and will be holding SPPL type tournaments very soon, to
allow all of El Paso a chance to experience paintball the way it was intended to be played back at the beginning before the
over-commercialization that speedball has created. Don't get me wrong, I support paintball as a whole, but I don't support
anyone saying they are better than anyone else simply because they spent $1000 on a gun that does the same thing a gun costing
$100 will do. It only takes one shot to eliminate a player, not 15 as fast, or as close, as you can shoot them.
I hear parents everyday expressing their concern about their child being shot by these super fast
guns up close on supposed to be safe fields. This is the wrong signal we should be sending to these smaller kids. They are
the future of the sport of paintball. They are intimidated by the guys in all the speedball gear with the fast flashy guns.
They are affraid to get hit not once, but the excessive amounts they get while on the speedball field. Not to mention the
"run throughs" that occur and the bunkering up close. Paintball should be safe for ALL ages, not just guys that don't cry
when they get shot up close and a lot.
These are my thoughts. If you don't like them, then don't read them. The truth hurts sometimes.
JUNE 21st
I continue to improve the field and the website as much as possible each
week. I could improve it more if my customers would tell me how they want something on the field or off the field. I'm working
on getting more shade for the customer area and also the field. There should be some interesting changes within the next 2-3
weeks.
American Eagle Paintball will be a household phrase very soon. We will be out and about
promoting the business and games around town. You should hear us on the radio by summers end, and see us all over town on
bill boards and in store fronts. Keep an eye open El Paso, here we come.
June 23rd
Sometimes I feel like Santa Clause due to the specials I run. New summer specials as well as E-Mail
specials will kick in today. This is the best deal in town.
July 19th
So now they decide I don't need front nets. Hats off to the people who took my front nets on
Friday night. You idiots left your tools behind and the police have fingerprints dumbass'. I am a firm beleiver in "darwins's
law", the stupid will weed themselves out eventually. Oh, and I forgot to mention, I still opened up on Saturday morning
due to the fact I have more netting. How 'bout that! I will never close due to an incident, vandalizim, or theft. I
have back-ups for all of those occasions. It takes a bunch of real losers to think they can get away with this. Kharma will
bite you in the ass 10 fold for your actions, so be it. When I do catch you, pray the police are there to protect you from
me and all of the other players you have really pissed off by doing stupid stuff like this. Or better yet, just hang yourself
and do society a favor.
July 26th
Due to the recent illegal activity at the field, I had to get a surveillance system
and security to patrol the area. If anyone tries to do this again, I will catch them then call the police after I get
through with them. It will be fun!
August 3rd
I still don't know what the idiots get from knocking down barricades on the field. Everything
is back to normal again in less than 10 minutes. Is it really worth getting caught and sent to jail over?
I will not "go away" like some people would like. I feel I'm performing a service at the field. Someone
has to keep paintball fun and affordable in El Paso. Can you imagine how much it would cost to play paintball at any of the
other fields if American Eagle Paintball wasn't here? Back to paying $50 bucks to rent a gun, $60 cases of paint, big egos
ruining the games, that's not fun!
I am starting to research the idea of setting up a speedball course. It won't be with ballons,
but will be set up to the dimensions and shapes of the tournament style field, probably a 5 man course. The time frame of
this looks to be around 2 months.
I love the sport of paintball and enjoy having the opportunity to own a paintball business
here in El Paso. Who knows, maybe a second field in another town?
August 9th
Man, what a weekend!! Very busy despite the weather, I love this. The only black spot on a very good
weekend was a few whiners that couldn't play a single game without trying to start a fight with someone. Not only this week,
but the last 3. I'm glad they left and said they won't be back, they are not welcome at the field anymore. When they
can't keep their tempers under control, then they need to try bowling or something else other than paintball. Do they
have to try and prove they're a man by picking a fight with a 13 year old? Maybe they should go back to school and
stay a few more years to try and learn something. From what I could see from the video they posted on utube, they play very
well but they play very angry and can't control their temper. Grow up!! Life will be a lot more better if you do.
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