Airsoft as a sport.
 

Hi,
I started playing airsoft a year ago, and admittedly I got into it without really understanding what airsoft is all about. All I knew was there were cool guns, and they shot stuff. I've been to a few skirmishes and even though I had a lot of fun, they weren't what I was expecting.

There are two sides of airsoft that I can see. Milsim/Re-enactment vs. Sport.

Personally, I favor the sport side:
which means:

-Clear simple goals, around which strategies are developed. (ie. capture the flag, elimination,etc..)

-Your skills are more important than your guns. ie. you are worthless if you can't contribute to the team, no matter how expensive your setup is.

-You choose your guns based around functionality not style. ie. speed, accuracy, and reliability.

-Skirmishing should promote competition between teams. Competition promotes depth, and the development of new strategies to the sport.

-You think putting a EOTech on an airsoft gun is the biggest waste of money ever.

The other side would be milsim/re-enactment:

-Goals/objectives are historically accurate. Tactics used in real war is adopted, even though those tactics were designed around the speed and range of real ammunition.

-Your gear and gun contribute to the realism. As long as you look your part, your making the game feel more real and consequently better for all the other players.

-You place a lot of emphasis on asthetics when choosing your gun. ie. the finish, the material, the gun model, the trades.

-Skirmishing should feel as if you were in real battle, with emphasis placed on realism.

-You think that it's blasphemy if an EOTech is the one piece missing from an accurate setup, and you don't put it on.

So, I would like to know what's the proportion of people on support of either side.

Thanks for reading.
-Cuppo

what you put alot of games are a mix of both. scrims can still have the reality of a MILSIM. its not the game its the player that picks weather hes a authentic looking player or not.

My expectation around here whould be realism and re-enactment, for what i read here since the last 4 month. I cant wait to see what players here will answer.

Good point. Most games right now are a good mix of the two. I'm gonna have to clarify my question:

If one of the two extremes were promoted, which direction would you rather see airsoft taking?

Extreme Sport:
-Red and Blue Uniforms
-Capture the Flag
-Ladders
-Non-realistic guns that still shoots.

Extreme Simulation:
-Real Gear and Uniforms
-Real-looking guns that match uniform and scenario.
-Accurate re-enactment of modern warfare.

Personally, if it was a one-way-or-another choice, I'd have to say Extreme Simulation due to the fact that Mil-Sim can include objects similar to Capture the Flag (AKA: Object Extraction).

The real turn off about your "Extreme Sport" would be the Red and Blue Uniforms. Who would want to look like a paintballer.

Mostly what he said. My team plays mostly Cap the flag, fort knox, king of the hill, etc...but we wear German camo and try to use tactics/Milsim style of play as much as possible.

And the non-realistic looking guns. If I didn't want guns that looked realistic, I would have got into paintball, or woodsball.

Considering the recent 'publicity', I'd prefer to have no promotion at all. Discretion is the better part of valor at the moment.

Thanks for your thoughts gentleman.
It seems most of you (or at least the more vocal of you) prefer milsim.
However, the poll is almost equal. How about some opinions from the other side?

I'm actually a big fan of paintball. Except paintball guns are clumsy, inaccurate, and ammo is expensive. Which is the reason that I turned to airsoft.

One complaint that I hear a lot is: paintball has no tactics, it's just mindless spray and pray.
To which I answer: If you want to win, there's always tactics. If everyone just sprayed and prayed, what differentiates the good players from the bad?

That' wasn't one of the options... don't randomly insert shit because for the love of God this argument doesn't need to be brought up again.

The whole point of airsoft to me is getting into the realism as much as you can without choosing to shoot at your friends with live ammo. This does not even remotely have to get close to "re-enacting" any point in history to be considered a milsim. All that stuff you describe that you like to do, why don't you just go and play paintball chief?

We have always prided ourselves on this, and have always considered ourselves different from paintballers. Why would we want to turn this into paintball with different guns. If we wanted to play paintball style games, WE WOULD PLAY PAINTBALL.

not a "sport" - a hobby
 

I consider airsoft a hobby, not a sport.

A hobby is a spare-time recreational pursuit. Hobbies are practised for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward. Engaging in a hobby can lead to acquiring substantial skill, knowledge, and experience. However, personal fulfillment is the aim, not competition - this is why I think airsoft fits this definition - in my experience, people participate in airsoft for enjoyment and interest, not to "win".

A sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Used by itself, sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determiner of the outcome (winning or losing).

That said, "sports" have some things that airsoft has - namely a set structure of rules to determine "winners" and "losers" in a competition. "Sports" also have a lot of things that airsoft generally doesn't - coaches, referees, leagues, and perhaps most importantly, PROFESSIONAL ALTHLETES who play for cold, hard cash.

Until airsoft has actual leagues with refs, coaches, and paid professional players, it will always be a categorized as a hobby and not a sport, like stamp collecting or building model railroads.

Hmm, didn't think of it that way. Well said.

..woodsball you say.............tell us more...of this, woodsball.. ;)

Promtoting it as a sport would give a better image of Airsoft to the genéral public. The terms simulation or rehenacment have give obscur felling the the average people and also sound a bit geekish. People tend to have a better opinion of hockey and football(tath are 2 violents sports) than real size D&D outdoor skirmish( where a level 10 spell has little chance of damaging your back or twisting your knee).

I wouldn't sauy it's an extreme sport, because an extreme sport is an activity where you put our physical integrity at risk(wich as never beeb the case in any game I went to).

Now If you rather play a 24h complex scenario game instead of improvised Skirmish is just a nother way to play the game.(like slalom downhill skiing instead of acrobatic skiing). Or as I would say;"Some like sprint, other Marathon.

Targer shooting and obstaclecourse are oficial sport I don't see why Airsoft could not be one.
BTW I heard in a Frenche Documentary on airsoft that Italy reconised Airsoft as an official sport.

When I'm sweaty.. it's sport!

paintball is a sport, thats why its lame.

People like to think its a sport. Its too hobbyish (i.e. collecting, displaying, re-enacting, weird people involved) to be a sport

As soon as you distance yourself from simulations, and closer to sport, there will inevitably be questions as to why realistic looking guns are required. They'll ask "Why not clear plastic?" If simulation weren't important, than you'd grab some cheap clearsoft and stick in some nice parts. If it's a sport, then you'll want every advantage possible. That means full plastic guns, not full metal to reduce weight/fatigue. That's not what airsoft is about. The guns are half the reason we do this.

Does that mean moving furniture in the summer is a sport?

I would say it's a hobby and a sport combined.

Airsoft and paintball are NOT sports! They are action hobbies. You could try and classify paintball as an extreme "sport", but never airsoft.

When I think sport I think symetrical field, standard equipment, refs, periods, athletes, etc. Airsoft may sometimes come close to having a few of those but it's not concrete and cannot be anyways.

If you can do it and arrive at any measure of success and hold a beer or cigarette in your hand or be horribly out of shape at the same time, it's NOT A SPORT.

Things that are not what one could classify as a sport:

Paintball
Airsoft
Billiards
Poker (discrace that it is now on TSN)
Bowling
Foosball
Hell....Golf (seriously, how can someone call that a sport)
Table hockey
Pinball
Darts
Shooting
Hunting

These are all FUN activities/hobbies/games but they can hardly be classified in the same catagory as:

Hockey
Basketball
Soccer
Football
Rugby
Tennis
Baseball (to a lesser extent)
etc.

Yes there are other things that require peak physical fitness, but those would classify as extreme "sports".

Remember, just because it's competetive, doesn't make it a sport. Is debate club a sport? Didn't think so.

Airsoft is a kick ass HOBBY. And with all the lameness of TM plastic, hicaps and the whole AEG concept I wouldn't go so far as to call the mainstream of airsoft MILSIM either.

Reenactment sounds good to me!

thats why they think its cool in paintball to use red chrome gun and jerseys.

That is why paintball is gay but its still fun.

in the same way lazer tag is fun

Yup exactly it.
Paintball is a blast for me. Except it's just too expensive for me. So Airsoft for me, personally, is like paintball with better equipment.

Now, as far as the polls indicate, I'm not the only one here that holds that opinion.
C'mon, someone from the other side of the argument post something.

Anyway, thanks to you guys for replying and making this interesting.

Oh and to clarify the question further.

The question is: would you rather see airsoft PROMOTED as a sport or as simulation?

I think a lot of people are answering the question: what is airsoft currently classifed as? to which the answer is: definately not a sport....yet.

Paintballing would be fun to speedball. For actual scenario and more realistic stuff, airsoft all the way.

well it IS a hobby, and it IS milsim (some provinces more than others).
I wouldn't publicly promote airsoft at all, too many ignorant soccer moms that jump to the worst conclusions. But I'd say hobby or sport, Milsim makes us sound eccentric; and thats not good.
When you talk about promotion, its not about what we see it as, its what we want OTHER people to see it as.
with all the events going on in the world, we have to be EXTREMELY careful about how we portray airsoft.

It does! It's called "the war on terror." Too bad the equipment those "athletes" use will definitely indicate whether you win or lose...

i'd like to see it as a sport, it would help make airsoft better accepted and easier to get into in Canada, possibly even being able to import the guns as 'sporting goods' or something like that

+1. I like the hobby definition too. It isn't really competetive, maybe once in a while, but I've never really had the mentality of "I've gotta win!". I mean, you can have that attitude in sports too, but is it really a sport to you then, or hobby?

well i think although your right on most parts of airsoft, this is peoples hobby and maybe if your not all that into it an eotech seems crazy but to them its just apart of the fun. Just like having cool, modern, and accurate outfits which does make it seem so realistic. so i mean dont take it so hard when people try to make it real even if youre here to just shoot and run. besides this is an airsoft forum... of course your gona see people who are crazy and fanatical about their getup. It jsut doesnt mean that every one who plays senario is besides i dont want to see the begining of airsoft racism start here :D

also the reason for airsoft if im right was originaly milsim!!!

You can't let airsoft go to far over to the sport side of things other wise it will just end up like paintball and this forum will be gone and every one will be playing speed ball and paying out the ass for ammo and that every one will just be player haters and just trash one another.

If it meant the difference between being banned or being considered a sport, what would you choose to do?

DUH

I agree Thanks For Saving Me The Typing
 

I agree Thanks For Saving Me The Typing

haha! this is so funny. i guess because someone likes using real gear and acting real,(one of the points of using replica weapons) your suddenly fashion-core and dont care about playing and just lookin good... and then get grouped into simulation/ reenactment. with no consideration that maybe these type of people play just hard or harder than most of the people who dont give a shit about anything they wear or use and think eotech's are a waste of money...oh ya eotechs are rad and when you own one you'll know why. airsoft is an atlternative to most who think paintball is unrealistic and dont want to wear jerseys and bright colors with a huge hopper

i think its more of a hobby