Editing Bob Long (section)

== Early involvement in paintball ==

Before becoming involved in paintball, Long owned an archery shop and competed as a professional bowhunter. In a 1994 interview, he said he had hunted professionally for five years with sponsorship from the Coleman Corporation.[1]

Long recalled beginning paintball during the late 1980s at [[Paintball Sam's]] near Sacramento, California. His first game was played with Rick Cendejas and Dennis Wolf using rented [[Nel-Spot 007]] pistols, twelve-gram carbon-dioxide cartridges and ten-round tubes.[1]

A group of players associated with Long's archery shop subsequently formed a recreational team. They arranged a game against the existing Ironmen at Adventure Games in Clayton, California, and were decisively defeated. Ironmen captain Rick Baird later invited Long, Cendejas and Wolf to join the team.[1]

Long's account therefore identifies him as an early recruit to the Ironmen rather than one of the players who originally formed the team.