Editing Maurice Gibb (section)

== Paintball career ==

=== Early involvement ===

Gibb recalled first playing paintball in 1984, when the activity was being marketed as ''Survival''. He played at a woodland field in the Florida Everglades using the comparatively low-velocity equipment available at the time. According to Gibb, players did not use the protective equipment that had become standard by the time of his January 2002 interview with ''Crossfire Paintball Digest''.[1]

He continued playing for approximately a year before music commitments and the disappearance of the fields he had been using led him to leave the sport.[1]

Gibb returned to paintball during the late 1990s or early 2000s after discussing the game with his friend and later teammate Frederick Retucci. They searched online for a local field and began playing at a Florida facility that Gibb called Royal N' Tough, operated by [[Team Rage]] player Pete Bofill.[1] Contemporary reporting identifies Bofill as the owner of Ruff n Tuff Sports in Miami.[6]

=== Equipment ===

In his 2002 ''Crossfire'' interview, Gibb identified the Angel as his preferred marker and said that his first marker had been a black Angel. He particularly favoured a version prepared by Warped Sportz. He also owned Intimidators and E-Mags and estimated that he had approximately nine markers at the time of the interview.[1]

=== Royal Rat Rangers ===

Gibb founded the [[Royal Rat Rangers]] after a regular group of approximately six players began practising together on Sundays. He served as the team's captain.[1]

The team's first tournament was the 2001 [[Paintball World Cup]] in Orlando, Florida. Contemporary schedules list the Royal Rat Rangers in the event's 10-player preliminary competition.[1][7] Gibb later described the World Cup as his most memorable paintball experience to that point. He emphasised communication as the most important part of the team's play and said that his priorities as captain included speed, teamwork, learning and maintaining a positive atmosphere.[1]

Detailed information about the team's roster, tournament results and subsequent history is covered in [[Royal Rat Rangers]].

=== Campaign Cup ===

Gibb competed with the Royal Rat Rangers at the 2002 [[Campaign Cup]], held at Crystal Palace in London as part of the [[Millennium Series]].

Contemporary reporting by Simon Stevens described Gibb as an active supporter of paintball who had discussed the event on radio. The Royal Rat Rangers reached the semi-finals of the novice division. During a match against JCS Inferno, Gibb completed the flag hang after his team defeated its opponents.[8]

=== Beyond 2002 ===

Gibb and the Royal Rat Rangers also attended Beyond 2002, an extreme-sports and music festival held at Bicentennial Park in Miami from 12 to 14 April 2002. The event combined a 24-team seven-player paintball tournament with concerts and other sporting exhibitions.[6]

Gibb supported the idea of introducing paintball to a wider audience through combined entertainment events. However, he believed that the music and paintball portions needed to be arranged so that one did not interfere with the other. The volume of the music at Beyond 2002 made communication between players more difficult during matches.[6]