Houston Paintball League Rules 2012

Firing Modes-
Young Gunz-
Semi Auto Uncapped
(Unlimited rate of fire as long as the gun shoots one shot per trigger pull/release)

Division 5/Rookie-

Millennium 10.5 Balls Per Second Cappe


Age Restriction/Classification-

Young Guns Division- All players in this division must not be ranked higher than Division 4 (APPA ID Ranking all players are required to sign up for- it is free) and must be between the ages of 10 and must be 15 prior to the season starting. If a player turns 16 after the first event date they will be allowed to play the rest of the season assuming they have already played an event that year while they were 15 years old. If the player has not played an event yet and is 16 years old, the player will be required to play in the other bracket as Division 5.

Division 5- This division is open to all ages and one D4 player will be allowed.  Some national event playing experience is allowed based on your APPA ID level.

Division 4- This division is open to all ages and one D3 player will be allowed.


Game Start-

The Head Referee of each field will begin a game by giving a five second warning so that both teams are made aware the game will start in 5 seconds.

The start of the game will be signaled by the scoring board buzzer.


Out of Bounds-

Each field will have a designated side line out of bounds.  There is no back line out of bounds. .


Game Completion-

A game is completed once 1 of 3 things occur.

1. A flag is hung successfully* on a flag station.

2. The game time has expired.

3. All players on both teams are eliminated resulting in a tie game.

A successful game occurs when a player  hangs a flag on the opposing teams flag station and is checked by the referees. If this player is considered “clean” or unmarked with a paintball mark, the flag hang is successful and the game is completed.



In case of an emergency all games will be stopped and temporarily postponed until the emergency is handled and the playing fields are safe for the games to re start.


Start Of The Game-

The start of the game will be signaled by the scoreboard buzzer.

Prior to the game starting, all players are required to touch and hold their barrel tips to the air up bunker at the starting gate.

If a player is not touching the starting gate at the start of the game, that player will be eliminated immediately.



Clothing & Protection-

NO metal cleats will be allowed. NO exceptions.

Players can not wear anything that has the color orange or yellow on it.
This is to keep the color of the paintballs from blending in with the color of the gear being used.

All players will be required to wear long bottoms and long sleeved top.

Players are only allowed to wear 2 layers for the top.

Head gear will be limited at a maximum of 3 layers with no exceptionally padded items on the head.

1 Pair of Knee Pads and 1 pair of arm pads are allowed per player.

All players are required to wear paintball industry produced facial protection.



A Point is awarded when one of the teams competing hangs the flag on the opposing teams flag station.

If a team hangs the flag on the wrong flag station, for example grabbing the flag and hanging it on your own flag station, the other team will receive the point for the flag hang.

A flag hang will not immediately be considered successful or clean until the flag carrier is checked for hits. Only once a flag carrier is announced ‘clean” will the point for a flag hang be given.

If a flag carrier is not “clean” after hanging the flag the game will end in a tie.


A more detailed explanation of penalties can be found below.



A player will receive a 1 for 1 Penalty  if any of the following but not limited to occur-

1 for 1 (Minor) Penalty-

-If a player is marked and continues to play paintball with an “Obvious” hit, this player will be eliminated and an additional team mate will be eliminated.

An obvious hit includes anywhere on the body and equipment EXCEPT for the paintball harness and pods.


2 for 1 (Major) Penalty-

A player will receive a 2 for 1 Penalty  if any of the following but not limited to occur-

If a player is marked and continues to play paintball then attempts to remove the paintball mark, this player will be eliminated and two additional team mates will be eliminated.

Equipment Left Behind-

If a player leaves equipment behind and moves further than 5 feet away from said equipment, that player is eliminated with the exception of the following items-

-Pods, squeegees, rags, barrel socks and tank butts.


Physical Contact Penalty-

Players are not allowed to touch one another once the game begins. This includes but not limited to players who are checking their other team mates before hanging the flag to complete a game. You are able to give a visual check but you are NOT allowed to touch the players on your team before the game is called, Game Over. If a player is seen touching another player prior to the end of the game, the player who was touched will be eliminated immediately.

The Houston Paintball League is an event only tournament series. This means that the players are only allowed to use paintballs provided by the HPL.

If a team is caught using outside paintballs, said team will be disqualified from the tournament. There won’t be any refunds.
Permanent Ban-

A player will be permanently banned if any of the following but not limited to occur-

A player attempts to fight on the tournament premises.

A player steals gear or property.

A player intentionally attempts to injure or harm a player or referee.


Playing Field Boundaries-
The playing fields will only have an out of bounds on each side of the field.
The fields will not have a back side out of bounds.
If a player goes out of bounds during game play, said player will be eliminated.

Eliminated Players-

Eliminated players are responsible to walk to the side of the field immediately upon elimination. If there is a dead box at the current tournament you are required to walk directly to your teams dead box until the game is over. If there are no dead boxes at the current event, eliminated players are required to walk to their corner of the field to which they started the game.
Restricted Colors-
Players and Teams participating in the Houston Paintball League will not be allowed to wear the colors Orange or Yellow.




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