This one is for Billy D'Amico

He was a scrawny kid, maybe 80 pounds with a mop of tightly curled hair on his head. His physical size was a fraction of his personality. He was quite loud, with a squeaky yet raspy voice. He was also a bit boastful and cocky, but utterly likable. And on the day I opened The Paintball Sphere for business, he handed me a five dollar bill, my first sale ever.

That was July 12^th, 1999. Billy brought his friend Chris in that day. Shortly after Matthew, then Justin Pancake came in. Both are friends of the store and my family to this day. All of these young men spread the word and business grew immediately. In years I’ve see hundreds of faces and probably filled thousands of tanks. I sold millions of paintballs and repaired more paintball markers than most people have ever even seen. But change is inevitable.

After this Saturday, July 25th, 2015, The Paintball Sphere will cease operations from 7271 West Blvd.  To use a military term, our present situation has become untenable. With the continuing decline in regular and consistent sales at our leased location, plus massive changes within the industry, our way of doing business has now become impossible.

Does this mean that The Paintball Sphere is out of business? Not hardly. Remember, like many of you, paintball makes me laugh and cry, bleed and cheer, and even sometimes vomit. Besides my wife, it is the thing I have had the longest in my life (to be fair, I met her about a year after I started playing). I will pass it on to my sons when they are of age.

We are evolving. For local service, Dimension Paintball has graciously offered us a place in the sun at the field. We will be there at times and will help to support Chris and his growing field. The website and email addresses will remain the same. Drop us a line for anything you may need. Most importantly, our service and support WILL NOT change. We are there to help paintball succeed, even if in the end, this part of our endeavor didn’t. We are The Paintball Sphere. That is one thing that will not change.

Thank you all, it has been one hell of a ride.