My entry for my Journalism class!

[V-34]

Recently the airsoft community in Canada has sky rocketed in popularity! Now some people may see a child’s game or some silly hobby but airsoft is more than that to some people, to some people this is a hobby or sport that requires strategy and endurance. Often when players are serious about airsoft they are usually playing the “Milsim” version Milsim stands for Military simulation and people dress up as military operatives and try to be the most spot on to the real thing as possible, usually players have specific objectives like hostage situations or bomb squad or anything that would require military intervention. This brings up the subject of is it a sport or a hobby? The defintion of a sport is "An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or other teams" which is what happens at airsoft games but the defintion of a hobby is "An activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure" and usually this is an interesting point of conversation and usually ends with a huge debate. Is it a sport or a hobby?

If you guys have any suggestions or any advice let me know! Thanks

[TV-PressPass]

Hey welcome! What school and what sort of journalism course are you enrolled in?

My bachelor's degree is a major in journalism and its a ton of fun (as long as you don't have any qualms about living cheap for a while)

If you were looking to pitch an article on airsoft I have one key piece of advice for you:

Develop your lead.

Your first line should tell me exactly what your article is going to be about. Writing long is easy, writing short is hard. So try to get the core of the article into one sentence.

For example:
"The players of Airsoft, a game of military simulation with realistic looking guns and equipment, are currently trying to qualify the activity as a sport rather than a hobby."

Then give the reader a few quotes from an airsoft player who is super competitive and dedicated etc etc, then interview a paintballer who points out marker issues and the honour system as key limiters of airsoft, and BAM you've got an article!

Good luck! Curious to see what you produce!

[K3vX]

Theer's a big game coming soon in Quebec, could be really interesting for you to see. Just contact R3con1, the member organizing it here. You'll see the skirmish aspect on a large scale, and that will give you an idea of the average NON-milsim game.

Alos, as said before, you want to be neutral, so you'll have to ask questions to players, retailers (both airsoft shops and big shops, like canadian tire's clearsoft section), autorities, parents, etc etc.

[mzo]

I think airsoft is both a spot and a hobby.
In my opinion when most people are playing sports they are at the same time taking part in a hobby.
However since professional athletes play sports as their job, it can be argued that for them it is no longer a hobby, but a professional career.
That's how I see it... at least until I come across new information which causes me to change my opinion.

[V-34]

Alright guys! Ill try my best to polish it off, And TV-PressPass Thanks for the advice, and its just a normal class like Art or Music or even like Math.

[halifax1977]

Hi folks,

If I can be of help please pm me.
I am retired or tarded depending on how you look at it but for 15 years I was a director, producer, shooter and editor for ctv and citytv tv.

Good luck and enjoy the creative process including the stumbling blocks you will encounter.

Cheers

[Aquamarine]

What's airsoft? Sounds like fnu!

[Aquamarine]

I'm really not sure who would see this as a child's game, other than perhaps someone over the age of 65, and the term 'child' being equated to 'anyone under 40', but I see where you are coming from. Paintball is more-so viewed as a childs game, however you rarely see (Canadian) children playing with airsoft guns. Heck, even in the news, it's usually adults getting into trouble by doing stupid things with their airsoft guns (playing with it in a parked car, shooting it in their back-yard while 25 years old and living at home, playing in a public park even though "the cop I talked to said it was ok" etc.

To me, airsoft is not a sport, and those who think it is are often delusional and have no real life experience other than perhaps -JUST- moving out of their mom's basement suite. Airsoft is a sport as much as laser-tag is. It's a game, a game played primarily by adult males between the ages of 20 to 40. SIMPLY GOOGLING "DEFINE SPORT" DOES NOT CUT THE MUSTARD FOR RESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM - YOU SHOULD LEARN THAT RIGHT NOW

For those of you who disagree... go to Google and type in this "Define sport".

But who am I to say any of this, right? I'm just some 41 year old woman who's never played airsoft, lives in my mom's basement here in Brampton,Ontario, has a kewl Glock 29 semi-automatic spring pistol and work at Burger King.