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The sun is still hours away from rising as
John Arquilla pulls into the parking lot of
The Paintball Park inside the Camp Pendleton Marine Base in Oceanside, California. It’s cold and pitch dark but there
is much to be done in just a few hours to
prepare for another Almost Famous Paintball League (AFPL) tournament. When the
sun rises, Arquilla finds himself in good
company - teams are arriving, loud music
is blasting, and the huge trophies sparkle
in the sunlight. It’s another beautiful day
for paintball in southern California.
February 2014
With 4,000 watts of punk music and the
announcer cracking jokes on the loudspeaker, the atmosphere at an AFPL event
is reminiscent more of the X-Games, rather than your standard paintball tournament. And one thing Arquilla knows well
is a standard paintball tournament. Having
shot photography and video for notable
events like the WCPPL, NPPL, RPL, and
PSP, Arquilla has spent countless hours
observing what does and doesn’t work.
When Arquilla founded the AFPL in 2012,
his aim was to take what he’s learned and
provide the best tournament