With schools closed for the summer, many young people from the garrison city have thronged Ayub National Park to try their hand at archery, air shooting and paintball.

Grounds for archery and air shooting, as well as a paintball field, have been added to the national park by the Army Heritage Foundation and cater to people predominantly between the ages of six and 25.

Surrounded by the park’s trees and lakes, young people outfitted in masks and safety jackets can be seen in the paintball field in the evenings and on weekends.

The paintball field mimics a war zone, with artificial bunkers and natural terrain for the warring sides to hide behind as they try to dodge paint bullets and capture the flag, or bring back material hidden in the bunker of the opposite team.

Each game is played between two teams comprising three to four people each, where each team attempts to defeat the other by shooting opponents.

“The game fulfils the desire of youngsters who love adventure, and through this game we teach teamwork and planning to achieve goals,” Army Heritage Foundation Director Sports retired Col Shehzad Mehmood said.

Mr Mehmood said the foundation was the first to bring paintball to the garrison city.

“We had the natural uneven field in the park, which is the best for such games, and it attracted people the most,” he added.

He explained that the players are given basic training on how to play and there are instructors present at the park. Once they know the basics, players are allowed to play, and dodge bullets and other challenges, using their own strategies.

Paintball masks, guns and bullets are provided by the organisers, he added. The game is favoured mainly by children, whose families prefer to watch.

Mr Mehmood said the foundation’s goal in establishing the paintball field, as well as the archery and air shooting grounds, was to bring young people to the park and to engage them in sport rather than video games and mobile phones.

Archery too is an attraction for young people, many of whom handle their bows and arrows in an almost professional manner.

Kiran Malik, a visitor at the archery ground, said it was “enthralling” to try and concentrate on the target while also handling the bow and arrow, and recommended archery as a fun activity to do with friends.

She said she used to play games on her computer but since the grounds opened in the city, she preferred to come here with friends and cousins.

“I bring everyone out here to try it because it’s fun,” she said.

Hamza Riaz said he loved hunting and adventure games.

“I grew up bow hunting. I am usually playing games on my computer, but the paintball, archery and air shooting gave me the opportunity to get into physical activity,” he said, adding that it was an art to handle the bow and arrow.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2018