We are now firmly into tick season, 2023.  And that means we are firmly into Lyme disease season as well.

Anyone out in the woods - out in their own yards for that matter - needs to be adding a tick prevention and detection regimen to their outdoor activities.  Lyme and other tick-born diseases are nasty bacterial infections that, especially if left untreated for longer periods can be difficult to treat.  Antibiotics work, but it is important to attack this disease before it progresses, especially before it gets into your brain.  (Yes, your Brain!)

Ticks have an interesting place in paintball history as well.  (No, Lyme disease is not responsible for our interest in playing this crazy game.)  In fact, ticks were the center of a brief but intense discussion at the very first meeting that formed the NPPL in Chicago, back in 1992. 

The scene is this:  28 team captains from across the United States had been invited to attend that meeting, asked to do so because they represented one of the (few) teams that had risen to what was considered professional status back in those days.  The subject was "what, if anything, can we do to improve things on the tournament level of the game?". 

If I remember correctly, some 22 teams responded by sending representatives.  Our first day was spent getting to know each other outside of the staging area and the field and figuring out if we had enough concerns and issues in common to warrant doing something about it.

By the end of the first day we'd determined that the answer was yes, and that what we were going to do about it was form a new league, one that guaranteed two things:  first, that all of the teams at the meeting would attend the events and second, that the league would guarantee certain minimal standards at all of its events.

By day two, we'd created  committees to handle various organizational aspects (scheduling, rules, prize packages, etc) and were deep into discussions about specific rules, such as utilizing the 1-for-1 system instead of after game penalty points.

At one point, we began discussing the uniform rules.  What was legal for a player to wear when on the field?  We knew, for various reasons, that we wanted to insist on full length pants and long-sleeved jerseys (ask old timers why - you'll hear some interesting stories) and that we wanted to restrict players to two layers of clothing, maximum, with underwear being "climate appropriate".  This meant you could not wear four layers of sweats under your oversized pants and jerseys.

As we were closing out that discussion, Bill Gardner (All Americans) threw a grenade right into the middle of the room:  "What about pantyhose?" he asked, apparently in all seriousness.

The question stunned everyone around the table.  All the heads came up and stared in the Gardner's direction (Bill was there with Adam), open-mouthed in shock and wonder.

Someone, I don't remember who, said something to the effect of not being interested in what people did in their spare time.  After things settled down a bit, someone else asked Bill what in the heck he was talking about.  Were we about to be let in on a deep team secret?  No.  Nothing that salacious.

"Ticks", said Bill.  "The ticks can't get through the material to attach themselves to you."

A collective "Ahhhhh" went up around the room.  20+ Paintballers had collectively received a revelation.  It made perfect sense.  So much so that we ruled that players were allowed to wear pantyhose as an additional layer without violating the clothing rules.

I've not personally availed myself of this option, preferring instead the AGTI (After Game Tick Inspection) methodology (not to mention the pre-game repellent application methodology) - but regardless of which method you use, you should be incorporating "something" into your play regimen.  (I had a co-worker, non-paintballer, get Lyme and it took more than half a year of increasingly powerful antibiotics to get it out of her system, and she was miserable most of that time.)

Here's an article on how to identify Lyme if you have it, and another on ways to help avoid getting it:

Preventing Tick Bites On People (CDC)
The 4 Biggest Early Warning Signs of Lyme Disease

I urge everyone to take precautions and be aware this "Tick Season".