[Ricochet]

On the whole, I have no problem playing with someone strictly because of their age. As stated previously, there are people under the age of eighteen that have shown incredible sportsmanship, talent, and maturity. Not to mention that those people "will" be the future if this sport, and that guidance and education is the best course of action. A waiver is fine when your signing it for yourself. And as far as a guardian goes they may not understand the sport they are allowing their kids to play. There is no regulatory league or commission to have a provincial or federally recognized rules for minors either, like in hockey. For example, there is no hitting in hockey until a certain age range. Those rules were regulatory brought in to protect the youth. Remember in elementary school when you were playing football or rugby on your lunch hour, and would get in trouble for playing tackle? You had to play touch, because of the liability to the school if you got hurt.

My point being is that the youth are not the problem. Everyone asks or argues about the legal ramifications, or the negative impact that might happen to the sport. Well; there it is in the proverbial nutshell. If you run an Airsoft field, I'll assume you have safety rules in place (hopefully). These rules would encompass everyone, not just those under eighteen. Now your rules may "adequate" to protect everyone, but who says they are? As an adult if my eye gets shot out, it's more than likely my own fault. It won't be even a big deal (circumstances dependent of course). But if the same happens to a youth, they personally won't be blamed, and that waiver their parent/guardian signed won't mean squat. Now, if there was strict regulations in place that are universally recognized and accepted by the government, and the sane thing happens; you can then prove that all safety precautions were followed to all reasonable levels, due diligence was followed, and that although the incident was tragic; the situation was unavoidable and unfortunate.

Name one organized sport in this country played by under age persons, that does not have all the prior in place?

This is starting to sound like I hate kids and teenagers, lol. That is simply not the case. I feel that safety, legal responsibility, all reasonable measures being taken "is" paramount. Maybe it's time that something like that is set-up so that those underage can participate. The sport needs no black eyes in this country, and the ASC age verification standard is something I believe in.