Competitive couple defeats their friends in paintball tournament after warning them not to join, friends later accuse them of poor sportsmanship on public Facebook post, causing drama among their social circle: 'Treated them like we would any other team'

Author image for Emma Saven
Emma Saven
Oct 19, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

There is a time for friendship and a time for competition, and only very few people are able to mix the two. No matter how experienced you may be in any hobby, if you haven't mastered this balance, it may affect your relationship with opposing players… even in a casual game of paintball. Which, as we've just learned today, can apparently be considered professional!

This couple is well aware of their highly competitive nature, and so are their friends. So, many times, they try to keep the two separate, having their friends watch from the audience rather than join them on the field. They're friendly with another couple, whom they invited to watch their paintball tournament. But to their surprise, that couple wanted to enter as well. Their status: beginners. So, when the two couples were coincidentally matched in the first round, and the competitive pair played the game at full intensity as if they were up against any other team, eliminating the beginners within the first four minutes, it left a sour taste in their friends' mouths.

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  • A taste so sour, in fact, that the woman posted about their “poor sportsmanship” on Facebook, despite having been warned by the competitive couple not to join…causing tension and division within their friend circle. So next time you want to get competitive with your friends, try pulling out a game of noughts and crosses, it's far less damaging.

  • Couple hugging while playing paintball
    via gettysignature

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • So I want to start by saying my boyfriend (28M) and I (26F) are very competitive.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • We discovered this during a company relay race years ago and have since competed in all kinds of events like paintball, laser tag, triathlons, etc.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • Most of our friends know how intense we can get, so they usually sit out unless it's for fun.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • Recently, we invited our friends to a paintball tournament. Not to compete but to hang out.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • These events often have a little bar area or food stall where people can watch from an elevated platform (kinda like Hunger Games).
    via Corrupted-gf
  • One of our friends and her boyfriend decided they wanted to compete too, even though they'd never played paintball before.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • We warned them it wasn't for beginner and that most people take it seriously since there's a cash prize for the top 3 teams.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • After like a week, we eventually told them straight up that we didn't think they should compete.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • A paintball course
    via Amar Preciado

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • They got annoyed and said they were adults and could make their own choices, so we backed off.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • Come tournament day, they were the only beginners and got wrecked in the two practice rounds.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • Then they ended up against us in the first official match (random by the way). We didn't go easy on them, and the match ended in under 4 minutes.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • We made it to the final round but ended up losing to a team wearing predator masks....
    via Corrupted-gf
  • Yeah we didn't stand a chance. Afterward, we went to the bar area, but noticed our friends we were competing with weren't there.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • Someone told us they had left. Which we understood sometimes after losing you don't wanna hang out.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • We enjoyed the rest of the day and went home. Later that evening, they called us. upset saying we should've gone easier on them because we're friends and should've at least let them get a shot in.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • I reminded them we'd warned them and that we treated them like we would any other team.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • Safe to say the call didn't end well. The next day, she posted on Facebook saying we "tried too hard to beat them only to not win in the end," making us seem like bad friends who were trying to embarrass them.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • Now some friends and family are piling on, saying we were selfish. Others who were at the event say our friends are overreacting.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • Woman typing on Facebook
    via Tranmautritam

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • I didn't think we did anything wrong, but now with all these other people in my ear I'm second guessing myself.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • lord_buff74 NTA, for beating them, but seriously you sound exhausting to be friends with. "most of our friends know how intense we can get, so they usually sit out unless it's for fun", even your friends don't want to spend time with you because you can't regulate yourselves.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • OP Corrupted-gf I get where you're coming from but we only take competitions and games we have to pay to enter seriously. If it's just an arcade game or your local laser tag place we're just gonna play for fun not for a score.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • Caberfeidh83 NTA. You warned them multiple times and they didn't listen. They would have been creamed against anyone else so why should you treat them differently? The pros would have clocked you were and likely called favouritism or something, marking you out in the tournament to your peers. Meanwhile any team would have clocked them as amatuers and then might have played with their food. You gave them a quick elimination. You went on to be runners up. CONGRATULATIONS.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • OP Corrupted-gf Thanks. This was a massive win for us because we went against two great D3 teams and we're only D4
    via Corrupted-gf
  • neversayalways Tbh although they got exactly what they signed up for, your attitude seems a little gate-keepy and condescending. I also think it's kinda weird to invite your friends to sit in the bar area of a paintball place to watch. you play in a tournament all day. Sounds incredibly boring and lame. ESH.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • OP Corrupted-gf I'm not trying to gate keep. Our other friends who came to the event, they also play paintball. We just don't compete against each other. We just play for fun but when it comes to tournaments we don't go against each other so that we don't hurt each other's feelings because we're all at different levels. My friends that were there we're at higher levels than me and my boyfriend. These tournaments are sort of like sporting events people who aren't even playing come to watch so tha
    via Corrupted-gf
  • ziptagg NTA, you made it clear this is a serious competition with a cash prize, not a fun game between friends. You didn't treat them differently from any other team on the field, they're just mad they're not somehow magically good at this.
    via Corrupted-gf
  • Aesperacchius NTA, you warned them, and they didn't listen. Competitive paintball's nuts, which they would've learned if they had bothered to look up any paintball tournament videos.
    via Corrupted-gf

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competition friendship outdoors paint-balling games activities levels score friends difficult couples fair friendship-drama first place beginners competitive cash prize win playing
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