Victoria E. Freile

@vfreile

At a glance you'd think Nate Thompson of Brighton was preparing for battle as he prepares to step onto the field for an hour.

Donning a vest covered with foam dart-filled clips and cartridges and other tweaked blaster parts, Thompson, 22, has played with Nerf blasters for a decade. With his experience and know-how, he's the guy you want in your corner.

Since he first recruited neighborhood kids to play in an asphalt lot in New York City as a child, Thompson said he's been enthralled by the sport.

He continued playing in college, and several months ago found the Rochester Foam Dart League, which celebrated its first anniversary last weekend.

What exactly is it?

"Picture paintball but with Nerf guns," said Justin Dangler, 28, of Webster, who owns and operates the league.

But this game? It's cheaper, easier, less messy and less dangerous than paintball.

The idea is to hit another player with a Nerf dart to eliminate them from the game. As with most shoot-out games, the last player(s) standing, wins. Each outing includes a variety of games including capture the flag, freeze tag and zombie survival, Dangler said. The games have a different objective, and different rules, to keep the action flowing and players interested.

Each hour-long session encourages play and movement. The idea, he said, is to keep active.

"You tend not to know you're exercising," said Dangler, noting that players average between 6,000 to 10,000 steps in an hour of play. "The game gets you moving without realizing how much you are moving."

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Dart League

The first weekly Dart League games were held at the Webster Recreation Center. Late last year, the group expanded to the Rochester Sports Garden in Henrietta, a site that hosts adult-only battles on Friday nights and all-ages games on Saturday afternoons. Last weekend, the league launched weekly Sunday afternoon games at the Perinton Recreation Center. Friday night battles are for anyone 15 and older. The other three weekly sessions are for children and adults.

In each venue Dangler and his team set up a field of 15 inflatables, replicating an indoor paintball field where players scatter, take cover and attempt to take down their opponents. Each course is customized based on the space. Attending players are divided into two teams, wearing blue and red pinnies, and set off to take cover.

"It's like paintball, but without the goop and the bruises," said David Schickler, 46, of Brighton, who joins games two times a week with his 10-year-old son Luke. The pair are sometimes joined by the Schickler women: Martha, 45, and Cora, 7.

"We love it because it's something you can do as a family that's authentically fun as a grown-up," David Schickler said. "This is an activity I can do with my children week in and week out. Instead of being a helicopter parent on the sidelines, I'm a participant."

Children and adults in the game have different skill sets and speeds, which sometimes means the youngest players have an advantage.

"It's a little sad when you have to shoot a six-year-old," Martha Schickler said. "I apologize and shoot."

That said, kids playing an all-ages game have no scruples about taking down an adult. Many younger players are surprisingly sneaky and quite fast, making them prime opponents.

Ten-year-old Andy Clinton sprinted from behind a crowd of teammates and ducked behind an inflatable column. He peered around the corner, blaster in hand, and pulled the trigger repeatedly. He paused to reload before taking aim at more opponents.

The league "gives an adult the opportunity to bring out their inner child," Dangler said."The Nerf community is very accepting, so your skill set doesn't matter."

All you have to do is try.

Life lessons

"The game brings people together who might not otherwise have anything in common," Thompson said. "And it builds camaraderie among the players."

Anyone can play. It's part of the draw of the game. You don't need experience to excel at the sport.

"You don't have to be an athlete and you don't have to be a marksman," he said, adding that the sport appeals to people with specialized skills as much as it draws introverts who might not otherwise take to a sport. "For a lot of people, the game is just about flying foam."

But it also teaches life lessons. To succeed in team play, participants must step outside their comfort zone and work alongside total strangers toward a common goal.

"You don't choose teams so it forces you to cooperate with people who might not be in your network," he said. "People of all walks of life, pay and play. Nobody's judging you when they shoot you."

Children also learn that they won't always come out victorious.

The league also requires participants to unplug for the length of play.

"I experienced life as a child without a constant stream of technology," said Dangler, who as a child spent much time outside and also could be found in the ice rink. He kept moving. And many children today are tethered to a screen, be it a video game, a television or a mobile phone.

Nerfology

Nick Christos, 22, a fourth-year student at the Rochester Institute of Technology, hits the field twice a week: on Saturdays at the Sports Garden and during Dangler's semester-long Nerfology class at RIT. The class, new this semester, fulfills a wellness requirement at the college. Held Wednesday afternoons, students "are constantly moving while in class," Dangler said.

Grades are based off participation and the number of steps logged each class.

"I love it," Christos said. "It's a great outlet to get exercise and let loose a little. I came here and fell in love with it."

A mechanical engineering student, Christos said he has little spare time and left RIT's wrestling team to focus on his studies But Nerf games, he said, "make perfect sense" to allow him to fit a fun workout into his tight schedule.

Martha Schickler agreed. She always wears her running gear to Foam Dart League as she'll work up a sweat and check the day's cardio off her to-do list.

Joe Korn, 35, of Gates found the league via social media and brought his 7-year-old son to a Saturday afternoon session. Once he spotted adults gearing up for a game, Korn said he decided to join in.

"It's great father-son time and really, really good exercise as everyone is running around in a safe environment," Korn said. Plus, it's great cross-training for hockey for both father and son, he said.

Each session costs $10 per person and includes safety goggles, the loan of a blaster and ammunition.

VFREILE@Gannett.com

If you go

The Rochester Foam Dart League meets four times a week for hour-long sessions. It costs $10 per person to play, The fee includes use of safety goggles, a Nerf blaster and foam darts.

All-ages sessions: Thursdays at 7:45 p.m. at the Webster Recreation Center, 1350 Chiyoda Dr., Webster; Saturdays at 2 p.m. at the Rochester Sports Garden, 1460 East Henrietta Road, Henrietta; Sundays at 2 p.m. at the Perinton Recreation Center, 1350 Turk Hill Road, Perinton.

Adults only (15+): Fridays at 8 p.m. at the Rochester Sports Garden, 1460 East Henrietta Road, Henrietta.

Special guest: On April 8, 9 and 10, Nerf legend Drac will be playing all public games with the league.

For more: www.rochesterfoamdartleague.com