Season 10 Begins!

10 Seasons.  That's how long we've been at this.  Every summer since 2006 the Midwest Laser Tag Association (previously the Omaha Laser Challenge Association) has held weekly outdoor laser tag games free of charge to anyone who wants to play.  It's hard to believe that we're in the double-digits now, with Season 10 marking quite the milestone.  There aren't many groups like ours around, but there also aren't many groups that have been doing this for such a long time, either.

Last week's opening game for the start of this season was quite the reminder of the changes that have happened over the years.  The veteran players that helped me start this were in college or high school at the time.  Now we're all graduated, working full-time jobs, and homeowners.  Some of us have managed to get married (myself included) and our spouses are now hunting us down at games.  The parks have seen change, too.  Trees have grown and fallen, creeks have shifted, paths have been forged or abandoned, they're not the same ones we started playing at in 2006.  Someone even noted that the food at our cookouts has changed, from "my mom gave me a 8-pack of hot dogs with a 6-pack of buns" to a full-on gourmet spread of food, drinks, and desserts.

While tactics, equipment, and play-styles have changed and evolved, it's still the same idea.  Show up, grab some gear, play some laser tag.  And people seem to like it!  Though the attendance per game has stopped growing, averaging between 20 and 30 players has been more than acceptable turnout.  We still have a handful of veteran players that have stuck through these over the years.  Some of them started off as newbies 5 or 6 years ago but have come to be trusted allies in their experience.  They bring their friends, who bring their friends, who bring their uncles cousins nephews former roommates, and it can easily become a game of 7 Degrees of Separation.  It's been good for the continuation of what we do.

All the while, my own personal goal of promoting laser tag more has been achieved on a local level, but still not nearly as much as I would like to see abroad.  That's why, as we celebrate 10 Summers of laser tag here in Omaha, I'm going to focus more on promoting others around the country (or even around the world) to take up the game that brings our friends together here.  And, since I know how much the Internet likes to read these days, much of that promotion will come in the form of new videos (like this one) that I'll be making to show people the fun we have with this game.  We'll still have our mods and equipment enhancements this year, but I'd rather get more people outside of our city hooked on laser tag like we are.

That's my mission for Season 10.  If you'd like to help, just share what we're up to, or let me know what you've been doing with laser tag!  Either way, let's get things started!