COEUR d'ALENE - The round, red welt on Aaron Ward's left arm was slightly visible from just beneath his T-shirt sleeve, and it looked like it didn't feel too good.

"It doesn't hurt that much, it looks a lot worse than it actually is," Ward said, smiling as he hiked his sleeve. "It stings a little bit, then it's gone."

Ward, of Coeur d'Alene, his brothers and soon-to-be sister-in-law tried paintless paintball for their first time Saturday in McEuen Park. The event was hosted by the Idaho Army National Guard and included four-on-four tournaments as well as a free hotdog lunch, recruitment information, machine gun displays, Warrior Olympics and a climbing rock wall.

"This is awesome," said Russ Ward, of Post Falls. He and his fiancee, Ashleigh Ianno of Post Falls, wore protective masks atop their heads as they waited to step into the 50-by-100-foot "Megarena."

"I was figuring it was going to look like a bounce house, but this looks really awesome," Russ said.

More than 80 people registered to join in the fun and even more dropped in when they saw the mesh structure in the middle of McEuen with numerous National Guard personnel on site. The rat-a-tat-tat and quiet explosions of Reball guns could be heard throughout the park.

"We really like this park because it's open and you can see everything," said event coordinator Staff Sgt. Jeremy Sells.

This was the first time for the event, which Sells said he is hoping will happen again next year and then annually.

"Paintball's a fun sport," he said, explaining that the National Guard trains with paintball guns and having a community paintball event introduces people to the activity. It's also a way for the National Guard to have fun with the community.

"It's also to get kids interested," Sells said. "Shoot, move and communicate, as we like to say."