Alright, so the 2026 Paintball Hall of Fame class is shaping up to be a big one. The Growth Era gets four inductees, Golden Era gets two, and the Modern Era gets at least one. I sat down and tried to make my picks—and let me tell you, this was not easy.
Let’s start with the Growth Era. There are a ton of deserving names, but I landed on Fred Schultz, Glenn Palmer, Dan Bonebrake, and Ed Poorman. Fred and Glenn are no-brainers—they basically shaped the industry. Dan gave us the Bonebrake series and helped launch the XPSL out west. And Ed, well, Ed’s just done a ton behind the scenes for the sport.
Golden Era was brutal. I wrestled with this one, but I’m going with Greg Hastings and John Dresser. Greg put paintball on the damn map with his video games. And John? The guy was PB Nation. If you played tournament paintball in the 2000s, PB Nation was your Bible. I couldn’t leave him off.
Modern Era? Honestly, this one’s easy: Bart Yakimec. Bart literally owns pro paintball right now. He’s been the backbone of the NXL, investing money, time, and energy when most wouldn’t. Without Bart, I don’t even know where the sport would be.
Anyway, that’s my list. Think I missed someone? Wanna argue about it? Go check out the full clip and let me know what you’d change.
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