Burnley hosts nation’s first Nerf War

The event, in which participants will run around with Nerf guns attempting to shoot each other with foam bullets, will take place at Burnley College sports hall this Sunday.

It has been organised by Xtreme Nerf Combat, a company set up by former Armed Forces pair Aaron Butler and Craig Cousins with the aim of getting kids active whilst enjoying themselves.

Aaron said: “The company has been going for a little while now, we’ve been running a lot of Nerf parties which include things such as target shooting practice, obstacle courses, and more.

“We came up with the idea for the business simply because we wanted to think of something that can get kids playing outside again while being active, and getting them away from their computers and games consoles.”

“It’s great fun, the kids always enjoy themselves and it’s also a fantastic way for children to make friends and meet new people.”

After organising children’s birthday parties over the last few months, the pair decided to try something a little different that would capture the imagination of local children, and that’s when they came up with the idea for the Nerf War.

Aaron continued: “For us we’re going into the unknown a little bit so it’s a bit of a suck it and see really.

“But these sort of events happen a lot in America and they’re really popular over there, so we’re pretty confident it will prove to be popular over here.

“We’ve had nothing but positive feedback so far from the parties off children and parents, everybody always enjoys themselves.”

There will be three different hour-long Nerf Wars on Sunday at 11:30am, 12:30pm and 1.30pm with over 70 children battling it out over the course of the day. All of the slots are now fully booked.

The minimum age is currently five-years-old and participants can bring their own equipment if they wish.

The aim of the game will be to shoot as many of the opposing team as you can, and each participant who is shot will be forced to take a brief time out before they can restart again, with the game being refereed by Aaron and Craig.

The pair are hoping this can become a regular occurrence if it proves popular.

“We’re hoping this will be the first of many events of its kind for Burnley and the surrounding areas,” said Aaron.

“We’re ambitious, we don’t want to stop here either.

“These sort of events are starting to get bigger and bigger, so we’re planning on setting up a Nerf Wars league in the future, which will be a structured league which will work in a similar way to a 5-a-side competition.”

Nerf guns were a big hit with children in the 1990’s, but recently their popularity has soared once again, and Aaron believes that is down to the fact that the guns quality has significantly improved over recent years.

He said: “When I were a lad the guns were available but they weren’t that accurate and the range on them was quite poor.

“The guns have come quite a long way since then and they now have a better shooting distance on them as well far better accuracy.

“There’s also such a wide range of guns available, you can get single shooters, semi-automatic styles and more.”

If you’re interested in any future events can like their Facebook page by searching XTNC123 .