Here is a topic I see all the time come up in the forums and chat rooms, as well as hear about at the field – HK Army, their fanboys, and agglettes. Before I go any further, I want to point out that anything I state in here is my personal view, the author, and not that of Social Paintball. This is me, merely ranting on a topic I see crop up all the time.
So, what is an agglette? To me, an agglette is someone who lacks the social skills to get along with the rest of the paintball community, and yet tries everything they can to be agg. So what is agg? Agg is a term that has made its way into the paintball community and culture from the surfing and skateboarding scene in southern California. It’s a shortened slang term, of the slang word aggro, which tried to define another level of cool. For most people within the circles of these sports, agg/aggro is more of a state of mind. You not only have to look the part, but have the skills to back up your style. So, where do agglettes come into all this? It’s simple, they are the ones that don’t have the mindset, but try and force the style, and lack the overall skills to pull it off.
Agglette Syndrome. It’s not fatal, and the cure isn’t always a pleasant one, but here are some signs and symptoms that may show you to be an agglette. Do you go over the top with the latest paintball fashion and buy more in style headbands and jerseys then any normal baller would need? Have you spent more than 30 greenbacks on a Sandana? When you go to the field, do you pack more than one jersey, a pair of pants, and have multiple headbands, making sure all your “outfits” match like some kind of fashonista? If so, you might be an agglette. While at the field, do you wear more than one or two types of head gear, aside from you mask and refer to it as “head game”? If so, you might be an agglette. When playing, do you over do everything, including your stance behind the bunker? When you squat down to play a smaller bunker, does it look like you are trying to take the world’s largest and most painful dump, while looking up at the sky? If so, you might be an agglette. If you get shot out, do you blame it on your equipment, your mask “fogging up”, your gun not cycling, or hopper not feeding? Do you get pissed when a noob shoots you out with his WalMart Special Spyder? If so, you might be an agglette.
These are just some of the traits I have noticed with agglettes. It’s more prevalent on the speed ball field then in the woods, but as of late, I have been running across a few agglettes in the woods as well. But, the one major defining factor of being an agglette is your attitude. This person is the type that takes fanboy to the next level. The kind of person that decks himself out in all the gear he can find from his favorite pro teams, and then bashes everyone else who doesn’t deck themselves out in all Dynasty or Ironmen or HK gear. The kind of person that, when you see them in the staging areaand you hear them interact with others, you know who your target is for the rest of the day. Speaking of HK Army, this leads me to my next topic.
I want to start out by saying that HK Army and PBFashion have done more for this sport than any team or industry company I have seen in a long time. How often do you see paintball teams going out with major music shows and tours, trying to promote the sport? Not very often, if at all. Yet, HK Army is out there with the bands and the fans at Warped Tour, as well as other tours, doing what they can to grow the sport. So, where does all the hate for HK Army come from? Is it their work hard, play hard, party hard attitude that gets on peoples nerves? Is it maybe jealousy that drives people to hate them, because they wish they were in the Kressin Brothers shoes? I don’t know. What I do know is that HK has filled a hole in this sport that was left vacant by one of the greatest party teams to ever grace paintball, Stockholm Joy Division. These guys were the definition of what this sport was about, work hard, party hard. They were backed by a company, WDP/Angel who, at the time, was one of, if not the, leader in innovation in the sport. And that company fully supported the team’s attitude. Yet, there isn’t as much hate for Joy as there is for HK, and they are doing the same things Joy did.
So, let’s look beyond HK Army, and focus on their fans. This is where I have an issue with them, the fanboys and agglettes that flock to HK. How often do you see someone at your field, acting like an ass hat, wearing an HK shirt, or sporting an HK headband, or some other PBFashion merchandise? Not that wearing their stuff makes you an agglette, but it seems that since this team and apparel company is so popular, their brand has made its way to infamy with agglettes. HK, good team, good guys from what I am told, but it’s the fans that give them a bad rap. And not all fans, just the ones who are over the top. I picture these fans kind of like a spoiled Star Wars fan that gets a Chewbacca mask for Christmas or birthday, and it’s not movie quality, so they flip their sh*# on their parents. These fans, and the entire agglette crowd, are a major problem in this sport. When you have new payers show up at a field to try out air ball, and they see someone decked out head to toe in the latest paintball fashion, they tend to view them as the epitome of paintball. I know I did when I first started playing. Some jack ass at my field, first time ever there, was decked out head to toe in Smart Parts clothing, sporting a Shocker 4×4, and was bashing everyone there what was shooting a Tippmann or a cocker or Spyder. He made such an impression on me, not just with his attitude but with his playing style, that to this day I refuse to wear or shoot anything made by Smart Parts (except the freak barrel, I just love it). These are the kinds of people I am talking about. The ones that can have such an influence on new players in such a negative way, they may even drive those new players away from the sport. So, what can we to do change this?
Honestly, I am not sure how to deal with agglettes, as I don’t see many of them lasting long in the sport. The people I play with are very good at recognizing an agglette. When they go up against them, they don’t hold back. Most agglettes I see don’t last more than a few years because of this targeting; and yet new agglettes are born every day. As a community we need to be on the lookout for the warning signs of when someone is making the turn form fashion baller to agglette. If you see it, do what you can to stop the change. The only real sure fire way I have seen someone cure their agglette syndrome is by way of YouTube. If you see someone acting like a fool, what better way to encourage change than to film them and post up for all to see on the internet? Might just be the motivation these people need to change, and help grow the sport, instead of drive people away and make the rest of us look bad.
Do you have the balls to call out an agglette when you see one? Do you have the balls to confront an over the top fanboy and help them see the error in their ways? I hope so, because the only way this sport is going to grow is if we, the players, grow it, and take responsibility for our actions, and those around us.
LOL, I say wear your SWAGGER, how you carry yourself is what makes you agg.
the kid in the picture is not agg he has LSS and he's shooting a 45/45 tank he's a try hard
I use a45 tank too justin. I traded a jersey for it. What am I supposed to do?
Justin Seth Karney He's also not leaning back enough. It's all about the stance.
Agg comes from the word “Aggressive.” It was used to describe waves.
while you are correct, the term took on new meaning as “aggro” in the surf/skate community in SoCal… once the skaters adopted it, as the sports attract the same demographic, it moved form an aggressive go big or go home surf word to a term that defined a sense of personal style and skill… then the aggro term and life style made the next move to paintball, where it became “agg”… a new meaning of looking good and playing good, regardless of your gear…
I wear headbands because getting domed hurts!
first day on the field, i got domed, went out after that game got a beanie for 5 bucks at wallmart, made the side impact on my noggin hurt 10 times less later that day.
oh my goodnes. sir, i love you!!! FINALLY someone has written an article on this phenomena that drives me CRAZY!!! “why you mad bro? HHHHHH!!!!” yeah, gets old, i as yourself respect the kressin brothers and what they are doing for the sport (for the most part) but… agglets…… the best way i have found to point them out (you guys are going to hate me for this) but i kid you not. when my friend and i where flying to HB this year we saw a few kids who looked like they fell off the short bus, like really really dumb, really rich, really uncoordinated. “that kid is totally hk”. sure enough, see the same kids the next day in an hk headband, t-shirt, shoelaces screaming HHHHH at the top of there lungs every chance they got. this also happened on our way to and at Vegas, every kid who looked like they where from the Kentucky (no offence) of so cal was reppin hk gear. 100% accuracy so far pointing them out on the way over and 100% accuracy when they show up to our field.
yes i am a total alien fanboy….. and i miss joy so much!
Hit the nail dead on the head. this is great.
Dont know if you noticed Justin, but he plays for the Vipers. I'd call him agg
"If you don't have Agg, you can't know what it is", bonus balled the kid who told me this the first time I heard the term up here in the great white north.
Disregard me comment Justin, I just creeped threw your photos 😉
yeah, Justin Karney is AGG bro….dont doubt
in my opinion hk army does more effort of promoting their label not the sport.
ive never seen them at their concerts saying go play paintball, i see them playing beer pong and yelling HHHHH about everything
I found this article to lack depth and do lil more than define what an agglette is. I'm not pro hk army or their life style by anymeans but this entire article has nothing to do with them and everything to do with your distaste for "spoiled" people. Why do you think the "agglettes" stand like they stand durring a game? They think that is an affective way of playing. Don't hope for the person to leave the sport. They spend money which the sport needs, instead try to bring a more positive example to the kid.
this guy is nagg
You people care too much about other people, let them spend their money and look however they want. And why are you targeting them and driving them out of the sport? Apparently they're putting tons of money into the industry so trying to drive them away seems to only hurt paintball.
here is the thing, this article is not about how people look, its not about what gear they buy, what clothes they wear on and off the field… i personally could care less about that… its about the attitude, and how certain people with said attitude are drawn to a culture thats been cultivated by HK… i have no issues what so ever with HK Army… the seem like a good group of guys, and the kind of guys i would have partied with back in my college days… this article was targeting an attitude that needs to be challenged… for every 1 person that tells me this isnt a problem anymore, i hear from 10 others saying that its still there… this article was titled and written the way it was for a reason… to get people attention… if i had written it centered around the hardcore DYE fan boys, it wouldnt have made as big a stir as it has now…
Iv always tried to explain it and never could, this exactly what's killing the sport.
having a picture of a pbv player was pretty rich.
That's a great write up.
if you do ever find yourself "calling out an agglette" I hope its to tell them to spend more time on the field working on their game. I can't be the only one that notices that these kids are often in their teens and at that point in your life you're just trying to find a way to fit in. It's the kind of like not fitting in a school so you try to find a group that you can belong with. Hopefully they realize that it's your game that defines you, not your apparel. I went through it, along with lots of other people. So if you see one of these "agglettes" take time out of your day to help them progress as a player and hope a positive attitude follows. They won't make it in the sport very long if it doesn't.
so when professional players are winning pro tournaments wearing HK headbands, they are aggletts too right?
Because head gear wins you tournaments, right?
Why do you care so much what other people wear when they ball. Are you a counselor, why do you care about their social skills. TL;DR: WHY DO YOU GIVE A FUCK ABOUT IT, let people do what they want. Jeebus fucking Crust. This argument (yes an argument, because that's all this opinion shit turns into) is so old and everyone that cares about it should suck on my grandpa's wrinkly balls. /rant
Great piece. Love it! Kudos Andrew.
by the by, shocker 4x4s sucked compared to a well tuned cocker. You see fanboys everywhere, but especially in the punk community. The paintball community I think is a lot like the punk community, and after time the non true ballers will leave and sell there guns cheap to the rest of us. Aggelettes aren't all a bad thing see, they support the paintball economy, and allow the rest of us to get a deal.
This one has been bothering me for a long time, so, as someone with a strong college education who supports the HK community I’ll take the defense.
First off, the picture of an “agglet” is completely misconstrued. That player is from the Chicago Vipers organization. Those folks tried out for a franchise of one of the stronger divisional teams and competed in the NPPL. You mention over dramatic form, well part of being agg is having tight form. Holding your marker properly gives you the edge when you play national events. Looking at your scenario/rec pictures your form is garbage and you have no room to criticize the player in the picture.
Next, you say becoming an agglet is because of a lack of social skills? HK was founded on doing whatever it takes to get to the field on Sunday. Playing with your friends at the highest level possible and having a great time. It’s less about what gear you have, more about being unique and having things fit well. Criticizing people for becoming friends due to a similar mindset is just childish.
The HK community has a number of core members who have done more things in paintball than you ever have. Mike McCormick posted his pictures in the HK threads for years before getting picked up by dynasty. Other supporters include Alfred from LIFT, Ronnie from Heat, Meter from NJJ and the list goes on with countless other successful players. Feel free to call out those kids for having some style when they play.
TL; DR 1. You mad. 2. You jelly.
My home field finally managed to eliminate most of the agglets. How? When woodsball picked up they stopped most of the speedball. The started getting tough on enforcing rules. When the agglets weren’t allowed to keep mowing newbies and were forced to go against players who actually have skill, they left. The woodsballer and rec players at my field are good guys and girls who don’t tollerate that kind of crap. I mentioned to my field yesterday when we were there how nice it was without all the twibs there. He agreed.
Lol I've never heard the term agglette. I don't give a shit what people wear or how they act off the field, I'm there to blast fools, not make friends with rich 15 yr olds. I'll definitely wear a headband, my grillz are so old the foam around the forehead is coming off n its annoying as fuck
if you wear a headband ontop of a beanie… you may be an agglette….
I found a pair of of BDUs, a hoodie, a beanie, and a good set of used pads does a world of difference when playing any game more than any brand name. Call me a N00b because I am a newbie and have years of training and playing to learn and become a good paintballer, but to me its more about how well a person can function with the team, their ability to strategize and plan, and for the players to be able to execute those tactics quickly and change them up on the fly when things are not looking so good. Of course a consistent tournament grade gun helps too. However, paintball, from what I have learned from my friends, is not made by the equipment or the brand you wear, but by the heart you have for the sport, and the love and respect you harbor for your fellow players.
this article is so true! Personally, i am 11, and i have all hk stuff, but the reason im not an agglette is because im humble