WESTBROOK – A local business is bringing a friendly and competitive battle for laser tag supremacy and bragging rights to kids in the Westbrook area this fall.
Trigger Combat Sports offers a weekly laser tag gaming program for children in grades 5-12 called Laser Tag Turf Wars as part of the Westbrook Community Center’s Outdoor Fields Fridays lineup of events.
Every Friday through Nov. 2, the group meets just behind the community center to take part in laser tag missions and competitions in field settings around and even inside the building.
“The program is run through the community center, and anyone can come,” said Dvorah Governale, 31, a Westbrook native and Trigger Sports co-founder. “You have to sign up for it, but we can have up to 24 members per session.”
The fifth- to eighth-grade section meets behind the Westbrook Community Center at 5 p.m., followed immediately by the high school-grades group at 7:30 p.m.
Using state-of-the-art gaming guns equipped with infrared sensors, Trigger Combat Sports creates an experience for players to participate in objective-based and team-oriented battle simulations.
“It’s like playing live video games,” said Joseph Governale, 29, Dvorah Governale’s husband and partner in the company. “Anyone who has been sitting in their room playing games has the opportunity to get outside, move, and be part of a game that’s just as – if not more – exciting than the video game they’re playing.”
Laser Tag Turf Wars pits competitors against each other in games such as “Team Death Match” and “Sniper,” where one player is a designated sniper that all other team members are hunting.
“It’s all team-based or objectives-based games and the guns we have allow us to try anything that we really want,” said Joseph Governale. “We usually try to run different missions with players. That way it’s not just running around and shooting. We’d really like to try an overnight game at some point in the future.”
Participants added that everyone usually has a different choice of favorite type of game to play, and that it usually depends on that players gaming strategy and style.
“I like playing Sniper the best,” said Gorham Middle School student Matthew Norton, who was playing the game last Friday at the community center. “It’s harder (to play) because the sniper gets to start early and you don’t get to respawn when you’re hit, so you have to be sneaky.”
A “respawn” means that if a player is hit, they’re able to return to the game. “Team Death Match” allows respawns, while “Sniper” does not.
Though it is considered laser tag, Trigger Combat Sports uses a gaming gun produced in Australia called the Scorpion SMG that relies on infrared technology, much like a television remote.
“It’s still called laser tag, but the guns don’t use lasers at all,” Joseph Governale said. “It’s all infrared so it’s completely safe, especially for the eyes.”
The guns are made from metal and designed to look like, and weigh as much as, an actual firearm while providing realistic sounds and simulated muzzle flashes. The infrared weapons even run out of simulated ammunition, which forces players to take an authentic amount of time to reload before firing again.
Players wear equipment on their head and torso that picks up the infrared signals sent from the guns and allows players to keep track of stats such as the number of players they hit and the amount of times they were targeted by opponents.
Trigger Combat Sports is a primarily mobile company that caters to private parties, corporate gatherings and other events for players of all ages.
Dvorah Governale said that it may look like a child’s game, but she’s not convinced that it is since they started the company about a year ago.
“The younger kids seem to enjoy just running around and shooting,” she said. “The adults, well, they tend to really get into the stealth and teamwork aspects, and they take it seriously.”
The program with the community center is the first of its kind for the young company.
“This is the first relationship we’ve built that we’ve continued an ongoing program with,” she said. “We’re working on setting up future programs following the completion of Turf Wars.”
Joseph Governale, who also works as a manager at Westbrook Cinemagic, said he launched Trigger Combat Sports because he played and enjoyed laser tag, but did not enjoy the structure that other leagues and game providers used and decided to look into what he needed to create his own.
“I was looking for something that would be a fun business to have,” he said. “If I did it, I wanted to do it with the best equipment around, and in my opinion I found it.”
His research led him to a gun manufacturer in Australia called Battlefield Sports, and decided it was time to make the investment.
“He always wanted to have his own business,” said Dvorah Governale. “When he was finishing up at the University of Southern Maine, his research led him to the right guns.”
Combat Trigger Sports invested some $9,000 in eight guns and the equipment to go with them. Since then, the company has been hired by events ranging from corporate team-building to family reunions.
“It felt like making a mortgage down payment,” she said. “We had to save for over a year.”
She added that while she first she thought they may be crazy, now she wouldn’t change a thing.
“The company may not amount to anything, but we won’t have to wonder,” she said. “I hope and think it will become something. It has shown great growth over the past year.”
Mathew Norton, a Gorham Middle School student, fires the advance-design “laser” gun during a game of laser tag last week behind the Westbrook Community Center. Trigger Combat Sports, run by a Westbrook couple, is hosting laser tag programs at the center each Friday through Nov. 2. Photo by Rich Obrey
Jacob Miller takes cover behind a tree while looking for his target during a game of laser tag last week behind the Westbrook Community Center.
Dvorah Governale of trigger Combat Sports explains the rules of a new game to Gorham Middle School students Jacob Miller and Mathew Norton. Photos by Rich Obrey
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