Treasurer of Airsoft club Jakob Allen and President Jacob Naszke revamped the club this past spring semester but hope to garner more attention this school year. Credit: Boniface Womber | Lantern Reporter
Jacob Naszke and Jakob Allen don’t just share a name, they share a common goal: to resurrect the Ohio State Airsoft Club.
The Airsoft Club was around during the freshman year of both Naszke, a third-year in logistics, and Allen, a third-year in aerospace engineering, but ceased to exist by their sophomore year.
Naszke, president of the club, and Allen, treasurer, said the club was recreated during spring 2019 and they have been trying to get the club officially up and running again since then.
Naszke said that he and Allen shared an interest in playing airsoft, and wanted to start playing together.
“[Allen] was like, ‘Let’s make this into a club,’ because then we can find other people to play with. And this is how the Airsoft Club was born,” Naszke said.
Club vice president Meghan Smith, said the overall purpose of the club is to raise awareness about the sport.
“I think that it’s a really fun activity that not a ton of people know about, so I would love to have people who are interested and want to know more about it,” Smith said.
Although Naszke and Allen want to have fun with their fellow students and members, they said they are committed to students’ safety.
To help ensure that their members are safe while using airsoft guns, they are required to wear facemasks and full steel, ANSI-rated goggles, which can take hits from BB’s — metallic balls shot from an airsoft gun — without being cracked, Naszke and Allen said. The goggles are required to be fully sealed so the BB’s don’t go through the under-barrel of the goggles.
In addition to protective gear, the club is taking precautions when it comes to the guns.
“Another thing we’re doing is we are trying to limit the speed that the guns can shoot at because you can get really high-powered ones and mid-tier ones,” Allen said. “We don’t want to see the high-powered ones because there is a point where it goes from being fun to just excessively painful.”
Naszke said members can rent or buy their own guns, but they don’t want members having guns in the dorms and are looking for a place to store the guns somewhere off campus.
Naszke also said the price for an airsoft gun can be expensive, but not as expensive as other sports that use guns, such as paintball.
Despite little promotion, the Airsoft Club has managed to attract attention from students who have an interest in the sport.
Allen and Naszke said they have about five members in the club and at least 10-15 people who have shown interest.
For more information, students can email [email protected].
