As recreational paintball players, Joel Taylor and his son, Ben, wanted to open their own business. But traditional paintball presented some obstacles.

"When you have outdoor paintball, you need a lot of land, and it is very dependent on the weather," Joel Taylor said. "Also with indoor paintball, paint is very expensive and it's a mess to clean up. So we started thinking about paintless paintball."

Joel Taylor started scouting locations and soon found that renting a 10,000-square-foot commercial location was quite expensive. So he decided to look at sites which were underused, and came up with the idea of using an indoor soccer field in Dyer. He did the same for his second location in Darien, Ill., which opened in April.

"Paintball is a fun thing. Kids like it and its a good activity to keep them off the street," Taylor said. "Instead of playing in the woods, we decided to play indoors, and (in Dyer we) have one of the largest paintless fields in the country."

With paintless paintball, instead of a player being out when splattered by paint, players use the honor system. For those who aren't entirely honest, there are referees watching the action.

CrossFire caters to families, but there also are adults who want to get in on the action, and the business has also hosted several bachelor parties.

Taylor has long been in the recreation business; he is a variety entertainer who juggles, is a stilt walker and has other talents. He also has another business, Vertical Challenge, in which climbing walls are brought in for parties.

To keep all of those balls in the air, and because the business shares the space with indoor soccer, CrossFire is only open from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday evenings. People can play for the three hours for $30. Equipment is available for rental or purchase.

"The business started slow, particularly in the summer, but it will start building again in September," Taylor said. "Paintball is great, it's really cool to see paint splatter when you are hit. This doesn't replace paintball, but it's a great alternative."

CrossFire Paintless Paintball

Location: 14914 W. 101st St., Dyer

Phone: (708) 341-3255

Owner: Joel and Ben Taylor

Opened: June 2005

Number of employees: Four

Web site: www.crossfirereball.com

Type of business: Paintball without the paint