From Professional Paintball Player to YouTube Sensation: Jairo Escobar's Fascinating Journey

Paintball isn't a popular sport globally. It is famous in Canada, Venezuela, and a few other countries. But there's hardly anyone who came back from retirement and pursued a professional career in the sport. This decision wasn't just to help a team survive from the claws of relegation. Jairo Escobar made a comeback to paintball because of his unparalleled love for the game.

Escobar's stint in paintball

Jairo Rafael Escobar Cordoba is a Venezuelan entrepreneur and a famous YouTuber based out of Toronto. Before he became a well-known face on YouTube, people knew Escobar as a professional D3-ranked paintball player. But why did he retire from paintball when he loved this game so much? Well, he had to choose between two careers, and YouTube helped him earn much more than paintball.

Escobar was born in March 1999 in Puerto Ordaz, Bolivar, Venezuela. He was an ardent fan of paintball from a young age. Escobar learned all about the game from local Venezuelan players. The veterans were highly impressed with Escobar's ability to read the play. It was as if he knew what his opponent would do next. This gave him enough time to prepare his strategy and beat the opponent. Escobar was making a name among veterans even while he was a teen.

His enthusiasm for the sport encouraged his parents to enroll him in a local paintball training organization. It would help turn Escobar into a professional paintball player within a few years. But Escobar was also making content for YouTube and Instagram during that time. He was a part of various channels, such as "RealJairoEscobar," "Jairon558," and "Toronto Party Commission" from 2012. His popularity on YouTube started growing as people appreciated his content via comments, likes, and shares. But he wasn't complacent about his popularity. Escobar kept working hard in paintball to become a professional player.

Soon, Escobar burst into the paintball scene in Venezuela as he became one of the youngest players to become a D3-ranked player. This was just before Escobar left for Toronto to pursue his YouTube career.

Becoming a YouTube sensation

Although Escobar became a D3-ranked paintball professional, he wasn't getting too many chances in tournaments. Moreover, he was also focusing on his YouTube career simultaneously. In 2017, Escobar had to choose between continuing with his paintball career or make YouTube his future. He decided to go for the latter and headed to Toronto, Canada, where he started his YouTube channel "Jairo Escobar."

His channel immediately attracted thousands of Latino subscribers. He started his YouTube channel in 2019 and reached 250,000 subscribers in just two years. While YouTube gave him his due success, he wasn't happy that he had to retire from paintball at such a young age. His heart was aching to get back into paintball. And so, he came back from his retirement in 2020 to start playing paintball again.

"I realized that I couldn't stay without paintball for long. Even though I have thousands of subscribers, my mind is still that of a teenage boy who became a professional player in Venezuela. I'm preparing for the Ontario Paintball League in 2021, and I hope my followers will support me just like they support my videos."