The Catshack Reports shares our Q&A interview with UWL spokes model Jessica Ford on her experience in paintball and what its like to be a spokes model for Tom Cole and the UWL.
To begin with who is Jessica Ford and what is your background career wise?
Well, I’m 25 years old. I grew up on a animal farm when I was younger which included having pets that included llamas, goats, horses, chickens, cows and of course a monkey! Who doesn’t have a monkey growing up, come on now! I went into the Air Force right after high school and went into training for Air Traffic Control but decided that I wasn’t too interested in that line of work, so I changed career paths when I got out of the military and started working in the Human Resources field. Currently I work for a large distribution company doing their Insurance Benefits and serving as a Human Resources Generalist. I have always loved working face to face with people so it seemed to just fit!
I have always been a fairly athletic person but I found a new passion for fitness in 2007 when I was getting ready for my 1st Photo Shoot with a photographer in Chicago to start my portfolio. My dream job would be to become a Personal Trainer which is not out of reach but not the right timing now either. My main goal for 2011 is to appear in Oxygen’s Fitness Magazine. I am also working on a 2011 calendar of Paintball Girl pin ups called Marker Girlz.
I was introduced to Tom Cole with the UWL through the Chicago Heretics Paintball Team and was offered a Spokes Modeling position for the UWL and have been doing that since early 2008. I love the league and what it’s about and can’t wait for the 2010 Season!
You mentioned your first foray into paintball having run alongside the Chicago Heretics playing some paintball…. when and where did you paintball and what were your thoughts on the experience itself?
My first endeavor of playing paintball was at Fox Paintball Field in Millington, IL for a Scenario Event in 2008. As I was leaving my house I was wearing some boots, tight jeans and a fitted T-shirt and had no idea that my attire was so far from target that when I got to the field everyone would notice how inexperienced I was at the game, (they don’t call me Hollywood for nothing!) So before I went on the field, the Heretics Team decided to give me a small paintball dress make-over. I ended up looking like some sort of swamp thing with no shape whatsoever, which I did not like very much but figured they may know what they’re talking about and so I gave it a shot…literally!
My first thought was “Holy hell…I know that he did NOT just shoot me!” then I thought “what have I just gotten myself into, I’m going to have so many bruises after this game that I won’t be able to wear shorts for a month! “ Then the adrenaline kicked in, I’m a very competitive person so all jokes aside, I really got into it!” I’m the type of person who needs an objective to go after so Scenario style paintball just worked for me. I love being in the woods and pretending that I’m Rambo! The Heretics were really cool to play with, they knew that I haven’t ever played before but that doesn’t mean they took it easy on me! I was shadowing a few of the players and kinda felt like their little sister 
because they always had my back and never just left me there in the woods by myself, which is a very good thing cause I would’ve probably ended up all the way across town if I had to navigate the woods by myself. We had a blast and just spent the whole day at the field. Fox Paintball is awesome because sometimes they have huge bonfires after the large scenario events at the field so you can just party all night with friends.
The first 2 hits that I will always remember from playing paintball were when I was shot in the head, I sucked it up cause my husband was looking at me like “don’t cry…please don’t cry out here in front of all these guys!” but in all honesty, it hurt like hell and I wanted to murder whoever shot me! The 2nd was when I was shot in the woods during a scenario event and I wasn’t aware that where one ball went another was sure to follow and someone shot me in the collar bone and then 2 more came after that so I was angry that someone was still shooting me when I was clearly out but learned that’s just the way it goes! In the end though, it’s part of the game and I think the saying goes “if you can’t take the heat then get out of the kitchen!” You’ll definitely see me out there playing again.
Would it be safe to say your experience as mentioned above was enough to intrigue you into becoming more involved with the game?….what would you say to other women considering giving paintball a try?
My first paintball experience had me hooked for sure! It’s not only the game but it’s the people who play it. All of the events I have been to have been so much fun and if the women are worried about the guys giving you grief for playing, most of them don’t! I don’t think the industry is geared enough toward women (with obvious reasons…pain) but I would say definitely give it a try! It won’t hurt if you don’t get shot, which is the point! So…be good or don’t play (just kidding) but really it’s a good time and amazing exercise! What girls wouldn’t want to play…you’re around good looking guys all day, what’s to lose by showing you can hang with the tough guys once in a while and then go home and get dolled up to go out? I think it’s sexy when women play paintball, it shows a strong side and a willingness to step outside of their comfort zone…even if it’s only to try and play one time. I’ve seen some hard core women players and they don’t mess around…I would almost step in a guy’s fire before theirs in some of the cases.
How and when did you first become involved with Tom Cole and the UWL and please explain your role as part of the UWL staff
I was introduced to Tom Cole in 2008 and he had heard from the Chicago Heretics Team that I was recently breaking into modeling and looking for something on a very part time basis. After learning about the league Tom offered me the position to become a UWL Spokes model. Ever since then I have been helping him out at some of the UWL events.
In 2010 I will become more involved on the administrative side as well as the actual event side itself. I’m helping with some of the tasks that can take up too much time for Tom who is so busy and focused on planning the actual events themselves.
My job is to basically mingle with the teams at the UWL events and hear what they have to say about the league. My feedback from the teams goes directly to Tom Cole in order to make sure that any concerns and or ideas are taken into consideration so that we can make each event run as smoothly as possible. I hand out flyers and help with the registration. As you already know Tom is heavily involved in the events that he runs. When I am working at the events I hardly see him because he’s talking with teams and refs on a constant basis during the games so another aspect of my job is to really hold down the fort and help teams if they need anything (like new wrist bands or something) while he’s on the field. I love to be in all the action at the UWL events and talk to people…I like to talk so I guess that could be both good and bad for some! So this means if you are at a UWL event, please come see me and let me know your thoughts and if you don’t come see me, more than likely I will find you either way! I will be keeping live information posted through Facebook and Twitter for the UWL California Event in January so that even if you aren’t there you won’t miss out on all of the action!
I assume you were in attendance at most if not all of the UWL events in 2009, as an onlooker and spokes model, what were for you personally, some of the really exciting moments of the tournament series in 2009.
I haven’t been to all of the UWL events but I am hoping to be at a lot more in 2010.There is something about the constant action that seems to take place on the field. The teams compete like any other sport but off the field they all seem like buddies. I ended up out sourcing my sister for the Texas UWL event because I couldn’t go and even though I wasn’t there I heard about how flooded the field was and the pictures were hilarious of the teams swimming in mud but Tom still ran the event on Saturday because that’s what the teams wanted. One of the swing flags was basically under water by the end of the day. It’s fun to watch “average Joes” (and by average Joes, I mean someone who isn’t or hasn’t been paid to play paintball) play against some of the biggest names in the industry such as Bob Long, Ryan Moorehead, Matty Marshall etc. Even though they are at such a high level they take the time to talk with and give advice to aspiring teams, and on occasion it’s cool seeing the “average Joes” beat teams of that caliber.
What’s on the books for Jessica Ford in 2010?…will you be present at some of the UWL events happening now in Europe?…. can you share any changes that we can expect as players and where can we see Jessica next year?
I am hoping to attend many more UWL events than last year but I am not the only Spokesmodel for the UWL so it just depends on the location and if there are already girls in that area to help out with the events. As far as London goes, you will just have to check in on the UWL website to find out which girls will be attending.
The UWL has made some changes from the feedback that we have received in 2009. We have dropped the roster sized down by 1, so instead of a 10 + 1 we are going to a 9 + 1 format. This is keeping the league true to its roots of being a 10 man Woodsball league. We are also adding a national finals and a World Championship, Nationals will be held at SC Village in CA and the World Championship will be held in London. Something that we are very happy to announce is that the Open Division Team that ranks the highest in the US will be flown out to the London event to contend for the Title. Now some may question what determines “Highest Rank”, we will take the teams 2 highest regional scores combined with the national championship score to find our number 1 team. We are very excited for this year to start and we are hearing a ton of interest from many more teams this year. If you are on the fence about playing the UWL just sign up to play, one thing we pride ourselves on is the individual sign ups. This allows players or groups of players that don’t have enough to field a team the chance to sign up and still play as we will pair them with other individual players. Last year the “Merc” team took second to Bob Longs team in CA. As always if anyone ever has questions on the league they can visit us at www.playuwl.com. If you would like to contact me you can visit www.officialjessicaford.com.
