Hello my name is

The other night my husband and I came home from another great day of playing paintball.  We met new paintball friends and I finally got to play along-side some other females for the very first time.  We had no equipment malfunctions, it was a hot day reminiscent of the not-quite-yet-arrived summer that we love, and played some new scenario games.  My “casualties” from the day consisted of one bruised foot from stepping into a stick and my worst-bruise-to-date on my shoulder that I just happened to get from my husband shooting me out.  Only someone in love with their spouse and in love with paintball would be proud to say such a thing.  Yep, we’re a special kind of breed, aren’t we?

To my surprise that night, I had an email waiting for me from TomCat.  It was an invitation to be a contributor here, something I consider a great honor.  After all, I’m just little ol’ me.  Would I like the chance of having a larger audience?  Of course I would.  Why—because I’m somebody important and deserve to be heard within the paintball community?  No, but I’d like to be heard.  Not because of who I am, but because of what I represent.

So who am I?  I’m a wife, a stay-at-home mom, the mother of three small children, and not what you’d call an athletic-type, but nevertheless, I’ve got the paintball bug.  My husband and I started playing only last year, but what started as a fun, new hobby has turned into a blooming passion.  We live in a small area where everything is surrounded by cornfields and paintball is like a “best-kept secret”.  Our passion has become a mission to promote this sport and get any and every player we can on the field.

We started a club to get players out together, and launched our own little website to coordinate game days, share our own ever-growing knowledge of the sport, and promote local businesses and fields.  My particular contribution to our site is a blog about my own adventures in paintball as a female new to the sport, hoping that it’ll catch the eye of other females who never dared to play before.  There are millions of “Soccer Moms” out there toting kids around from sport to sport, but how often is Mom the participant and competitor instead of just the chauffer and cheerleader?

A woman can bear children and the weight of the world on her shoulders—a few momentarily-stinging bruises aren’t going to shake her down.  A woman will wipe noses and bottoms, nurse their patients—big and small—back to health.  She already knows a little dirt will easily wash off.  A woman can manage to coordinate school and work schedules, loads of laundry, groceries, and dishes.  She’s the chef and the maid, and still manages to have enough energy for a bedtime story.  That’s endurance and multi-tasking.  So why doesn’t she play paintball?

What is the missing link—the key to getting more females playing paintball?  That is the million-dollar question, literally.  There are more females in the world than males, right?  There’s the stereotype that women like to shop, so why aren’t the large paintball companies marketing more to females?  Do they see it as a dead end without even really trying?  One of these days I hope to figure it all out.

I know paintball isn’t in the Olympics yet and is rarely televised—the whole industry as a whole could use growth.  But, that’s what we’re here for—to promote it, to share it, and nurture it into the empire it will one day become.  Sports in general are big business anywhere and everywhere.  It’ll happen in time.

While we’re waiting for that to happen, I’ll continue doing my part in small ways.  I’m lobbying on a local scale, and now perhaps on a broader scale.  I’ve got a mic and bigger speakers, so hear me roar.

By Richelle Shattell