[John]

One thing that struck all the US players was just how many girls were out there playing the event. There were girls playing every division and even whole girl teams playing D1 and D2 (and possibly D3 as well). That just doesn't happen here in the states. We've had girl teams in the past, but never playing higher divisions and not in recent years. And we just don't get nearly as many teams that have competitive girl players on them.

What makes the PALs events so girl friendly?

[thaiboxer9]

I'm not sure how is it in the States, but here in Asia I haven't seen any male paintballers looking down on the girls playing, just the opposite, we supports and cheers for them everytime they plays. If you notice when Poison Ivy played in D1 at the WCA, almost everyone watching the game were supporting and coaching them.

The same with the lower Division, everytime the girls playing or pulling a cool moves, we were all cheering. That's probably one of the reasons the girls loves to compete.

Just My two cents

[angelphatz]

Originally Posted by John

One thing that struck all the US players was just how many girls were out there playing the event. There were girls playing every division and even whole girl teams playing D1 and D2 (and possibly D3 as well). That just doesn't happen here in the states. We've had girl teams in the past, but never playing higher divisions and not in recent years. And we just don't get nearly as many teams that have competitive girl players on them.

What makes the PALs events so girl friendly?

Probably because they treat as well...
As I know there are lots of girls who played WCA, to name some...
Poison Ivy- Division 1(all girls)
xtioneer-Div 1 (catherine/paul's beloved)
Ladies Weakness- Division 2(all girls/from 5 countries)
Tubchang-Division 3(Thailand/2ladies)
Head Shot -Division 2 (Russia/2ladies)
Southern Cobra-Division 3(Brunei/2ladies)
Red Sevens-Div 2(Singapore/1 lady)

Most of the Girls who played for PALS were wife's, girlfriend, or sister of a paintballer...I can say this inspires us to play hard.

And i do agree with your comments, almost everyone support us and treat us very well in Pals, i can say the most friendly event for ladies.

hope to see more ladies next year

[LionheartPB]

Interesting thread.. I know the husband of one of the girls in Ladies weakness, and he is an excellent PBer, so it does run in families like angel said.. I'm pretty sure the support for a girl paintballer will be always there even in Europe or America, but why not showing up like in Asia? could it be the strong family ties ?

[wylekyote]

My wife's opinion is that she gets "hit on" less when we play in Asia. The gender equality is really in the sport there vs here.

[GunghoPaul]

Loads of gentlemen paintballers in Asia..:-)

[(dr)]

I think this could be attributed to America's view on women and the way they think they are supposed to be because of what they see everyday.

[KookieMonster]

I would have to agree with (dr). I believe in the US we have the paintball companies to thank for that. Roughly 10 years ago you had companies like Dye, to name one, that hired/sponsored a female player and then marketed her like a sex symbol to the rest of the paintball community. Other companies came on board with this mentallity and started to do the same. The problem with this is that it keeped some women from playing because the teenage guys playing were looking and expecting that the women playing were like those women that were being marketed the way they were by the companies. Playing on a team with a woman on it, I kinda saw how things were in this. Guys looked at here differently and treated her more like a noob on the field. She got frustrated by this and she stoped playing because of how she was being treated, she no longer enjoyed playing. Also, at a tournament, a start up all girls team tried to recruit her before the tournament without seeing her play. She knew the reason was because she was a woman and had nothing to do with her skills on the field and she turned them down and was quite upset with them.

I believe the whole problem with a lack of girls playing in the USA is the mentality of the guys playing towards them. Teenage boys are looking at them like a sex symbol and also hit on them because of the "awsome" factor added by other guys to have a g/f that also plays. Where as it may not be intended to be offensive to women playing, it often is taken that way by them.

[OneShot2Kills]

Yes to all of the above and keep it up!!! Let WCA be the model of how things should be.

[Irish916]

Originally Posted by KookieMonster

I believe the whole problem with a lack of girls playing in the USA is the mentality of the guys playing towards them. Teenage boys are looking at them like a sex symbol and also hit on them because of the "awsome" factor added by other guys to have a g/f that also plays. Where as it may not be intended to be offensive to women playing, it often is taken that way by them.

This to an extent and a big culture difference as well. I don't think the sex symbol thing has that huge of an effect. The whole hitting on female players thing is generally among rec ballers in their early teens from what I've seen reffing. You'll be better off wooing an interested spectator at events who isn't 100% familiar with paintball while your teammates talk you up, just saying.

Like said I think it's mostly culture and like mentioned how many female players are relatives or in relationships with male players. Most girls I know like paintball and think it's interesting. The reason they don't play is because they don't like being shot at, it's expensive, or they have higher priorities, just like male players.

If you look at other sports like surfing, snowboarding, lax, soccer, basketball, etc. they all have plenty of female players. Hell, every high school girl with social skills awaits the 1 day a year they can play powderpuff football. I think with culture in the USA sports are generally considered a more masculine activity, hence a higher portion of male players in those said sports but they are no where near exclusive.

Not to mention paintball isn't exactly an easy sport to get into where with soccer for example you only need a ball and an open field. Female players having male players as friends/family/spouses makes that transition much easier. Dropping money on something you hear is painful and leaves wounds for days just to see if you like it is a much bigger leap than "let's kick a ball around, our entire country plays."

[Brett_Favre]

Originally Posted by Irish916

The whole hitting on female players thing is generally among rec ballers in their early teens from what I've seen reffing. You'll be better off wooing an interested spectator at events who isn't 100% familiar with paintball while your teammates talk you up, just saying.
False: Girls will normally bring a friend to these types of activities (they dont want to be the only girl). Ie 1 is normally single. Its a good time to tease a girl and have a fun interaction. Also a good looking girl gets hit on 7-10 times every weekend when she goes out. She probaly gets hit on 2-3 times during the day for the entire week, its much eaiser to make an impression during a sunday paintball afternoon, then at bar where you are the 7th dude to approach here. AKA grow a set boys and run game on the girls rec balling

Hell, every high school girl with social skills awaits the 1 day a year they can play powderpuff football. i would hate to see what the girls looked like at your highschool was the . Girls want to try things because it looks neat and when they find out the reality of it they tend to loose interest. IE football toss, its all fun throwing them an underhand passes and catching their goose eggs at a tailgate / campsite from 10 feet away, but once they get a jammed finger after they beg you for an overhand throw they loose interest. Similar with paintball , they think its this mystic thing that their guys care about more then them and want to see what its all about, then they go get hit realize it sucks getting shot and realize its not for them.

women are physically different and many would argue inferior for athletics.

I would say the male players arn't as gifted there which is why these female teams can compete.

There is a reason the NCAA NBA NFL NHL MLB World Cup arn't coed. Women just cant compete , which is why you have separate womens leagues for these sports.

I dont understand why you guys push women to play competitive with men so much in this sport. why would you want to play a sport when your constantly getting rolled.

[memorex]

Originally Posted by Brett_Favre

women are physically different and many would argue inferior for athletics.

I would say the male players arn't as gifted there which is why these female teams can compete.

There is a reason the NCAA NBA NFL NHL MLB World Cup arn't coed. Women just cant compete , which is why you have separate womens leagues for these sports.

I dont understand why you guys push women to play competitive with men so much in this sport. why would you want to play a sport when your constantly getting rolled.

shooting a marker and moving quickly to bunkers doesnt take all that much effort. games are short and you are shooting paint at each other. I see no reason why they cant compete against each other. It's not a contact sport where they need to match strength or agility with males...just gotta shoot the other team out

[martix_agent]

Farve, i think this sport tends to show no favor to the gender athletic difference that you are speaking of.

[gooeyfish]

Dear whatever mod did the delete and ban. Thank you. Sexism, ignorance and jerks like that help to keep great ladies out of our sport here in the US.

[surge101]

They must have better exposure. I'm sure more girls would play it here if they knew what it was, but the majority of people, guys and girls, here think woodsball when you mention paintball. They don't consider paintball a sport and are very ignorant of the whole thing.

I don't think the fact that the PAL regions players having no game... errr I mean, being "gentlemen" has any affect on it, especially since girls actually like the attention, despite what you think.

[KarKrash24]

Paintball is all about aggression, so it just depends on how aggressive the girl is and whether or not that girl wants to put up with constantly having to prove herself to be taken seriously. It's a lot of effort to put into a sport that already has such a high barrier to entry. Most girls just don't think it's worth the time to prove to a group of guys who still think that girls are inferior athletes (farve).

For WCA, it's no wonder more girls are playing because they don't have to deal with the constant stigma of being a lesser player.

-a female paintball player

[wylekyote]

I can tell you its night and day between playing in the PAL areas and US. We get to play overseas quite often (though never enough) There are *far* more female players on any given recball or tournament field than the US. Even in the EU there are more female players. IMO its a US-only phenomena that there is a void of female players on the field.

[Terrell Owens]

Originally Posted by KarKrash24

Paintball is all about aggression, so it just depends on how aggressive the girl is and whether or not that girl wants to put up with constantly having to prove herself to be taken seriously. It's a lot of effort to put into a sport that already has such a high barrier to entry. Most girls just don't think it's worth the time to prove to a group of guys who still think that girls are inferior athletes (farve).

For WCA, it's no wonder more girls are playing because they don't have to deal with the constant stigma of being a lesser player.

-a female paintball player

child please

The main point is we dont need to change the sport to appeal to different audiences. Its great as is, either your into it or your not. I dont want to push my 7 year old son playing , or easing him in with 50 caliber, or trying to hard by taking my 15 year old daughter and her friends. If anything i would encourage laser tag to those groups.

People just try to hard pushing this sport , if you tell someone about it and they see a video and want to try it on their own great. But dont insist on bringing them if they dont have their own desire. I have seen too many of the just try it what do you have to loose parties gone bad .

[martix_agent]

oh look, he's back.

[John]

Originally Posted by martix_agent

oh look, he's back.

Haha, it's OK. It's good to have people who don't agree talking in a thread just as long as they don't stoop to trolling or name calling.

Originally Posted by KarKrash24

Paintball is all about aggression, so it just depends on how aggressive the girl is and whether or not that girl wants to put up with constantly having to prove herself to be taken seriously. It's a lot of effort to put into a sport that already has such a high barrier to entry. Most girls just don't think it's worth the time to prove to a group of guys who still think that girls are inferior athletes (farve).

For WCA, it's no wonder more girls are playing because they don't have to deal with the constant stigma of being a lesser player.

I don't know how you are making the jump from the first paragraph to the second. Why is it different for players playing WCA?

[Exhopek]

Wow maybe they get looked down too much there in the US it actually pushes them off the sport.

Ive seen some women pbplayers in malaysia that are just as quick and aggressive as men. Some Female snake players actually have the advantages of being nimble and small. Same with having a kids team. Paintball is a true equal opportunity sport. You dont have to be 6ft above to have a ht advantage like basketball, be a big boy to take hits like it is in hockey or football. As long as you can pull a microswitch trigger and take a towel snap. Wear body armor if its too painfull.

One thing Ive noticed in malaysia if girls play they are encouraged, cheered, coached and treated nicely.