"Why do they play?": Discuss

[Rosie]

This reeeally annoyed me

http://www.smacktalkpaintball.com/cgi-bin/forum/index.cgi/read/7616

"girls playing paintball is probably the worst thing for the sport. can't make the cut in the rookie division, id just as soon kill myself. the only woman worthy of playing paintball is Ashley Noble. all the rest of you girl "paintball players" should take up something less physically and mentally demanding like knitting. stay home and watch the men play the sport. "

What do you think?
(I wont rant, promise , I just want opinions)

 

[Rosie]

so...anything wrong with FLC ? (apart from the fact theyre supported by Smart Parts, that is )

http://www.flcharms.com/

The SAD FA girls?

http://www.uk-masters.co.uk/index.htm

Guppy?

http://www.communigate.co.uk/hants/tsunamipaintballteam/page7.phtml

Wendy Jones
(Boss of Manc Union? I think?)


Yeah there arent many women in paintball, and some of them are crap, but just think how many crap male players are out there who only play in the woods with a tippman and never progress from there?

 

[Chicago]

Women playing paintball is good.

WOMEN'S TEAMS playing paintball is stupid. It just forces women who are good to play on teams with women who suck for the sake of having a girl's team.

That's partially why people know Ashley Noble is good - she plays on real teams. If more women who could ball ditched the all-girls teams we'd see more women at the upper levels of play.

 

[Gyroscope]

You are trying to respond to smacktalk with your brain. That is just silly.

Women have the same problem in paintball as Latvians. There are not enough of them.

If Latvians insist on having all Latvian teams, whether for sponsorship reasons or Latvian solidarity, they will not see much competitive success until more Latvians play. A large pool of choices is necessary, and Latvia doesn't offer enough players to choose from. Since a lot of Latvians are not as drawn to rough and tumble gun oriented play, whether due to conditioning or genetic predisposition, as American men, they will face obstacles while playing in exclusively Latvian teams that are not balanced by the sometimes advantageous position they find themselves in with regard to sponsors. Though being Latvian brings more visibility to the team, making them more attractive to a sponsor, their failures will be as celebrated as most team's wins, due to that same visibilty.

PS, I am all for Latvians playing, especially if they are hot.

 

[Gyroscope]

D'oh! You beat me to it, Chicago. Same idea, though.

 

[Baca Loco]

Funnily enough I started a 'View' last week on this exact topic but as Chicago and Gyro have covered the most important aspects I guess I won't bother.

PS--and Chicago got right to point in a lot fewer words than I would'a used.

 

[Gyroscope]

Maybe you could cite us as experts and write it anyhow, if you are all out of inside dirt.

 

[Liz]

Originally posted by gyroscope
You are trying to respond to smacktalk with your brain. That is just silly.

Women have the same problem in paintball as Latvians. There are not enough of them.

There's a difference here. There is very little racism in paintball so a Latvian player might be offered a place on a team. There is so much sexism in paintball that a woman has to be twice as good as a man to get a place on the same team!
I know I'm not, never will be and never had the potential to be a great player. But there are some girls out there who might have been, but never took things further because the only way for them to start was in an all girl's team as "mixed" teams (read "male" instead) wouldn't give them the chance.
We would have more good women players in the sport if we had fewer men saying they aren't and can't be any good by definition because they are women - statements like the one that started this thread will only discourage women from playing.

PS - Rosie, you forgot Wendy Jones in your list. IMHO one of the best (and maybe the very best ) of the women players in the UK. Any player who can hold their place on merit in a team like some of those she's played with is first class

 

[Gyroscope]

Liz, I can't dispute what you say, although it makes little sense to me. Paintball teams should be about winning, and whoever can get the job done should get the job, end of.

It also seems like if all girl teams can get sponsorship more readily, by virtue of being a rare beast, then having a girl or two couldn't hurt one's shot at getting some of the limelight.

I haven't witnessed any overt sexism, but given the rampant homophobia it isn't hard to credit. I would imagine at the least that it will be caually assumed that the woman is dating someone on the team. That could get stale if not out and out uncomfortable. I can only imagine that such a relationship would be poison to moral, which may be another reason women aren't rostered very often on men's teams, but I wonder if the forethought goes that far.

 

[Rosie]

Originally posted by gyroscope
You are trying to respond to smacktalk with your brain. That is just silly.

Women have the same problem in paintball as Latvians. There are not enough of them.

If Latvians insist on having all Latvian teams, whether for sponsorship reasons or Latvian solidarity, they will not see much competitive success until more Latvians play. A large pool of choices is necessary, and Latvia doesn't offer enough players to choose from. Since a lot of Latvians are not as drawn to rough and tumble gun oriented play, whether due to conditioning or genetic predisposition, as American men, they will face obstacles while playing in exclusively Latvian teams that are not balanced by the sometimes advantageous position they find themselves in with regard to sponsors. Though being Latvian brings more visibility to the team, making them more attractive to a sponsor, their failures will be as celebrated as most team's wins, due to that same visibilty.

PS, I am all for Latvians playing, especially if they are hot.

ROFLMAO Gyroscope well explained