"Why do they play?": Discuss

[Liz]

Oh Gyroscope - I've been in this sport since the days when players really meant it when they'd say "If a woman shot me it shouldn't count & I wouldn't leave the field"!
In those days the ONLY way for most women to play would be if they were married to someone on the team - I'd go into my local shop & be asked by people who should have known better "who are you here with today" when I'd come in on my own to get my (then top of the range) Mag serviced. Until a few months ago I'd never dated a baller, but the assumption would always be that the reason I played was because of a boyfriend or husband who was a player

It's nowhere near as bad as it used to be, but you still get comments about women not being able to play. And even when you get threads about "we need more women in the sport" they always end up meaning "we need more hot chicks in the sport". It's still easier for a woman to get a game if she's young & cute.

I don't particularly agree with all-woman teams (you don't get teams that make an issue of being "all male") but I realise it's the only way into the sport for many women. If they perform well then they may get noticed and picked up by an ordinary team - Guppy is a great example of this, a fantastic player who only got her chance when the Chicks asked her to play then Tsunami took one look and gave her a first team place. But they might never have seen her play tournament if an all-woman team hadn't geot her out there in the first place.

The problem you CAN get with all-woman teams is that to keep the numbers up they recruit just about any woman who can hold a marker & point it in the right direction, as there are so few women playing. Then you get poor performances because many of the team aren't up to the standard of the better players.

 

[Chicago]

Originally posted by Liz
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!

That's a generalization. It depends entirely on whether the girl is ugly or not. I'd probably cut a girl a little slack on the skill front if she was hot. There are other things women bring to a team that straight up skill.

But not so much of they're ugly. Then you've basically just got a male player who is more bitchy.

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.

More seriously (I was being mostly sarcastic (with a point) above), I think this is a bunch of rubbish. The reality is that women, in general, for whatever reason, just don't have as much follow through as men in regards to athletics. It's just as hard for a guy to get a chance on a team as it is for a girl, if not harder.

Part of it is societal conditioning in that there are just fewer women who participate in athletics than there are men. Part of it is many women just don't seem to stand up very well to the aggressive, confrontational attitude of a competitive sport. And I think part of it is a lot of girls are just too willing to take the easy way out - get on the girls team, get the sponsorship, and go around to tournaments and get attention.

Anyway, I think the whole "There would be more women if they were given a chance" bit is just whining. Nobody is running around just giving out chances to guys either - if you want a chance, you have to TAKE it, MAKE it happen. IF you don't make it because nobody gave you a chance, the REAL problem is you didn't make it because you were sitting around waiting for someone to just give to you what other people are working to have.

 

[Chicago]

Originally posted by Liz

I don't particularly agree with all-woman teams (you don't get teams that make an issue of being "all male") but I realise it's the only way into the sport for many women.

See, there you go with the "It's everyone else's fault" stuff again. What do you expect to happen, wak into a field and say "Hey, I want to get in the sport", and someone to just hand you a spot on a team?

Women have EXACTLY the same opportunities to get into the sport as men: Find 2-4 other people, practice, and play local tournaments. If you have talent and work, you'll win. Hell, even if you play better teams, you might win anyway given the extreme benefit of the doubt female players tend to get from reffing.

I mean, are there a bunch of leagues out there refusing to take entry fees from women? Are there a bunch of fields who won't let women buy a field pass and paint to practice? What, exactly, is it that's keeping women from getting into the sport, other than that they seem to think they sould just be handed a chance to be involved?

If they perform well then they may get noticed and picked up by an ordinary team - Guppy is a great example of this, a fantastic player who only got her chance when the Chicks asked her to play then Tsunami took one look and gave her a first team place. But they might never have seen her play tournament if an all-woman team hadn't geot her out there in the first place.

And if that all-girls team hadn't done that, whose fault would it have been? Let's see... girl would not have gone out and played if someone else hadn't made her do it. God forbid people go out and play ON THEIR OWN ACCORD!

There are TONS and TONS of male players who want to go out and play. The ones who don't actually go and don't make teams because nobody sees them play - is that because women are holding them back? Or just because they're not doing what it takes?

The people who make it are the people who make it happen. A guy who wants to make a team expects that he's going to have to fight tooth and nail to prove that he's better than all the other guys who want to make the team. Why do you think that if a woman doesn't do that and doesn't make the team it's because she's a woman?


If a woman never got a chance to be on a team, it's for the same reason a guy never got a chance to be on a team: They never took it.

 

[Chicago]

Originally posted by Baca Loco
and Chicago got right to point in a lot fewer words than I would'a used.

Although slightly more lengthy, I liked gyro's analogy better.

 

[Pureball]

Originally posted by 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.

agreed. i find it funny how at work a group of women actually are more agressive than a group of men.

men are all like 'yeah you're dead mate im gonna ****ing own you! muwaha!' and then when they get on the field they pick a spot and dont move!!

sure the women are more scared and have a scream and laugh but they go for it more often than some male groups...

 

[A.B]

Sammi chapell- captain of nexus eclipse- trained long and hard and actually caused robbo to change his views on female players

Ellcie - Been playing on our team up till she had a skiing accident, was one of our strongest mid players, small fast stuck to her job on field and didn't once let us down.

Alicia - Very promsing player, small and fast and looks good in her barricade (style not just looks )

I have no problem with recruiting a female or a male player- if they do their job on field same as the guys they are equal. i disagree that female players have to be 'better' or 'good looking' to get a chance, they just have to play well.

Teams created to play off the girl vibe - well their a sponsers wet dream - literally sometimes, if they have the skill to back it up- excellent, if they don't well done to them for obtaining the sponsership and promoting themselves in that way.

A.B

 

[Liz]

Originally posted by Chicago
See, there you go with the "It's everyone else's fault" stuff again. What do you expect to happen, wak into a field and say "Hey, I want to get in the sport", and someone to just hand you a spot on a team?

Women have EXACTLY the same opportunities to get into the sport as men: Find 2-4 other people, practice, and play local tournaments. If you have talent and work, you'll win. Hell, even if you play better teams, you might win anyway given the extreme benefit of the doubt female players tend to get from reffing.

I mean, are there a bunch of leagues out there refusing to take entry fees from women? Are there a bunch of fields who won't let women buy a field pass and paint to practice? What, exactly, is it that's keeping women from getting into the sport, other than that they seem to think they sould just be handed a chance to be involved?



And if that all-girls team hadn't done that, whose fault would it have been? Let's see... girl would not have gone out and played if someone else hadn't made her do it. God forbid people go out and play ON THEIR OWN ACCORD!

There are TONS and TONS of male players who want to go out and play. The ones who don't actually go and don't make teams because nobody sees them play - is that because women are holding them back? Or just because they're not doing what it takes?

The people who make it are the people who make it happen. A guy who wants to make a team expects that he's going to have to fight tooth and nail to prove that he's better than all the other guys who want to make the team. Why do you think that if a woman doesn't do that and doesn't make the team it's because she's a woman?


If a woman never got a chance to be on a team, it's for the same reason a guy never got a chance to be on a team: They never took it.

Been there & seen it Chicago, too many times over the years. Woman goes up to a team at a training day & asks for a tryout for the team - "sorry luv, squad's full" or "er um, we'll think about it". One week later (or even the same day) male player who isn't any better asks for a place on the team & is welcomed with open arms. Team with a roster of 8 playing a 7-man - 9 times out of 10 it's the female who is dropped or just reserve for the day whether she's a better or worse player than the others.

I'm not saying all teams are like that, and the attitude IS changing quite rapidly, but you do still see it. Go back to the quote that started this whole thread, this wasn't an isolated incident by any means.

A.B - thanks for reminding me about Sammi. But that says it all really, Robbo is yet another one who had that view that women can't play!

 

[Nickyboy]

I personally think that it's great having girls in the sport, boosts awareness to all and spreads diversity. As a fairly new player to tournies I was v.impressed to see the girls at the masters running the show, and doing a wicked job of it.

I don't think it's for some girls though, my girlfriend couldn't give 2 shizzles about paintball, or my boring bunker stories.

 

[JoseDominguez]

Problem is, too form the "best all male paintball team in the world" you have a massive group to pick from.
To form the "best all female paintball team in the world" then you've basically got to let all of them play.

It's like froming a team called "Keith Naismith" where everyone must be called "Keith Naismith"...... it'll be crap because of the smaller demographic.

Simple as that. Probably lot of superb female paintballers out there, but most of them have never heard of the sport

Just wait till china start playing paintball seriously, then we are all knackered.

 

[Rosie]

Yeah I agree with a lot of whats been said

I think that there are fewer women in paintball mainly because they just...never get into the sport in the first place, not becuause they are denied the chance. Ive never experienced any kind of discrimination: i was really lucky when i fell into a good team straight away.
and I think there's less discrimination, whatever in the UK than in the US.

I know a helluva lot of girls at school who've tried it once, and come back saying they've hated it. Some cant handle the pain or the marks, and many would rather spend their cash on clothes, music and booze than participating in/watching sport of any kind.

Originally posted by Liz
It's nowhere near as bad as it used to be, but you still get comments about women not being able to play. And even when you get threads about "we need more women in the sport" they always end up meaning "we need more hot chicks in the sport". It's still easier for a woman to get a game if she's young & cute.

Thats true

I think its defo worse in Rec Ball than Tourney Ball: i used to hear some comments, - guys being taunted because theyd been shot by a girl