Fans to the Pros is a new series we are starting, where the fans get to ask todays top pros questions. Over the course of a week we had fans submit their questions to Mr. Slowiak. When all was said and done we were left with the questions below.

Who is Nick Slowiak? We all know that you are a paintball super star, but what do you do off the field?

Who is Nick Slowiak...I'll ask him. Haha. Off the field I have found myself working full time and in school. When I made it to the pro level I was working 2 jobs and had finished community college a year before. I landed a sweet job at Procaps Direct in Chicago that really helped with the paintball life style. I decided to go back to school in 2009 and try to get my Bachelors degree but it did not quite work out as I was driving around 450-600 miles every weekend back and forth from school to my parents house and then practice and had virtually no money to support myself. Now I work for GI Sportz, play paintball, watch my niece, and travel quite a bit. I love playing video games...COD. I just started working out at a new gym that has literally made me throw-up everytime I have been there except once. I really enjoy spending time on the road and seeing new places. If I had a choice I would probably live far away from the city in the mountains or something, I love the outdoors and wilderness.

After a great finish to last years season, what caused the break up of the Aftershock roster?

I really wish I had a good answer for the break-up of the Aftershock roster. World Cup was ruff, there is no denying that. Winning Vegas was amazing, it was a dream come true, the end of that event officially ending the year made everything perfect. There really was no foreseeing the departure of 3 guys. I had heard that Infamous was going to be moving to be based more out of the MW but I really had no reason to be concerned with it. I was working at GI when I received a text from Chris saying we needed to talk. Of coarse nothing good has ever come from a statement like that. Later that night he informed me that he, Drew, and Zack had quit Shock and were now with Infamous. The thing that really got me was when he told me that had decided to quit a week prior and had been talking about doing so for 3 weeks. That really blew my mind. As for the reason why they left we may never know the truth, as it would seem that is not something that comes out into the light. It really made me sad though that they never made any attempt to try and work something out...it made it appear that things were so bad that not even winning a national event together would keep things up-right but we will never know.

Why did you decide to leave Chicago Aftershock?

After the departure of 3 guys from the team, I knew things would be ruff. I did not feel that it was completely hopeless but I was really depressed as the team would have to try and rebuild again. Shock has, if my memory serves me correctly, not had the same group of players from one event to the next since I was on the team. We have always been rebuilding, always. It has sometimes lead to great out comes and then to terrible ones. Either way the process is long and has huge ups and downs. I have never know any other team or organization and this came as one of the hardest choices I have ever had to make. In the end I weighed my options and decided that leaving the team and starting down a different path was the best option for me to make. 

With Fedorov, Mishka and Sergei leaving the Russians the formation of Heat came soon there after, was there any planning of the team or did it just somewhat arise? 

The formation of Houston Heat was and is still somewhat of a mystery to me. I was aware that new "pro" team was in the works but as to what players would be joining that team or where it would be located was beyond me. I had heard whispers and read the rumors but really payed no attention to it as I had bigger things to deal with in my personal life and with Shock. I am sure there was a lot of planning that went into the team as making one as such does not just happen over night. Either way, Houston Heat is a new pro team that will be competing in multiple series this year and we plan on winning.

Many people might not know that Houston Heat was a team back in the 90's, why the revival?

The choice to bring the name back was not of my doing. This was done with out any of the players input and none of us had anything to really do with it as far as I know. Now I am sure some have been made aware that the name "Houston Heat" is not new and belonged to a team that was captained by "Scuba" Steve Rabackoff. I may self had only breifly heard the name before in the past in discussions of old teams that have passed. In the end it is our team name and it is something that we wear with pride.

After 5 years of playing pro paintball, what are your best and worst memory?

I really have way too many to count. I mean the highs and lows in tournament paintball are just crazy. I think the just of it for the lows has been losing...losing a lot. The start of the 2011 season was horrible as was the entire 2008 season. Winning my first local events in the CPSA and Badlandz series is up there even though it wasn't pro it taught me to reach for the stars. Playing 10 man was something I really miss and loved, 10 man memories are awesome and I am soo glad I gt to play 10 man nationally. Playing in the finals at World Cup as disastrous as it was, was a great and terrible memory. Winning Vegas is way up there as well. The best memories I would have to say though are the trips with the people in-between. The travel to different countries, new friends, crazy happenings, just being with the people that share the same passion as you and share all of the same sacrifices you do. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I have laughed to tears with people from all over the world. The people you meet in paintball and the combined stories you share and can relate to make up the best memories for me.

What is the best format you have ever played? Xball (old/cxbl style), Race2, 7man, UWL, 10man ect

Best format eh? Hhmmm well there are several I have really liked. 10 man was just awesome. The fields were always different, you had 20 people playing at once, I mean it was just sweet. It holds a special place in my heart because at the time I was getting into paintball 10 man ruled. It was watching Aftershock, The All A's, Avalanche, Ironmen, Trauma, Rock-it Kids, tons of other teams just play sweet paintball. After 10 man I really like the old original X-Ball. You cannot beat 25 min halves at 15 bps. It was awesome and it is one of the biggest reasons why I have been traveling to Canada to take part in the CXBL the last 6 years. They run one of the best series I have ever participated in hands down. PSP is next with the race to format. The only thing I do not like and Oliver said it best during a webcast, is that with a race system you, a lot of times, have time still left on the clock. Every other sport ends when time runs out and who ever has the highest score wins.

What are some of the jobs you had growing up, helping you afford tournament paintball?

I have had so many jobs growing up to support paintball it is nuts. I have been an umpire for baseball/softball, lifeguard at multiple pools, swim instructor, Pottery Barn, Lifetime Fitness, Coldstone Creamery(amazing job, I love ice cream), snow plowed, cut lawns, racked leaves, ProCaps Direct, UPS, and now at GI Sportz/ProCaps USA. I worked a lot of those jobs early on at the same time to pay for paintball and it was really tuff. I had a lot of weekends where I had to work in-order to pay for events. 

What physical and/or mental skills, set apart pro players from divisonal players?

Physically right now I think most players are are pretty even. If you look at the age demographic, you have 14-30 year olds playing. From what I have seen most of these people are in pretty good shape. Now having super speed will help you but if you cannot shoot straight, run and shoot, or get the basic fundamentals down then you'll be in trouble. The biggest metal skills I see from pro to divisional are breaking down and understanding the game to win, staying calm, using team work, and keeping your head up. Now I can go on forever about each of those but it really comes down to really wanting to win as a team and putting aside your personal BS.

For practice you do not just show-up and play point after point. It is not about who wins or loses in practice but it is about why your plan failed or succeeded. The calmer you are and the ability to keep a clear head helps out tremendously. You win as a team and lose as a team. You have to put yourself in as a team player. It is not about you going out there and killing 3-4 people if you didn't do your job and let an opposing player do the same on the other side of the field and beat you. Counting kills is pathetic and even though it feels great to shoot a lot of people if your team loses and you don't make it to Sunday...then what? You cannot be selfish. Keeping your head up when you play at all times allows to react to everything that is going on and in turn communicate that to your teammates...the last 3 years all I see is kids with huge potential siding into the bunkers and then looking to side lines for coaching. If they had there head up and knew the shots they would mow gupssss. These are some of the mental differences I see from pro to divisional. The physical part is different in the sense that a lot of the guys in at the pro level make the choice to work out. This doesn't mean lift weights but focusing on things that will make them more efficient killers on the field. Speed training, core training, hind eye coordination drills, and such.

The past week the internet has been in a uproar about the new SupAir snake bunkers, what do you think about them?

Thus far I have read a nice variety of things about the positives and negatives of the new snake bunkers to the field. It would appear most people feel that this change is negative. I for one will wait until I have the chance to play them to decide whether or not I like them...this however will not do much good as it would appear both national leagues and perhaps even most other leagues (CXBL & Millennium) are using them as well and we as players will have no choice but to adapt. Now I have not seen what the price tag is for these new beams/snake bunkers but if I remember correctly past fields had at maximum 6 snake beams. Each of those bunkers has a price tag and I an sure they are sold as a kit. It will be interesting to see how this effects fields that will need to order these bunkers to stay current with the new layouts. It would be nice to hear what they, the field owners, have to say on this matter as they have had to make several large adjustments to there fields due to the PSP changes as well as buying new bunkers/fields every year for players.

What do you think the future holds for tournament paintball?

I am not really big on predicting the future. There have been so many ups and downs for paintball over the years that I think the merger was absolutely the best thing that could of happened. It is what tournament paintball needs. I do know that there are people in this industry with really great ideas for the sport and they are putting some really cool things together for everyone to enjoy and help the sport grow. We really need everyone to just start working together and remember why they got into paintball. This is a game, it is a very fun game that every young boy and even some girls have imagined at one point as simply as cops and robbers or cowboys and indians. Either way this game will move on with ups and down and I really hope that we as players and people in the industry help to make it the best as it can possibly be by becoming ambassadors to the sport and keeping everything in a positive light.

Keep up to date with eveything that Nick is up to.

YouTube.com/NickSlowiak

Facebook.com/OfficialNickSlowiak

Nick Slowiak and his new Houston Heat team. Helen Grose Photography