TEAM PROFILE AMATEURHere is a brief history of the most prolific women's team
to date. The Fems don't play like chicks; they are serious athletes
who can play just as well as their male counterparts.
Tami Adamson started the team back in 2000, with the idea of
getting together a bunch of girls who not only looked good but
had the potential to ball as well. They played their first tourney
at Mardi Gras 2001. For almost all of them this was the first
time they had ever been to a tournament, let alone played in
one but already people were looking. They then went on to play
at the Ultimate Madness and won first for the all-women's division.
The Fems used the 2001 season as a stepping-stone for their
team and made the most of their publicity and fame to bolster
their name and bring on new sponsors. The women took the 2002
season much more seriously, building on an already strong core
of players. They played all 5-man PSP/NPPL events last year
in an attempt to gain as much experience as possible and to
continue gelling as a team. They also went back to UM and placed
a disappointing sixth. Tami said the girls who won simply played
better than they did. Tami would like to give props to all of
the other women's teams out there except one and you know who
you are, I don't... she wouldn't say.
The Fems decided to go ten-man after Chicago last year, a major
step but if you want to be the best, a necessary one. Jami Martin
had been talking about going to ten-man for a while. (Ten or
twelve women on one teamI couldn't think of anything that I
would like more.) They started to compile a list of girls whom
they thought would be a good addition to their team. It took
a while to get everything together but when all was said and
done they had their first and only ten-man practice on October
5th and 6th. They only played about eight to ten games, because
it was so hot here in Florida that everyone was getting heatstroke.
So with only one practice together they made their debut as
a ten-man in 2002 at the World Cup.
After watching them play a few games what becomes apparent about
this team is that they don't play like chicks. A girl boxer
who boxes like a girl is a chick boxer and it's the same for
paintball players. Women are athletes just like men and there
is no reason that they can't run, shoot and move athletically
on the field. The goals for this team are the same goals as
those of most of the top teams. They want to advance the sport
and gain the respect of their peers. In some ways it's going
to be hard for them to gain the respect of the paintball community.
We may always say that they got where they were because they're
women in a men's sport. Refs might give them the benefit of
the doubt or teams might come out against them because they
think that they are soft. Is it right? No. Is it fair? Hell,
no. Maybe it won't happen, maybe we will respect them as the
pioneers they are. Tami feels that the women on her team are
as good as the men that they play against. They are players,
not just super hot chicks who play paintball. The Fems have
great sponsorship and this is in some part because of Todd's
connections and in some part to the fact that sex sells, but
it is mostly due to their hard work. Shockingly enough they
got an Extreme Rage contract to go along with their Dye, Shocktech
and Proball sponsorships. This team could probably go after
more sponsorship then they have; it may even be the most marketable
team right now. Out of all the teams that are out there they
stand the best chance at bringing in outside money. Outside
money is afraid of the image that paintball brings with it,
the image of a guy (like me) yelling, screaming and punching
people. They won't be nearly as afraid of women athletes representing
our sport. Plus there is a huge push going on for women athletes
at the moment - hopefully they can cash in on it.
In the past there have been some really marketable teams that
were essentially not real teams. There used to be one that was
all of the sponsors and another that was a bunch of old guys.
I say these weren't real teams because they didn't practice
and they didn't take playing seriously. This is not one of those
teams, they have a mandatory practice once a month for which
all the girls fly in and the local girls practice three times
a month. Their focus is on winning and they are taking the steps
to get there. Their practices consist of running and shooting
drills and scrimmaging against their brother team Fallout. Their
roster is thirteen right now and it sounds like they would like
to stay with those thirteen girls. Tami says that they aren't
really looking to pick up any new talent, that they really just
want to focus on the girls that they have.
The team travels together when they go to the tournaments and
deal with all of the same crap the rest of us do, they just
solve some of their problems differently from the rest of us.
For instance there is never enough time to get up, get ready
and get to the field or out to the bar for the night. So most
of the guys on teams just go dirtysome will shower and some
won't. Tami says that in order to save water and time sometimes
they will just shower together, she says that they get along
really well and that no one seems to mind.
Tami and the rest of the girls want to make sure that they acknowledge
all of the hard work that her husband Todd has put into the
team, poor bastard, sounds like really hard work. Hey Todd,
me and nine of my hot friends are going to get all hot and sweaty,
can you help us? Oh and I'm sorry but they are going to have
to stay the night this weekend, I promise we won't get in a
big old pillow fight like last time.' Seriously though, Todd
does work really hard with this team, he believes that they
are worth the time, effort and money so he is willing to do
it. Also there are stories of animosity between the Fems and
some of the other women's teams. Tami likes to keep everything
on the positive and thinks that most of the talk about her team
not getting along with other teams is just crap. They don't
have a problem with any other team out there but if any teams
want to scrimmage they are easy to find. Girls playing paintball
is cool. Girls playing paintball well is cooler. Hot girls playing
paintball, well, what more could a man ask for? We hope that
Tami and the rest of the girls on the team achieve all of their
goals on and off the field.
world Book
