Bud Orr, Bob McGuire, Jessica Sparks, Debia Dion Krischke & Tom Kaye
Jessica Sparks: One of the early, wholly
dedicated women in the game, Jessica
Sparks devoted two decades of her life to
the paintball, contributed to it and helped
it grow in many ways. From her time with
the NRA to her tenure as the editor of what
was, at the time, the most popular and
best-known magazine of paintball sports
in the world, Action Pursuit Games, Sparks
helped put a respectable and legitimate
face on the entire paintball world in the
eyes of the larger, non-playing public
and influenced how countless thousands
learned the game of paintball through
her time at APG. She was also a serious
player in the game’s early years, seen
every weekend on fields all over California
and later around the U.S. Jessica’s pink
VM-68 Magnum paintball gun was, at last
report, housed in the National Firearms
Museum.
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paintball.media magazine
Claudia Weilikson: As founder and owner
of Paintcheck Magazine introduced to
the paintball world in 1989, Claudia
quickly became a staple in the paintball
community. But it was a year later when
the first annual “Paintcheck Open” five-
man took place on the famous playing
fields of Skirmish USA that she solidified
herself as a pioneer in the game. The
Paintcheck Open was the first five-man
standalone event that was truly a national-
level tournament. The 57 attending
teams made it the year’s biggest event
and it drew teams like the California Black
Diamonds, New England’s Wild Geese,
the Lords of Discipline from the upper
Midwest, the Master Blasters from New
York and most every other big time team
of the day. It was also the event where
most got their first look at a true semiauto
paintball gun – the Brass Eagle Golden
Eagle and the Tippmann 68 Special.
Although Paintcheck Magazine and the
Paintcheck Open were around only for
four-plus years, Claudia left her mark in
the game.