The Honest Truth: Women’ s Paintball Scene in Asia Is Fragile
keep going steadily for a long time and pace myself. Paintball is more on reacting fast and adjusting to the play of your teammates and opponents.” Fidah puts it most starkly:“ You’ re totally alone in your assigned stations and runs at a HYROX relay, whereas paintball requires team communications at all times.”
Paintball trains you to react in a split second. HYROX trains you to endure when there is nothing left. Together, they build something formidable.
Closer Than Before- But Perhaps Not Because of HYROX
When asked whether participating in HYROX had brought the team closer together, the answers were telling.
KC:“ Yes, 100 %. HYROX took us out of our usual environment and challenged us differently. It strengthened our bond not just as teammates, but as people. It showed that our connection goes beyond paintball.”
Monika:“ We were able to see a different side and strength of each other and motivated each other in a new way.”
And Fidah:“ Anything we do together will bring us closer. No need to wait for HYROX.”
That last line is perhaps the most important one in this entire article. The community already exists. The bond is already there. The question is simply whether we give it enough outlets- on the field, off the field, at the gym, at the finish line- to keep strengthening it.
The Honest Truth: Women’ s Paintball Scene in Asia Is Fragile
Here is what every one of us on that relay team knows: women’ s competitive paintball in Asia is still small. The progress is real but it is fragile, and it does not sustain itself.
At the Formosa Paintball International Open in Taiwan in March 2026, there were just two women’ s teams in the entire tournament. Monika competed on one of them.“ It was still fun,” she says,“ but I wished there were more teams to build the experience and have more game time. Only one team was recognized. There were just two teams, so it would have been great if both were acknowledged during the closing ceremony.”
Photo By AX Media
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Monika Teves in pink JT goggles with Aisawan International at Formosa Paintball International Open Competition, Taiwan in March 2026.