A Chat with Karla Andrade
Motherhood is an added challenge that women face in any form of competition at any level. It is often a defining element of a woman’ s career. In the corporate world, there are challenges of time commitments that our world is restructuring to accommodate. But when it comes to sports, motherhood is so often a career ender.
Aside from the time requirements and constraints, consider body changes that come with pregnancy and childbirth. For some women, the recovery can be lifelong. For a high-level athlete, that changes everything.
A study by World Athletes’ CARES project- which is led by Olympic champion Allyson Felix- 73-percent of athlete mothers face significant funding cuts or total termination of their sponsorships upon announcing pregnancy, which creates a significant impediment for athletes who depend on that funding to offset travel costs, equipment needs, and living expenses that allow time for more training. That added pressure leads to what professional athletes call“ The Great Dilemma”- Mom? Or Athlete?
Paintball Media’ s Shelley Farmer had the opportunity to sit down with one of the trailblazers of the paintball industry, Karla Andrade. For nearly two decades, Karla has been at the forefront of the competition in paintball in every sector. From the manufacturers warehouses, to the vendor tents, to the pits, there is no arena that Karla has not dominated- and now she is treading new ground as a shining example, that paintball can be different from fields of competition. Here, motherhood does not need to be an inhibitor for high-level athletes. Here, there is a space for moms to achieve success.
In her return to professional women’ s paintball at the WNXL Midwest Open in Cincinnati this past June, Karla made more than comeback- she made a statement proving that it is another pool from which to draw motivation for the will to win, and another vehicle through which to grow the sport.
[ PbM ]: Welcome back, Karla, to the WNXL. For those who do not know about your paintball fame already, tell us about your paintball career.
Karla( KA): It’ s difficult to know where to begin because, thankfully, God has blessed me with a long and unforgettable journey in paintball. Today, I’ m in a different chapter of my life. I’ m a mother, and like many women, I’ ve gone through significant personal changes over the last few years. Little by little, I’ m finding my way back to one of the greatest passions of my life: paintball.
Looking back, I can honestly say that I have dedicated almost half of my life to this sport.
It all started when I was about fifteen years old. What began as a family outing quickly turned into something much bigger than a hobby. Paintball became my passion, my lifestyle, and eventually my profession.
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