At the conclusion of the WNXL ’ s second season , the division did have some significant victories to celebrate . Growth of female participation across the sport has been reported at over 150 % year-over-year , meaning that the division is , in fact , serving its purpose .
On field , it cannot be denied that the level of competition has been steadily improving . If nothing else , it has certainly been captivating in its unpredictability , evidenced in the final standings : Each of the three majors saw a different winner , and none of them took home the series title .
In March at the Sunshine State Open , it was Destiny who rose to the top . The Heriones took home gold in Chicago , putting together an absolutely dominant performance , dropping only 2 points through the entirety of the prelims , and rocking everyone through the finals . And at the World Cup , the event win went to Dallas Vibe , a team that took 5th and 6th out of eight teams in the previous events . Apparently , they figured out the formula in time for Cup , and they took home the gold .
“ As soon as we played the layout , we knew it was perfect for us , “ said Corinne Baird of Dallas Vibe .
She said the squad put in extra time preparing for the event , and that she personally spent extra time on practice , workouts , and gun skills .
“ It felt so good to accomplish our goal ,” said Baird . “ We started out the tournament believing in ourselves and taking one point , one match , and just wanting to make it to Sunday . Something we struggled with as a team all season . Once we made it to Sunday , we knew we were going to be in the finals game .”
And , as happens on the Pro field , the finals matchup was not without its drama . In a back-and-forth battle , the ladies came out punching hard . Vibe made a hard push at the beginning of the match , going up 2-0 . The Cheetahs returned the favor to tie up the match .
Photo By Dave Stufflebeam
072 paintball . media magazine