“ I am still that little girl.”
Stevenage, UK, 1988: Sitting crossed-legged on the lounge floor watching Thundercats on TV, I hear“ thwack thwack thwack” in the garden. I finish my bowl of cereal and investigate the noise. Dad has a Phantom with a new contraption on top, the paintballs are hitting an upside-down bucket.“ Chum," he says( my nickname)“ Have a go at this”.
I take the pump paintball gun into my hands, and Dad helps me pump it while I pull the trigger.“ Thwack thwack thwack” as I hit the bucket with paintballs.
That’ s when I fell in love with paintball.
I asked my Dad what was loading the paint into the gun.“ This is a hopper, I just made it with gutter pipes and glue in the garage.”( The birth of the gravity-fed loader started??).
Fast Foward...
ley, Bor, Czechia, 2025
Bor, Czechia, 2025:“ Gun Check”( shouted in a German accent). I switch my loader on, pull my mask down over my eyes, holding my M3 + in my right hand, I walk through the netted entrance onto the NXL field. Barrel sock off and I hand the electronic marker to the ref. He places the barrel over the chronograph and pulls the trigger,“ Thwack thwack thwack” and states“ Good," then hands the paintball gun back to me as I stride towards the start gate.
Shelley, 1998
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