Girls Can't Play Paintball..... Can They ?

Planet Eclipse do not tend to do individual/personal sponsorships. At the end of the day this is a team sport we are involved in and that's what we support. But every now and again we show signs of weakness and buckle under the pressure (pressure = plied with alcohol). I was approcahed at the Malaga Millennium Series event this year by Kristine about rocking the Planet gear. Kristine thrusted a beer into my hands (not for the first time over the weekend) and sat me down and we chatted. Kristine is a bit of a celebraty in Norway, being a firey red haired girl playing paintball turns a lot of heads, but when that very same girl is ripping up the field in the highest division that Norway has to offer then she is not just a girl Kristine is someone that might not start off with your respect but she we soon earn it....

So it was a pleasure to get Kristine to sign on the dotted line and become a fully Planet Eclipse sponsored player. As time goes by i will be asking Kristine to be giving us regular updates on the Norway scene. Kristine will also be undertaking a some tech training so she can help people in Norway with any tech problems or questions. I heard a rumour that if you ask her nicely enough she might even let you have a shoot of her new gat !

So here is a little more info about the Red Head from Norway !!!

I introduce to you........................Kristine Myhre Andersen

Ledz: Kristine, stop giving me beer, sit down and answer these questions. Lets start with some background stuff about you. We want when, where and who.

Location: Larvik, a small town near the coast south in Norway

Work: 100 % at Datakjeden (a computer shop with teching and sale of computers and parts) plus I'm bartending in the weekend.

Previous Teams: Amazones from 2002-2003, FLC from 2003-2008 Plus a lot of guest playing for different teams during the years ( I love our sport, it's as easy as that:) )

Current Team: I play in the elite division with Slagen Bandits, besides that I coach the Stockholm Ignition 2 team in the Millennium Series.

Years Playing: 8 years

Ledz: What are your past achievments?

Kristine: It's been some acceptable amount of podium placements during the years I've played, but the ones I remember the most, is playing with: Slagen Bandits 2009 3rd in NPL #3, Sabotage 2008 1st in Gunslingaz Open #2, Antrax 2007 1st in NPL #2, FLC 2006 3rd in Paris Millennium,Reborn 2006 2nd NPL #3, FLC 2005 2nd place CC Millennium and 3rd place in Max Masters Millennium.

Ledz: And what about the future?

Kristine: Win the NPL with Slagen Bandits, and fight our way up the ranks into the Pro division in the Millennium Series.

Ledz: Whats your Best paintball memory:

Kristine: Beating Joy Division in CC 2005 with FLC, and my first Millennium, Campaign Cup 2003. I guest played with the FLC. It was at the Crystal Palace Stadium, and I went around the first day just in awe. It was so big and amazing; beyond anything I've ever seen in paintball. Back in these days we played at 8 (!) different fields. I met so many amazing people from all around the world, a lot of them are my good friends today, and I learned that it doesn't matter if you're pro or novice in paintball, we all share the same love for the sport and that's what keeps us together.

Ledz: So you're a girl playing a man's sport... How's that working out for you?

That works out great:) Nothing's like beating the guys on the field:) It's actually the only sport I know of where the sexes can play against each other and actually be equal. We have different qualities but they are equally important in paintball. Men are stronger and faster, but we are better teamplayers and we do talk a lot, also on the field :)

When I started playing, a lot of the guys thought that it would just be a phase that girls should play side by side with them, but after a year everything changed and even the "doubters" had to accept that they were wrong.

But I don't blame them, because every year I see girls who start in this sport with a seemingly burning passion, but after a while it becomes apparent that they are there more for the boys or the attention of being one of the few girls in this sport. And especially because of this, I'm so glad I've been a part of an all-girl team for several years (FLC). We were able to show consistently over a lot of years that not all girls or girl-teams are like that. We really kicked more than a few really good guy-teams to the ground.:) You can for instance ask Joy Division what happened in CC 2005?

I know that everyone who've been around paintball for a while know exactly what I'm talking about.

There is still someone once in a while who needs me to prove it, prove that a girl belongs in paintball on the field. But it's mostly the teams who are new to the Millennium Series, and have not been around for long.

Nowadays in Scandinavia, and most of Europe, the guys have accepted it, and a lot of them are glad to have a girl on the team since we have different qualities.

Ledz: You used to play on an all girls team (FLC), why have you chose to move on?

Kristine: I've played with the FLC for almost 7 years, and I've had a lot of fun and made a lot of really good friends. When I started with the girls, the team was even stronger than they are now, unfortunately some of the girls have quit the paintball scene (they have been around since 2000 so no one blames them). Some have gotten pregnant; some are trying to have babies or to get married.

So they are not the same team as when I started, and they have had to recruit new girls and start a bit over again. Don't get me wrong, there are still girls on that team who can kick your ass:)

But for my sake, I felt like I still had some years left with even tougher challenges(and I'm not planning to get pregnant any time soon :) ) I wanted to improve as a player, so I decided to join the elite team I've been practicing with, whenever I'm practicing in Norway; SLAGEN BANDITS. It's a great group of guys, consisting of players who started for just a year or two ago and a couple of guys who've been around the paintball scene a while, like Tor Anders from former SPL team Oslo Envy.

The best thing about these guys is that, besides being nice standup guys, they really want to win. And my winners-instinct is highly developed. :)

Ledz: Tell me about the paintball scene in your area.

Kristine: In Norway we have around 50-60 tournament-teams.

There is only one league that really counts - The Norwegian Paintball League (NPL) it has 5 legs during the season (from May to September, before and after that- its snow..) It's played all around the country, it depends on how good the fields and organizers who apply are.

The judges are the same throughout the whole season to give the players consistent reffing.

There is also a Norwegian Championship and a couple of small local tournaments around the country.

The NPL is played over 2 days in 4 divisions (Elite, div1,div2,div3) We play in the Elite division against for instance Solid (SPL)

We play on a field called Slagen Paintball, it's a stationary field with pits, Millennium field, etc in a town called Tønsberg. We also host 2 of the NPLs.

www.slagenpaintball.no

Ledz: Could you give us a little bit of a rundown of the last event you played?

Kristine: The last event we played was Slagen Open, the third leg of the NPL at our home field. We played at noon Saturday (in NPL the best division of the day gets to play last, so no more 08am J ) we played against Solid twice this time because of some issues with the schedule. They play really good, and it's always cool to play them, it's how you get better fast:). The third game was against Sabotage (Solids feeder team ) To make the tournament even better, I got to dish out some welts to a few old players I`ve been waiting to see in front of my barrel again.
We went into the semifinals as the 2nd team, Solid qualified in 1st. The next team we had to play was Mashive Attack, Sebbans(Joy Division) great feeder team, who traveled all the way from Sweden just to attend this event. It was a tight and cool game who ended 3-1 to Mashive. Solid played, and won against Downfall from Stavanger. Solid won 3-1 against Mashive Attack and won the event with them as a good strong 2nd place.

So for us in the battle for the 3rd place it was Slagen Bandits vs Downfall. We won the first point, then they scored two in a row. We fought back and tied the game. In the last point we changed our play after the ten second warning based on what they showed us and sent a player to the M on the break and that disrupted their gameplan, so we were able to win that point and the match.

This is our first podium placement , we have a 4th and a 6th place so far this season, so the achievement of our 3rd place with the two really strong teams over us felt satisfying for now. We were also happy to give Solid a run for their money in our last prelim match and, show that their throne in NPL is not completely safe:)(Note: Kristine wrote this a few weeks ago. She has played a couple of times since and has has some great results.. Hopefully she will add a comment and let you know how she got on)

Ledz: What do you say to men that say girls can't play paintball?

Kristine: First of all, I challenge them to shut them up once and for all:) but seriously I think we're way past this now, a lot thanx to FLC but also to all the single girl players all around the world who shows these guys how wrong they are on a daily basis.

Ledz: Your shooting a GEO now. What do you think of that?

Kristine: To sum it up shortly - it's amazing! I've during the years played with a lot of different guns, both open and closed bolt. 3 years ago, when I got introduced to the EGO, I thought I would never let it go, and everyone who has ever shot an Ego knows what I'm talking about. But, then came the GEO. The first time I tried it I did not just experience the lightweight and the precision, but also noted the sound - or the lack of it. Something that is extremely important when it comes to communicating on field or hearing what the coach is saying. A lot of the people who have tried it, instantly love it. I recommend to everyone who plays paintball, give it a try, you won't regret it. And if you see me at tournaments, don't hesitate to ask, I'll let you try my Pink and black baby:)

So there you have it... Kristines next event will be playing at Campaign Cup in the UK. If you see her on the circuit around say hello. Hopefully Kristine will put pen to paper and let everyone know from time to time what she's up to and where you can catch her.....

Here is also a little newspaper article featuring our very own Kristine.