SAN ANTONIO – A group of women, brought together by the excitement of paintball, is hoping to grow their community to spread more encouragement, empowerment and togetherness among women in this male-dominated sport.
Cynthia Jajo is the co-owner of Paintball Ladies. She’s been passionate about the organization since the beginning.
“It started as an Instagram page by this dude (Mike) in Hawaii,” she said. “It was to highlight females who play the sport, and was like a questionnaire kind of thing. Before you know it, there were thousands of followers, and from there, prominent people in the paintball started reaching out to him and was encouraging him to put some girls together to form a team.”
Jajo said he approached her and her best friend, and they started collecting more girls across Texas.
“We were beginners,” she said. “From there, we went to (the) World Cup (of Paintball) as one of the only female teams. We didn’t do well there, but the organization started snowballing, and we ended up winning the 2019 World Cup.”
Eventually, Jajo said she and her best friend assumed ownership of the team, and they have been collecting whoever they can.
“It’s very grassroots,” she said. “We have girls from San Antonio, some that come from Dallas, some that come from Mexico,” Jajo said. “It is all ages and all different backgrounds. Here at X-Factor Paintball Park, a child can play as young as nine, but we have had a woman come that was 65 years old.”
Jajo said the thing she loves the most about Paintball Ladies is the community and seeing confidence building.
“I have seen girls come in very shy and timid, but now they are confident and beating up on some of these boys out here,” she laughed. “And the boys are like, ‘Heck Yes, girls.’ So, that has been cool. Also, I never played sports when I was younger, but I was able to pick up on this really fast, and I love being able to teach it to others who want to learn.”
That is a shared sentiment with the team captain, Victoria Amor.
“When I joined, one of my main goals was to grow the team as big as I could,” Amor said. “So I took to social media, reaching out to so many girls.”
Amor said they saw a lot of success with that push to attract new members through a free, risk-free paintball clinic they held Jan. 17.
“We had around 27 girls who came out, and it was so fun,” she said. “It is a really special thing to see these girls glow when they hit the field.”
Amor said she grew up with a sports background, so she was accustomed to the competitive nature of paintball.
“It has been a great experience,” Amor said. “We are the only all-female team in San Antonio, and I believe you won’t find another one until you get to Dallas.
More than anything, she said she hopes people see the Paintball Ladies as a family with open arms.
“Sometimes, you get bullied in high school, and people are so mean on social media,” she said. “We are trying to prevent and stop that and put the mindset that you can do whatever you want to do.” The world can be so ugly at times, but when you have someone that has your back, and stands with you and makes you see things in yourself you didn’t realize before, it is a really a special thing.”
Paintball Ladies are gearing up for a Paintball Tournament on Feb. 15. In the meantime, they are still hopeful for more interest.
They will host a Valentine’s Paintball Clinic for interested women and their significant others or guy pals. It is taking place at X-Factor Paintball Park with equipment provided for people of all ages, backgrounds and skill levels.
You can learn more by checking out their social media pages and attending one of their practices, which take place on Sundays.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paintballladies/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paintballladies