Paintball Magazine February 2019 | Page 72

designed a product that pretty much sells itself. I’m excited to be a part of growing their business. Josh: I’m glad you mentioned both the Women’s USA team and Kinetic because I was about to ask! You’ve been awfully busy lately young lady! Tell us about the Women’s USA program you spearheaded recently to get women to the tryouts and who you worked with to make that happen, then tell us about your involvement with Kinetic. Josh: Nothing like being needed! What a great story! We’ve seen you playing for various teams and squads in the US, Canada and even in Europe. What teams do you play with and for now, and what sponsors do you represent? Amanda: My 2019 Teams are still up in the air at the moment. I need to make some decisions soon as far as commitments for both NXL and NXL Europe Teams. I also need to make sure that I am able to meet those commitments as well as leave room in my schedule for the Women’s USA Team, should I make the cut. Currently the only sponsor I am representing is Kinetic Paintball. The owners of the Kinetic have been super supportive of me and have 72 paintball.media magazine Amanda: I’ve been playing over in Europe going on four years now, I always get a little bit of FOMO [Fear Of Missing Out] when the Women’s Nation Cup teams play and we don’t have a team in it. Especially since our Men’s Nations Cup team are back to back champions. I suggested earlier this year that we should get involved with the BKI Combine in regards to holding tryouts. Once that came to fruition, there were some “obstacles” to overcome. Without getting into too much detail, I felt like I needed to get more creative to make sure we had the best turnout possible so that there is some good competition for the team to be selected from. After a conversation I had with Anthony, the owner of Boston Paintball, I launched a raffle to help cut some expenses for some of the girls who were traveling a significant distance to get to the combine. I figured I’d sell out one raffle every week or so, but I ended up selling out 6 within 3-4 weeks! The support that all the girls were getting was awesome and I’m so happy that I was able to help 6 girls reach their goals of not only being able to attend the Paintball Combine, but for a chance to try out for the Women’s USA team.