“I started paintballing at age 10,” says Classic Mully, a nail tech at Personalities Salon in Queen Creek, Ariz. “My friend took a few of us for a birthday party and here I was with my little rental gun, CO2 canister,  and package of paintballs. I was instantly addicted. My family never really approved of me paintballing, so on many occasions (sorry Grammy and Papa!) I would have friends’ parents say I could spend the night and they would drop me off at the field to practice.”

Eventually she started to steer clear of the “army-style” recreational playing and moved into the tournament, speed-ball style. “It was much more fast-paced, more aggressive, and the guns shot a lot faster. I just absolutely had to get in on it,” she says.

When she was 14, she shot herself in the throat while trying to fix her gun. “I honestly thought the safety was on, but clearly, it wasn’t,” she says. “That was how I got my first true team. Among the ‘Are you OKs?’ I heard a ‘What team do you play for?’ When I answered, he said ‘Nope, you play for us.’ Boom. Sponsor.

“I travelled wherever the team I was on wanted to compete — New Orleans, Orlando, Las Vegas, Japan, and home-sweet-home California. I loved the atmosphere and energy of playing. I loved being able to show up the guys and prove that I can play on their level.”

The greatest challenges, she says, were the sacrifice and the pain. “But eventually, the sacrifices weren’t so hard, and the paintballs actually stopped hurting,” says Mully. “These days I can still play on a team, but I’m on the almost-retired end of it. I’ll never stop, but for now I like taking out my husband and son and showing them that mom has game. And yes, I still cannot feel the paintballs.”

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