Hey everyone! Over the next few weeks I am rolling out a series of player spotlights called the Slaydies Series. These are to celebrate the awesome women in airsoft that are really pushing the sport and the Instagram community forward. I'm going to feature the Slaydies you will most definitely have heard of and the Slaydies that are on the rise! The first in my Slaydies Series is a US player from Southern California that I have been following since her new Airsoft Instagram showed up in my feed last week- Lynn Wojcik of Lady Lynn Airsoft!
Firstly Lynn, thank you for choosing to be apart of my Slaydies Series! Tell us a bit about your airsoft background! How long have you been
airsofting? What got you into Airsoft and what do you love about the sport? Where
is your home site? What are the most memorable sites you’ve played?I've been playing for about seven years. I started in airsoft as a volunteer for a one day Op called Masterkey in 2008. It was being put on at Mr. Paintball USA in Escondido CA and they were looking for volunteers to play hostages. I volunteered but spent the whole day jealous of all of the players and their toy guns. Haha. So my husband (boyfriend at the time) helped me choose a gun and gear to get started with and it just blew up from there. My home field is Mr. Paintball but the most memorable site I've played at was Rock-A-Hula Water Park near Barstow CA. It's an abandoned water park and Lion Claws held a post-apocalyptic themed Op there called Route 66. I played on the side of "The California Republic" and the setting reminded me a lot of the video game Fallout: New Vegas.
How would you describe your playing style?
Aggressive. I'm always in the thick of it. I prefer to run with a group- I'm definitely not a "lone wolf" type and I'm loud so stealth is not my strong suit. I'm not afraid to get hit so I really put myself out there in fire fights. I'd rather be out there getting shot than sitting around. That's just my style. Nothing frustrates me more than airsofters that sit back or are unwilling to get shot. The beauty of airsoft is: you won't die. Get into it and have fun.
Aggressive. I'm always in the thick of it. I prefer to run with a group- I'm definitely not a "lone wolf" type and I'm loud so stealth is not my strong suit. I'm not afraid to get hit so I really put myself out there in fire fights. I'd rather be out there getting shot than sitting around. That's just my style. Nothing frustrates me more than airsofters that sit back or are unwilling to get shot. The beauty of airsoft is: you won't die. Get into it and have fun.
What’s your weapon of choice? And what loadout
do you normally run?
My primary, currently, is a G&P MK23 (Stoner 63) LMG and I LOVE BOX MAGS. Haha. This gun has been so reliable. I absolutely love it. I had an R-hop unit put into it and its just an amazing gun now. Shoots about 400 fps and reaches out to about 250 ft give or take. It sure hurts to get hit by it though (I know because I've let people use it and OUCH that was a mistake ;) ). Because I have a box mag I run a pretty light load out and its VERY un-tacticool. I usually run a battle belt with a triple AK pouch and I'll fill that with a bottle or two of bb's and an extra battery. I wear a camelback and a Dye i4 mask as well.
My primary, currently, is a G&P MK23 (Stoner 63) LMG and I LOVE BOX MAGS. Haha. This gun has been so reliable. I absolutely love it. I had an R-hop unit put into it and its just an amazing gun now. Shoots about 400 fps and reaches out to about 250 ft give or take. It sure hurts to get hit by it though (I know because I've let people use it and OUCH that was a mistake ;) ). Because I have a box mag I run a pretty light load out and its VERY un-tacticool. I usually run a battle belt with a triple AK pouch and I'll fill that with a bottle or two of bb's and an extra battery. I wear a camelback and a Dye i4 mask as well.
With Airsoft being a male dominated sport do you feel you are
treated differently because of your gender? If so, how do you deal with this?
Oh yes ma'am I do. It's a strange thing to be a woman in a male dominated sport (as I would assume it would be in the reverse as well) and of course, my personal experiences in airsoft may not be the same as everyone else's. It's not all bad. I get a lot of compliments when I go out because women are so rare that they are often noticed more. So I get approached by players who want to tell me I did a great job or that they like my style etc because they remember me specifically. The down side, though, is that people often remember everything I do wrong as well. I used to be kind of a hot head and so for a while I know a lot of people thought of me as a "bitch". I've learned to brush it off and keep a positive attitude but it wasn't always like that. When men in this sport lose their tempers its often just shrugged off "what a jerk" or "he's having a rough game" but if a woman is like that she gets a label and its very hard to come back from it. In addition I've found that you're rejected if you're too "girly" but also if you are not "girly" enough. To be honest: you have to just decide that you love the sport and stick close to your support system. I have a great community of airsofters in San Diego CA and the number of women involved is growing every time I go out (thanks to women like Leah , Adella, Hasmeen, etc). Its becoming more normal to see diversity and I'm very happy about that. With that diversity will come acceptance and I think it will just get easier and easier for women to gain respect in the sport of airsoft.
Oh yes ma'am I do. It's a strange thing to be a woman in a male dominated sport (as I would assume it would be in the reverse as well) and of course, my personal experiences in airsoft may not be the same as everyone else's. It's not all bad. I get a lot of compliments when I go out because women are so rare that they are often noticed more. So I get approached by players who want to tell me I did a great job or that they like my style etc because they remember me specifically. The down side, though, is that people often remember everything I do wrong as well. I used to be kind of a hot head and so for a while I know a lot of people thought of me as a "bitch". I've learned to brush it off and keep a positive attitude but it wasn't always like that. When men in this sport lose their tempers its often just shrugged off "what a jerk" or "he's having a rough game" but if a woman is like that she gets a label and its very hard to come back from it. In addition I've found that you're rejected if you're too "girly" but also if you are not "girly" enough. To be honest: you have to just decide that you love the sport and stick close to your support system. I have a great community of airsofters in San Diego CA and the number of women involved is growing every time I go out (thanks to women like Leah , Adella, Hasmeen, etc). Its becoming more normal to see diversity and I'm very happy about that. With that diversity will come acceptance and I think it will just get easier and easier for women to gain respect in the sport of airsoft.
Tell us about your social media – when you set them up, following base.I honestly set up an airsoft specific Instagram @ladylynnairsoft about at the beginning of March in order to connect to the wider airsoft community. I have not set up much else (no facebook, twitter, whatever else people use. lol). I have more personal pages but as far as aisoft specific pages go, my instagram is what I'm starting with. I may expand. We'll see how things go.
Your thoughts: Is there anything you
would like to say to other players out there?
Call your hits! Just kidding :) But seriously: Airsoft is a really fantastic sport for a lot of different reasons and for it to grow into something even more fantastic there needs to be diversity within the community. Different genders and age groups and racial backgrounds are things the community can only benefit from so be respectful, be honourable, and get out and play.
Call your hits! Just kidding :) But seriously: Airsoft is a really fantastic sport for a lot of different reasons and for it to grow into something even more fantastic there needs to be diversity within the community. Different genders and age groups and racial backgrounds are things the community can only benefit from so be respectful, be honourable, and get out and play.
You can view Lynn's Airsoft Instagram at www.instagram.com/ladylynnairsoft
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