Editing Women's paintball (section)

=== Early participation ===

Women have been involved in paintball since the sport emerged in the early 1980s. A 2019 retrospective in ''Paintball.Media'' recounted Cornelia Wallace's participation in a game in Wilcox County, Alabama, following the first organised game in New Hampshire on 27 June 1981.[16]

Among the early figures was [[Debra Dion Krischke]], who worked with the [[National Survival Game]] organisation and subsequently became an influential tournament organiser through the [[International Amateur Open]]. The 2019 historical feature identified her work as National Survival Game's public relations director and as the founder of [[Three Rivers Paintball]] in Pennsylvania.[1][16]

Women also competed alongside men in organised tournament paintball. [[Karen Barber]], who played for the [[All Americans]], was identified by contemporary paintball publication [[WARPIG]] as the first woman to attain professional status in the [[National Professional Paintball League]] (NPPL).[2]

Early all-female teams included the Puffs and Lady Tree Dancers, which predated later teams such as [[Femmes Fatale]] and [[Destiny (paintball team)|Destiny]].[16] Femmes Fatale was formed in 1999. The team competed in several formats, including ten-player, seven-player, five-player and three-player tournaments.[5]