Admin: Created biography of Bea Paxson, formerly Bea Youngs, documenting her Femmes Fatale career, founding of Destiny Paintball, tournament achievements and contributions to women’s paintball and publishing.

2026-10-22T07:51:48Z

Created biography of Bea Paxson, formerly Bea Youngs, documenting her Femmes Fatale career, founding of Destiny Paintball, tournament achievements and contributions to women’s paintball and publishing.

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'''Bea Paxson''', formerly known as '''Bea Youngs''', is an American [[paintball]] player, team owner, coach and former paintball magazine editor. She is known for her involvement in women's tournament paintball, including her early career with [[Femmes Fatale]] and the establishment of Destiny Paintball with [[Mike Paxson]] in 2004.[1][2]

Paxson has also worked in paintball publishing, tournament promotion and player development. She served as editor-in-chief of ''Paintball Sports Magazine'' and helped organise women's teams competing in the [[National Professional Paintball League]] (NPPL) and later the [[Women's National Xball League]] (WNXL).[3][4]

== Early paintball career ==

Paxson began playing competitive paintball around 2000, initially joining Femmes Fatale, an American women's tournament team established by [[Tami Adamson]].

In an October 2005 interview with the ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'', Paxson, then competing under the name Bea Youngs, described Adamson as a longtime friend who had encouraged her involvement in the team.[1]

She subsequently relocated from Florida to California, where she worked in promotional activities for a paintball equipment and apparel manufacturer.

Her early industry involvement also included tournament announcing, event promotion and appearances in paintball media.

In June 2003, Youngs participated as an instructor at Ronn Stern's Celebrity Paintball Camp in Hopewell, Virginia.

Alongside Mike Paxson, she instructed participants in defensive positioning, communication and back-player techniques.[5]

In October 2005, Youngs competed alongside Mike Paxson and [[Rocky Cagnoni]] in the Old School Championship Series at Hawaii All-Star Paintball Games, using pump-action markers.[1]

== Destiny Paintball ==

=== Formation (2004) ===

In 2004, Bea Youngs and Mike Paxson established '''Destiny Paintball''', originally conceived as an all-female tournament team.

The organisation subsequently adopted predominantly female rosters, occasionally incorporating male players in order to compete in mixed divisions at national tournaments.[2]

Destiny participated in NPPL competition, principally in Division 2.

In 2005, the team finished seventh in the overall NPPL Division 2 standings, according to a retrospective written by Paxson.[6]

In 2006, Destiny won the Division 2 championship at the NPPL San Diego Super 7 tournament.

The team subsequently finished second in the overall 2006 NPPL Division 2 season standings.[2][6]

Destiny continued competing through 2007 and 2008, including appearances with an entirely female roster.

At the 2008 NPPL Huntington Beach tournament, the team finished 15th of 53 Division 2 teams.[2]

=== Return to competition (2012) ===

Following a period of inactivity after the 2008 season, Paxson returned to competition in December 2011.

In March 2012, she competed alongside former Destiny players Kat Secor and Katie Kelley, joining members of the Norwegian team Poison Ivy at the NPPL Surf City USA Open in Huntington Beach.[7]

The experience preceded the re-establishment of Destiny for the 2012 tournament season.

The returning organisation included players from its earlier rosters, including Secor, Kelley, Brittany Wagoner, Jackie Lon and Becky Rai.[2]

=== 2013 championship ===

In October 2013, Destiny won the Division 4 championship at the NPPL World Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The result was reported as a championship victory for an entirely female roster.[8]

During 2014, the organisation expanded its activities through separate East Coast and West Coast teams.

Paxson continued serving as team owner, player and manager.

Destiny entered teams in events including the NPPL Surf City Open and the East Coast Women's three-player tournament in Georgia.[9]

== Women's professional paintball ==

Paxson remained involved in women's paintball during the development of the Women's National Xball League.

In November 2021, the [[National Xball League]] announced Las Vegas Destiny among the first franchises scheduled to compete in the inaugural 2022 WNXL season.

Contemporary league coverage identified Paxson as a leading figure associated with the Destiny organisation.[4]

Her involvement connected the new women's professional competition with a team originally established nearly two decades earlier.

== Paintball publishing and promotion ==

Alongside her playing career, Paxson worked in paintball media and event promotion.

During the early 2000s, she was associated with ''Paintball 2Xtremes'' magazine and participated in tournament publicity, announcing and entertainment.[5][10]

She subsequently became editor-in-chief of ''Paintball Sports Magazine''.

A March 2009 announcement concerning the magazine's website identified Bea Youngs as editor-in-chief and described plans to expand coverage through player interviews, tournament reporting, product reviews and online video.[3]

Paxson also contributed articles to ''Social Paintball'', including tournament coverage and reporting on women's participation in the sport.

Her published articles included coverage of the 2012 NPPL World Championships and the collaboration between Destiny and Poison Ivy.[7][11]

Paxson appeared as a licensed paintball personality in the ''Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball'' video game series.[1]

== Player development ==

Paxson has been involved in organising paintball instruction and opportunities for female players.

Her early coaching work included participation in Ronn Stern's 2003 paintball camp.[5]

Through Destiny, she subsequently helped organise team tryouts and regional training opportunities.

In December 2013, Paxson publicised a January 2014 clinic in Fort Myers, Florida, which combined instruction by Mike Paxson with opportunities for female players to try out for Destiny's Florida team.[8]

The organisation also developed separate regional squads intended to provide additional opportunities for women to participate in organised tournament competition.[9]

== See also ==

* [[Femmes Fatale]]
* [[Mike Paxson]]
* [[National Professional Paintball League]]
* [[Women's National Xball League]]
* [[Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball]]

== References ==

# [https://archives.starbulletin.com/2005/10/18/features/story01.html Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Jason Genegabus, "She's one hot shot", 18 October 2005. Contemporary interview documenting Bea Youngs's early career, Femmes Fatale membership, promotional activities and tournament participation.]
# [https://www.socialpaintball.com/2012/05/21/the-girls-of-destiny-are-back/ Social Paintball, Israel L., "The Girls of Destiny are Back!", 21 May 2012. Historical account of Destiny's formation, early results and return to competition.]
# [https://mikepaxson.blogspot.com/2009/03/paintball-sports-magazine-launches-new.html Paintball Sports Magazine, "Paintball Sports Magazine Launches New Website!", 18 March 2009. Contemporary announcement identifying Bea Youngs as editor-in-chief.]
# [https://www.nxlpaintball.com/post/fire-vs-ice-the-debut-of-a-female-professional-paintball-league-the-wnxl National Xball League, Quinn Nadu, "Fire vs. Ice: The Debut of a Female Professional Paintball League, the WNXL!", 18 November 2021. Official coverage identifying Bea Paxson and Las Vegas Destiny.]
# [https://www.warpig.com/paintball/articles/news/pbcamp/070703ronn.shtml WARPIG, Joshua D. Silverman, "Ronn Stern's First Paintball Camp a Great Success", July 2003. Contemporary report documenting Bea Youngs as a paintball instructor and her association with Femmes Fatale and Paintball 2Xtremes.]
# [https://www.socialpaintball.com/2012/03/26/all-female-team-competing-at-huntington-beach-nppl-this-weekend/ Social Paintball, Bea Paxson, "All-Female Team Competing at Huntington Beach NPPL this Weekend", 26 March 2012. First-person retrospective of Destiny's tournament results and development.]
# [https://www.socialpaintball.com/2012/03/26/all-female-team-competing-at-huntington-beach-nppl-this-weekend/ Social Paintball, Bea Paxson, 26 March 2012. Account of the collaboration between Destiny and Poison Ivy.]
# [https://www.socialpaintball.com/2013/12/30/two-mike-paxson-events-3-man-shoot-clinic/ Social Paintball, Bea Paxson, "Two Mike Paxson Events: 3-Man Shoot Out & Clinic", 30 December 2013. Documents Destiny's 2013 NPPL championship and planned player development activities.]
# [https://www.socialpaintball.com/2014/02/28/team-destiny-attending-two-major-national-events-april-4-6/ Social Paintball, Lawrence Abernathy, "Team Destiny Attending Two Major National Events", 28 February 2014. Documents Paxson's role and the organisation's East Coast and West Coast teams.]
# [https://www.warpig.com/paintball/articles/pressreleases/032503madness.shtml WARPIG, "Arenaball to Make Debut", 25 March 2003. Contemporary announcement documenting Bea Youngs's tournament entertainment and promotional activities.]
# [https://www.socialpaintball.com/2012/10/08/san-diego-dynasty-wins-the-2012-nppl-world-paintball-championships/ Social Paintball, Bea Paxson, "San Diego Dynasty Wins the 2012 NPPL World Paintball Championships", 8 October 2012.]

== External links ==

* [https://www.socialpaintball.com/author/beayoungspaxson/ Bea Paxson's articles at Social Paintball]
* [https://archives.starbulletin.com/2005/10/18/features/story01.html Honolulu Star-Bulletin: 2005 interview with Bea Youngs]

[[Category:Paintball players]]
[[Category:American paintball players]]
[[Category:Female paintball players]]

Bea Paxson - Revision history

Admin: Created biography of Bea Paxson, formerly Bea Youngs, documenting her Femmes Fatale career, founding of Destiny Paintball, tournament achievements and contributions to women’s paintball and publishing.