Bea Youngs - Fox College Sports NCPA Commentator

Greg Hastings, Mike Paxson & Bea Youngs visited Iowa!

“You’re going to where?” “Where’s Iowa?” When it comes to knowing exactly in what order the Midwest states lay on the US map, it’s not as easy to remember if you’re a resident of anywhere on either coasts of the country. If that’s the case, though, it’s probably time for a geography refresher course (just to be a good American). The last time we were in Iowa was during the 2006 PSP event hosted in the city of Council Bluffs, right next door to Omaha, Nebraska. Living in Florida most of my life means that I’m no stranger to hot and humid weather, so when people referred to the weather small-town Shellsburg, Iowa, had this past weekend, I begged to differ. Before I get into the temperature and humidity levels of the days during our stay, let me start at the beginning of our journey to Iowa’s Adventure Park Paintball.

Mike and I left Florida and arrived at the Cedar Rapids International Airport late in the evening. We were greeted by Leslie Hess, paintball co-manager and proud paintball mom, at the baggage claim area. After we shared how the flight was with Leslie and after Mike in his slightly blood-shot eyes took off the last of our three bags off the baggage carousel, Leslie pinched my arm to get ready for what Mike would expect just outside the door towards curbside. I got my camera ready and tried my best to hide my smile from Mike and got into position. As the doors slid open, we met a handsome man outfitted in a black tuxedo, wearing a classy bowtie. It was Steve Hess, Leslie’s husband, also co-manager and proud paintball dad, I immediately noticed the signage on the door of the black SUV that had a picture of Mike from the 2007 World Cup and read “Reserved for World Champion, Mike Paxson”! They dropped us off at the hotel so we could get some rest for more surprises for the following day.

Friday morning, after eating breakfast with Leslie and Steve, we went to Adventure Park Paintball in Shellsburg, Iowa, and nestled within this beautiful American small town was a paintball park with several different types of fields to play on, including a woodsball field area. We helped to blow up the bunkers sponsored by Cedar Rapids Toyota Scion Car Dealership (Thanks, Francisco!) and when Greg arrived, it was time for us girls to go. Leslie had a surprise in store for me on this day and I had no idea what to expect except that I had to bring a bathing suit. I thought maybe we were going to a water park or something, but I also thought that maybe we would be going to a spa. On the way there, we drove by the Quaker Oats Factory (Cedar Rapids is like the Cereal Capital of the Country, it seemed; General Mills is in Iowa, too). Sure enough, we arrived to a casino in Iowa that had only been opened for a couple of years. As we walked towards the Spa’s entrance, I had the biggest smile on my face! Leslie had scheduled a much needed massage for all three of us (Leslie, Tania, and I)! For me, it was a belated Birthday gift (I’m a May baby) and I was so grateful.

After the massage, we met the fellas for dinner at the casino. Then, after we ate, the boys stayed behind and Leslie and I left for Quad Cities International airport to pick up Brittany. Brittany’s (who’s 15) arrival is a surprise for 14 year old, Justin, Leslie and Steve’s son.

The following day, we got up to wait for Justin to knock on the hotel door so Brittany could open it and surprise him. Justin didn’t seem to recognize Brittany at first (or maybe he did, but didn’t want to make it a big deal), but after I questioned whether or not he knew who she was, he said, “Brittany.” We all knew that he was happy!

The first day of the Adventure Park Paintball Extravaganza was open play followed by 1-on-1 Competitions. Ryan aka “Ogre” beat me in a 1-on-1. Yeah, yeah, I know, what can I say… Ogre’s good! After I passed the 50 to try and shoot him out, we battled a bit and he finally shot me on my knuckle. After his payment to play me and for his effort in winning, he gets a free case of paint and a year’s membership at the park, which I think is a good thing. I’m happy for him.

Mike was then surprised by a birthday cake with the Ironmen logo and a picture of him in action! It was a huge chocolate and vanilla flavored cake outlined in red. Later that day, we had a barbecue at the field, which is also the home of Bill and Tania and their three sons. We played some Call of Duty and Rock Band before calling it a night.

The next day, we got there to start playing by 9am for the clinic and about 25 people were there. People traveled from Chicago, Illinois, to be there. Prizes were given away in a raffle giveaway like Ironmen hats, posters, and t-shirts, and other things like Bawls Energy Drink bags, pods, and some cases of paint. Even a free year’s membership was given away during the raffle to Gus, a player who just moved to the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, area. The grand prize giveaway was a Pinokio Hopper and the person who won really needed one (his broke that day). At the end of the day, everyone was happy and satisified with the day, especially how kind the weather was the entire weekend.

Mike had to get to the airport to fly back to Vegas to get his truck and then drive to California for the Ironmen practice. After we dropped him off, we were trying to go and catch a movie, but went bowling instead! Leslie and Steve are great bowlers! I think they were going easy on us in the first round of two. Greg Hastings was the big winner that round. Me, Brittany, and Justin, well, we had no real idea of what we were doing, but we were definitely the loudest when we would get a few pins knocked down!

After doing some back spins on the bowling floor (Greg and I tried to show Brittany how; Greg did a better spin!), we left; I had to get up early the next morning to catch my flight back to Florida.

Did you know that Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is the home to famous people like Frodo from Lord of the Rings (Elijah Wood) and Kelso (Ashton Kutcher; who’s married to Demi Moore)?

Yeah, Iowa might be a place that not many would say is a touristy attraction like Florida, for example, but it sure is a state that contributes much. Adventure Park Paintball, too, does its part to help our industry and does what they can to bring the fun into the area. Farmland it is, corn and beans, but no matter where it is, paintball can be enjoyed by anyone, even if they live in what people said to us was the “middle of nowhere”. We’ll be back and we’re so grateful that we were invited.

The local newspaper came out to cover the event on Saturday, GazetteOnline.com, and then on Sunday, it brought out a handful of people that read about it in the paper, too. Cliff Jette of The Gazette paper also filmed and edited something for YouTube. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKFp1gqSYbE

http://www.AdventureParkPaintball.com

PRESS RELEASE
Adventure Park Paintball Extravaganza, May 31st-June 1st

Get ready for the biggest paintball event in Iowa. We have Greg Hastings professional paintball player and creator of the ever popular Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball MAX’D along with Mike Paxson of the world champions Team Ironmen. As if that wasn’t enough, we have Bea Youngs owner and player for Destiny and editor-in-chief for Paintball Sports Magazine. These three professionals are going to be here for open play, some 1-1 action along with a clinic. Don’t miss out on these limited tickets to this event.

Go to http://www.AdventureParkPaintball.com for the details and we’ll see you there!