We now have a new feature section at PopularAirsoft.com, called Women In Airsoft, which is very much a welcome change to our readers in this male-dominated sport. These women we feature here can go over and around obstacles, lead teams, make tactical decisions, and can exchange bbs with men down to the last pellet in their magazines. Besides being sugar and spice, they can be deadly swift and efficient.

We hope that in staring this feature section, we can enhance the appeal of Airsoft to women all over the world. We are looking for female airsofters around the world to feature here, and we will grab the opportunity to interview an all-female airsoft squad. If you think you know someone who agrees to be featured here, please do contact us immediately by using our contact form.

We start this series with Alee, a veteran Filipina airsoft player from Team Sonic Strikers who just recently moved to Michigan State, USA. Still in the middle of completing her loadout, she's currently looking for a team to join, one that is to her liking.  While she misses her boyfriend who is left in Manila (and also an airsoft player), she distracts herself by indulging in real steel weapons and airsoft guns, which are her second love, with her primary love being her family and boyfriend.

Her callsign in the Philippine airsoft community is Cactus, as she was part (or still a part) of Sonic Strikers. Outside of airsoft, she is a professional singer and has travelled around the Philippines and the rest of Asia playing in gigs as a lead singer.

PopularAirsoft: Hi Alee, can you tell us more about yourself on your own terms?

Alee: I am a musician, I can play guitar, keyboard, bass, but not the drums. I love singing so much. It has always been my way of expressing how I really feel. I have a great sense of humor but very sensitive. I am fun to be with and can easily go with the flow. Since I belong to a broken family, I grew up with men (father,brothers,male cousins and friends) and I adopted their attitudes,t hat's why the way I dress, talk and move, I am like a man. A lot of people(neighbors, family friends, newly met) came up to me and asked if I am a lesbian, I laugh the hell out of them. Gosh! what are they thinking?!

PopularAirsoft: What made you start with airsoft? And how long have you been playing airsoft?

Alee: A  good friend of mine in Bohol (a province in the Central Philippines) was talking to me about airsoft, he convinced me to play with him and his team. I was really excited that I couldn't wait how it feels to be into airsoft and how it feels when you get shot. When I was small I was always fascinated by guns, I saw my father and my brothers firing their guns, and they cleaned these before and after using their firearms. They even let me hold the gun. When I turned 9, I started playing war games with my childhood boy friends. We used woods with a curved design that exactly made it looks like a gun,or a small bamboo stem and tiny  seeds that would exactly fit it's hole as our bullet. So the next day we went to the gamesite but I don't have my airsoft guns th­at time, I was not prepared so I just stayed at the shed, watching my friend play airsoft. I've been playing airsoft for 2 months, at least 2 to 3 times a week. I play with men, never get a chance to play with women. With that short period of time playing the game, I've been through a lot, I learned a lot.

PopularAirsoft: And how do you find airsoft as a hobby or sport?

Alee: As a hobby,oh my God! airsoft is very expensive! It will cost you a lot of money.The time I got everything I need for playing airsoft I thought that my spending was ended, but I realized that it was just the beginning. The more you play the more you want to have  more guns, sometimes you wanna buy more accessories for the guns, gears, BDU,and bb's. I would also say that airsoft is a great rival to wives/gf. I know that because I feel the same way they do. Husbands/bf's spends a lot of money on airsoft,and they get busy playing that they don't even have enough time for the family, can't spend more quality time with their loved ones. Men sometimes/always sleep with their airsoft guns in bed. And I'm dying to tell everyone that airsoft is very addictive! I even have my own term for this addiction, I call it 'airsoftitis'. Oh God! I can't get this game out of my head! I won't last a day without talking about airsoft. My friends says their ears are bleeding, they want to hear me talk about something different. Well, perhaps they just don't know how it feels to be an airsoft addict. As a sport,airsoft is very good for an individual,I would say this is the best excercise,not only by making myself become more alert but at the same time I also learned how to defend myself against an attack, or vice versa.

PopularAirsoft: Tell us about your existing airsoft loadout. Any preferred airsoft gun and loadout and why?

Alee: Back in the Philippines I used to wear a black SD vest, Digital Jungle Patterned BDU(locally they call it digital marine coz the Philippine Marines used this BDU pattern as one of their loadouts but was deemed inconsistent during urban scenarios thus cancelled), I'm really not a fan of combat boots because i think wearing rubbers is more comfortable and more maneuverable than those combat boots. I prefer the M4A1 CQB as my main weapon because of its compact design as it helps me go through tight quarters with ease. I think this is the gun most suited for you assault fanatics out there.

Lastly safety gear, I'd always tell newbies and other people who wants to try out Airsoft to never skimp on wearing cheap safety gear coz airsoft really ain't fun if you lose an eye right?

PopularAirsoft:  How's settling down in the USA? Do you miss playing airsoft in the Philippines and coping with your new place?

Alee: The truth is when I got here in the USA, I was very excited, not because the game is very popular here but it's because I know I'll be able to buy the best airsoft guns here. Yeah! I can also buy grenades, or any other explosives that I might need for airsoft, I mean every airsoft thing that I didn't see and find back in the Philippines. But, the problem is I can't go nowhere. I cant drive my car on the way to the Airsoft Armory, or any store that sells airsoft stuff because I don't have a driving license yet. So I started blaming myself why I had to come to the country, why didn't I just stay in the Philippines and enjoy playing airsoft as much as I want. I cried a lot, I cried for a month. Even now, while answering this interview I still have this depressing feeling for not playing the game since I got here. It's frustrating. About the place, so far so good. The people around me were very nice, and I love the nature. I love the cold weather, but sometimes when it's too cold that I would freeze to death, I hate it!

PopularAirsoft: We saw pictures of you holding real steel weapons such as a handgun and a sniper rifle. Any real steel weapon you love to hold?

Alee: I love the .357 magnum,but everytime we go out for a target shooting,  I have to hold on tight to that thing coz it kicks a lot! The first time I used it, I was like 'OH MY GOD! WHAT WAS THAT???' I was really shocked feeling the sudden recoil of the gun,I turned pale. I looked like a stupid kid. It was funny.

PopularAirsoft: You have a singing career in the Asia. Can you tell us about your band, your previous gigs, and where you played at?

Alee: Chronicwave...that's the name of my band. Composed of young musicians that play great music. Chronicwave is currently in Singapore, we have to part our ways this time and I feel so sad to think that we've been together for ten years. Back in the Philippines in Bohol we played at Metro Centre Hotel, Bohol Tropics and Resort, Alona Kew Beach, Kilum-Kilum Bar and Restaurant, Ruby's Music Lounge, Kusina Nativo, we play also at the malls. We also had a lot of booking for wedding, bithdays, and anniversaries etc. When we got to Manila, we were given the chance to perform at 19East with Side A band, and Bellevue Hotel. We regularly play at Tamamang's in Marikina, Westbay, Johnray's in Las Pinas, and Flamingo in Baclaran. And as always,we also performed outside bookings.

PopularAirsoft: Any favourite music genre that your band plays? What's your preferred music?

Alee: My band is versatile.Every music we play depends on our guests, on their ages,and their requests.We can play Reggae, Hiphop, Pop, House, RnB, Rock, Slow Rock, Jazz, Love Songs, Ballroom music like swing, chacha, tango and of course our favorite Retro! We can play music from 70's and 80's.

PopularAirsoft: Thinking of pursuing your music career in the USA?

Alee: Yes! Someday when I will be  financially stable, I will go for recording. I got my own compositions. I just hope I wont be too old when that time comes. My elder sister Aloha recorded her own compositions way back 2003, her screen name was Marikit. She and Nonoy Tan produced the album. She had mall tour with Sarah Geronimo and the rest of them. But my sister had to leave her career in the Philippines because it was time for her to come to the USA. Since then,she never heard anything from the company, her album was put on hold.

PopularAirsoft: Any differences in airsoft plays between the USA and the Philippines?

Alee: The difference is that in the Philippines we do a higher FPS (450) regardless of any type of scenario, we don't have a specific engagement either wall to wall or a couple of feet. Once the Opfor (opposing force) is within the range he will be hit real good. As far as I know the US style of playing airsoft as being shared by one veteran airsoft player now residing in US is that, here you do have a specific engagement rule and a very strict FPS(e.g.400fps). It's basically opposite of what we do have in Philippines.

PopularAirsoft: What do you think of males playing airsoft? Do you see them as MEN? Or as BOYS?

Alee: I like the question! To be honest, I see them as boys. Hahaha! Please don't get mad at me,boys! Haha! Well, sometimes I also see them as men with their inner boyhood drive being realized in a decent alternative way of expressing in the world of military simulation. Honesty and integrity are among the values being promoted in this game. Men will always be men in this realm of the event. It's not how you get good hits but how each cooperate in obtaining a successful game.

PopularAirsoft: Tell us your most memorable airsoft skirmish that you've been to. What was it?

Alee: Most memorable for me was my last game in the Philippines. It was in CXG in Cubao (in Quezon City, Metro Manila), an abandoned school and we were playin CQB skirmishes. It was an 8 on 8 battle in which a lot of my squad members got wiped out because of poor judgement. We were pinned down in the third room with my Geist and we were holding our ground poorly. Of the 8 players we had only two of us left and our squad managed to pick off about 2 of their guys only. Then came the Opfor, they had to breach the room that we were defending. Geist tried to counter their breach and went for a suicide attack and managed only to get one of them after getting sprayed with a barrage of bbs. So it was up to me, the feeling is more intense coz my buddy already had been hit and 5 of them were about to enter the room. I sealed both entrances when they started to move out.

Pepito (an Opfor playing for team ABS-CBN) tried to kick the door while his buddy went for the window and started shooting at me, I snucked down below the windows and kicked the door shut after they tried to enter the rear door (much of a surprise to their team as they were expecting me to surrender) when suddenly another two of them tried to enter the front door by kickin' it open, but once again I kicked it back and closed the front door again, now with more tension starting to build up as one of them had gone to the back window and started shooting. It was too late they had entered in a single motion with all 5 tangoes zeroed in on me at every corner. I decided to fight it out till death [til she gets hit]. I ended up clipping 3 of their guys (too bad Pepito zombied his way out and didn't call the hit).­ After we went out of the room, I was amazed to see that almost all of the people in CXG were watching that scenario and said "grabe miss ang tapang mo daig mo pa lalaki eh, akala namin mag susurrender ka na di pa pala" (Wow miss! that was so brave, I didn't expect you to last that long. You even played better than the boys. We thought you were jus going to surrender.)".

PopularAirsoft: By the way, why "Cactus" as your callsign in airsoft?

Alee: I was one day wondering upon which call sign I would use, I really am not sure what callsign to use when I had a bad stare at my cactus plant and said "hey that would make a good callsign". I chose "cactus" coz a cactus plant looks very cool and cute but watch out you can't touch me coz I have spikes that can make you bleed! Haha!

PopularAirsoft: Do you want to mention about your boyfriend? (Sorry guys, she's taken, or rather she's taken somebody)

Alee: Ahahaha! what a question! But yeah, I want to. His name is Gian a.k.a Geist. He's my reason for breathing...my everything...and I love him so much to death.

PopularAirsoft: If you get invited to sing in an airsoft party, would you accommodate it?

Alee: Why not? It would be an honor for me. I will not only sing up on the stage but also entertain the airsofters so they won't get bored. My comedian side/ability will rock them when I'm on stage.

Editors Note: Contact me if you want to invite her for any after airsoft event party. I'm applying as her manager. ;-)

PopularAirsoft: Would you encourage more women to take up airsoft? What would you say to them?

Alee: Do not be scared. If men can do it we can do it either, even better...who knows? The kind of joy that airsoft brings to us is different, incomparable, intense!

To all the Filipino women who want to be in airsoft, you can log in to www.filairsoft.com and be one of the members especially in IGT (It's a Girl Thing),  whose members have been always there for me and gave me the courage when I got here.They will take care of you and you will learn so much from them.

PopularAirsoft: Anything else that you would want to share to the Popularairsoft.com readers?

Alee: Yeah. To all airsoft brothers and sisters out there, always enjoy the game and never feel down when zombies come into play. To all newbies out there you could check out our team forums at www.sonicstrikers.proboards57.com and be one of us.

More power and Masks Down!! :)

Thank you very much Alee!

Before we end this, how about a more entertaining piece about Alee with this slide show she made below:

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