The PSP has put together an inside look at this international roster, full of talent based out of Houston, Texas. To follow the team on Facebook, become a fan of their page: http://www.facebook.com/HoustonHeatPaintball

Nick Slowiak, Houston Heat

Nick Slowiak

Home Town: Algonquin, IL
Age: 26
Height: 6’2
Weight: 205
Personal Interests outside of paintball: Sleep, video games, hanging out with my lovely girlfriend, playing with my niece, and talking to Sarge on the phone.
What is your pre-tournament routine? Making sure we have pods and paint.
Do you have a nick name and why? Dinosaur tail….ask Chad. Wolverine/Chops because I have a lot of facial hair.
How did you get started in paintball? My dad took me when I was 12 and i have been hooked ever since.
How did you make it to the Pro level? Lots of hard work, a lot of money, a lot of driving, and never wanting to give up.
What tips or advice do you have for younger players trying to move up to Pro? Have faith in yourself and your abilities, don’t give up, and ask pros for help.
Greatest Paintball Moments: I’ll let you know after 2012 is done…check back later.
Tournaments accomplishments: I have finished first in every league/division except pro PSP.
Who was the player that you looked up to before turning Pro? LB fow, Chris Lasoya, and Todd Martinez.
What are you most excited about playing with Houston Heat in 2012? The ability to play with the players on the team that are both new and seasoned and the drive and capacity that this team holds to win and succeed.
How do you feel about the new brotherhood? I didn’t know that show was aired.

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Ryan Smith, Houston Heat

Ryan Smith

Home Town: Houston, TX
Age: 19
Height: 6’1
Weight: 175
Personal Interests outside of paintball: Traveling, TV, Xbox, and an occasional workout.
Music: Country and alternative rock.
Favorite Movie: Top Gun.
What is your pre-tournament routine? Wake up early, shower, and strap up the boots.
How did you get started in paintball? Went to a UPS team building paintball event with my dad when I was 10.
How did you make it to the Pro level? 10,000 hour rule.
What tips or advice do you have for younger players trying to move up to Pro? Practice gun skills.
Greatest Paintball Moments: Making it to the Pro level.
Tournaments accomplishments: Winning World Cup D2, CXBL, and Vegas all in the same season.
Who was the player that you looked up to before turning Pro? Dave Bains.
What are you most excited about playing with Houston Heat in 2012? Playing on the pro level and making a new band of brothers.
Funniest paintball moment: Chad and Sarge in the pits.
How do you feel about the new brotherhood? It’s going to be good.

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Konstantin Fedorov, Houston Heat

Konstantin Fedorov

Home Town: Moscow, Russia
Age: 26
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 79 kilograms
Personal Interests outside of paintball: Snowboard, motorcycle, cooking.
Music: Hip-hop and house.
Favorite Movie: Boondock Saints
What is your favorite all time paintball team? Philly All-Americans
What is your pre-tournament routine? Listen to music.
Do you have a nick name and why? Kfed…Philly guys used to call me that and it’s simple.
How did you get started in paintball? In a camp when I was 16.
How did you make it to the Pro level? Just by practicing with Russian Legion.
What tips or advice do you have for younger players trying to move up to Pro? Practice and start playing with pros to learn.
Greatest Paintball Moments: Winning my first World Cup in 2005.
Tournaments accomplishments: Las Vegas 2005, 2011 Paris.
What are you most excited about playing with Houston Heat in 2012? Excited about everything and bringing together three different teams.
Funniest paintball moment? I ran the flag to the wrong side.
How do you feel about the new brotherhood? Just excited.

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Sam Monville, Houston Heat

Sam Monville

Home Town: Pittsburg, PA
Age: 24
Height: 5’7
Weight: 140
Personal Interests outside of paintball: Turding and Cave Days.
Music: Anything but country.
Favorite Movie: Pulp Fiction.
What is your favorite all time paintball team? Philly Americans.
Do you have a nick name and why? Sarge calls me Tin Man because I am “heartless.”
How did you get started in paintball? Just playing with friends from school.
How did you make it to the Pro level? Played a lot and tried to be a sponge and soak in everything i could from the people around me.
What tips or advice do you have for younger players trying to move up to Pro? Work on your individual skills and do lots of drills and situationals, don’t always worry about 5 on 5’s.
Greatest Paintball Moments: Boop!
Tournaments accomplishments: 08 PSP Phoenix D2, 09 PSP Phoenix Pro.
Who was the player that you looked up to before turning Pro? Most of the old Nasty guys. Played at Paintball Adventure Park watching them and just always wanted to be a part of it.
What are you most excited about playing with Houston Heat in 2012? It’s the start of a new organization and we get to create something out of nothing. No guidelines and we can make it what we want.
Funniest paintball moment: A lot of the ECK days were pretty humorous. But the great fireworks battle of ’06 at the hotel in MAO was one of my favorites.
How do you feel about the new brotherhood? I am pretty excited about it because I get to play with a new team and create a new chapter in my paintball career.

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Jon "LJ" Woodley, Houston Heat

Jon “LJ” Woodley

Home Town: East Setauket, NY
Age: 21
Height: 6’1
Weight: 185
Personal Interests outside of paintball: Snowboarding, surfing, and working out.
Music: Dubstep, rap, and rock.
Favorite Movie: Rudy.
What is your favorite all time paintball team? Philly Americans.
What is your pre-tournament routine? Watch paintball videos.
Do you have a nick name and why? LJ, I used to be called Little Jon.
How did you get started in paintball? Just started going with friends and saw xball and wanted to get good.
How did you make it to the Pro level? A lot of practice against better teams and dedication to the sport.
What tips or advice do you have for younger players trying to move up to Pro? If you want it bad enough and work hard enough it will pay off in the end.
Greatest Paintball Moments: Everything, I wouldn’t trade any of the memories for the world.
Tournaments accomplishments: Winning First in Vegas and beating Dynasty in game three.
Who was the player that you looked up to before turning Pro? Konstantin Fedorov.
What are you most excited about playing with Houston Heat in 2012? Learning from the more experienced players and playing pro in PSP.
How do you feel about the new brotherhood? We are close already and I can’t wait for the 2012 season!

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Ronnie Dizon, Houston Heat

Ronnie Dizon

Home Town: Tinley Park, IL
Age: 19
Height: 5’6
Weight: 120
Personal Interests outside of paintball: Concerts and working out.
Favorite Music: Electronic.
Favorite Movie: Green Street Hooligans.
What is your favorite all time paintball team? Dynasty.
What is your pre-tournament routine? I do heavy cardio the week before and eat very well.
Do you have a nick name and why? I have two…Lion (from Wizard of Oz, because I had no courage and then I got some) and Road Runner.
How did you get started in paintball? I was in my back yard and my next door neighbor had bought a paintball gun, so he asked me to get one and ever since then I have had an interest in the sport.
How did you make it to the Pro level? Practicing really hard against aftershock with Team Distortion. We would have days where we practiced non stop for 8 hours.
What tips or advice do you have for younger players trying to move up to Pro? Work hard and do as many drills as you can. Work on gun skills and find your flaws and work on those.
Greatest Paintball Moments: Winning Vegas with Aftershock.
Tournament accomplishments: Winning PSP World Cup and CXBL in Florida last year. 1st in Vegas.
Who was the player that you looked up to before turning Pro? Alex Goldman.
What are you most excited about playing with Houston Heat in 2012? To be able to compete at the pro level with new and old friends.
Funniest paintball moment: Chicago 2008, coaching Team Quality TTR in d3 with the Midwest Choir. If you were there you would know.
How do you feel about the new brotherhood? I feel it’s gonna be a good gel of people, with most of us playing together in CXBL and practice as well as adding the 3 Russian players. Should be a really good season, and I’m very excited to make our pro debut in PSP Galveston.

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Mishka Kniazev, Houston Heat

Mishka Kniazev

Home Town: Moscow, Russia
Age: 29
Height: 174 cm
Weight: 85 Kilograms
Personal Interests outside of paintball: Motorcycles, snowboarding, fishing, hunting, biking.
Music: Rap.
Favorite Movie: Cast Away.
What is your favorite all time paintball team? Houston Heat.
What is your pre-tournament routine? Sleep.
Do you have a nick name? Mischka.
When did you get started in paintball? I started in 2000.
How did you make it to the Pro level? Practiced a lot.
What tips or advice do you have for younger players trying to move up to Pro? Stay alive.
Greatest Paintball Moments: Winning World Cup.
Tournaments accomplishments: First at World Cup 2006, 2009, 2010.
Who was the player that you looked up to before turning Pro? Chris LaSoya.
What are you most excited about playing with Houston Heat in 2012? To play with a new team.
How do you feel about the new brotherhood? It is like my second home.

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Chad "YAYA" Bouchez, Houston Heat

Chad “YAYA” Bouchez

Home Town: Peoria, IL
Age: 25
Height: 5’7
Weight: 175
Personal Interests outside of paintball: Gambling, eating food, and watching Entourage. Going to the Alaskan Cave.
Music: I like the kind of music I can move my butt to.
Favorite Movie: Goonies, Sandlot.
What is your pre-tournament routine? I lace up my Nikes, I drink 7 cups of coffee, and I clip my toe nails.
Do you have a nick name and why? YAYA because I look like the kid from the Sandlot and Tum Tum because I am a fat kid at heart. Beefcakes because the clown in New York is a moron. Chazzzzzz because I am boyfriend Chad. Baby Dinosaur tail, yea…don’t ask.
How did you get started in paintball? I came out of the womb shooting!
How did you make it to the Pro level? I brown nosed the coach enough to get on the team.
What tips or advice do you have for younger players trying to move up to Pro? It’s just a ball of paint, so don’t be afraid of a ball of paint.
Who was the player that you looked up to before turning Pro? Nick Matthews because he took me in as a young kid and he didn’t have much, but he gave me what I needed to become better.
What are you most excited about playing with Houston Heat in 2012? Being apart of a team that I consider my family.
Funniest paintball moment? Me, Wild man, China Man, and the Jew winning in New York …and then at our victory dinner my legs cramped up so bad that I couldn’t even walk out of the restaurant.
How do you feel about the new brotherhood? I would like world peace.

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Sergei Solnishkov, Houston Heat

Sergei Solnishkov

Home Town: Moscow, Russia
Age: 25
Height: 187
Weight: 93
Personal Interests outside of paintball: Motorcycles and snowboarding.
Music: Rap, trance, house, dub step.
Favorite Movie? Californication.
What is your favorite all time paintball team? Houston Heat.
What is your pre-tournament routine: Read books.
Do you have a nick name? Sunshine.
When did you get started in paintball? 2005.
How did you make it to the Pro level? Practice a lot.
What tips or advice do you have for younger players trying to move up to Pro? Stay alive and practice.
Greatest Paintball Moments: Winning World Cup.
Tournaments accomplishments: Winning World cup in 2009 and 2010.
Who was the player that you looked up to before turning Pro? Mishka, Fedorov, and Maloy.
What are you most excited about playing with Houston Heat in 2012? To have the chance to play with a new team.
How do you feel about the new brotherhood? Perfect, it is like my second home.

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Chad George, Houston Heat

Chad George

Home Town: Berwick, Pennsylvania
Age: 22
Height: 5’6″
Weight: 150
Personal Interests outside of paintball: Working out, long walks on any beach, spending time with friends and family, exploring the world, motorcycles, trying new things, proving to Sarge that I can be a hero after all.
Music: Anything and everything except for country it makes my ears bleed.
Favorite Movie? Don’t really have a favorite.
What is your pre-tournament routine: Practice, practice, practice and keeping my body in tip top shape to perform at 110% on the field.
Do you have a nick name? Little head, because my cranium is a lot smaller then the norm. I have a hard time finding baseball caps that fit me.
How did you get started in paintball? Started playing with a few friends from high school in 2003, I’ve been hooked ever since.
How did you make it to the Pro level? I started playing for a Philly Americans local feeder team called All American Heroes. Kept showing them my drive and determination to play pro. Spesh asked me to join Philly in 07.
What tips or advice do you have for younger players trying to move up to Pro? Keep practicing, be diverse and always try and play better competition. It’s the only way to get better.
Who was the player that you looked up to before turning Pro? Tim Montressor.
What are you most excited about playing with Houston Heat in 2012? The great mix of guys we have. I feel we’ll be able to accomplish anything on the field together. Oh and Momma D’s cooking!
Funniest paintball moment: Two wheelin tony….Complete control.
How do you feel about the new brotherhood? Stupendous, can’t wait start the season.

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Well, there you have it. The Houston Heat…

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