& Co : Airsoft Waikato Incorporated
A passion for Airsoft leads Shin down new paths of friends and memories.
Airsoft Waikato Incorporated (AWI) has seen
many players over its years, some staying and some moving off to new lives. One
person who has become a part of the club is Jake, AKA Shin.
Shin has been playing airsoft for a little
over two years, starting sometime in September 2019.
“Have they told you how I got my nickname Shin?”
The nickname Shin came from an incident during a game with AWI, Shin’s location was exposed while he was sitting on the side of a hill firing at his opponent, so he started to run and move to a different position.
“Look where I am going, trip and fall down the bank, land on my shin, skin my shin, wind myself, and almost break my gun.”
That led to a staff member giving him his nickname Shin.
Shin likes to take his style choices to the next level when dressing up for the game while some might turn up in track pants and hoodies. Shin is known for turning up in genuine military-grade uniforms (for the style of course). Shin has also worked on his collection of taggers (airsoft guns) and uniforms during his time in the sport. He has 18 different guns and four of which are currently disassembled for repairs or modifications.
Shin’s outfits are replicas of previous and current military uniforms from different countries, two of the outfits in his collection are NZDF and flecktarn. Shin’s collection is continuing to grow as he works towards other styles.
Besides the membership at AWI, Shin and his friends also started their private club called Swamp Foxes.
The weekly games of Swamp Foxes are currently affected by the sudden change of mind from the field owner. That led to Shin and the rest of the Swamp Foxes moving to AWI until they source a new location for their game.
Shin has had many experiences from
different games, each of them is different. One memory Shin spoke about in the
interview was his Leeroy Jenkins moment.
“Everyone was kind of hiding, and I’m just like screaming out Leeroy Jenkins and like running around the corner surprising everyone”.
Shin earned his recognition from the
community as an Airsoft enthusiast. He continues to move up in AWI, and he
recently became a member of the committee team that involves representing
different clubs across Waikato.
Shin’s enthusiasm for airsoft can easily be
seen from his investments, and how he speaks to the new players about the game.
