The SPBTV Crew: Johan 'Illern' Stockselius

Name: Johan Stockselius

Hobbies: Paintball, Work, Hangout, Moderate training

I got into the world of paintball in 2008 through my older sister who rented a room from one of the guys in BFP and introduced me to him by saying to me "He plays paintball with big guns!". This man is one that I owe a big thanks to and he is Mats "Mr Kock" Petterson. After trying his gear on at his place I just knew I had to try this game out and lucky enough, there was a game out on the AC Paintball field that same Sunday, so I went for it! 

When my father had dropped me off at the field at the forest line, just some 800 meters from the road at 11 (it was supposed to start at 12, but Mats had told me to be early so I was) I waited for 10 minutes and I then saw coming down the road a car, with this man hanging like a dying dog out of the passenger side.At that moment I wondered what I had gotten myself into... I had heard from him the dangers there could be with the paintballs if you do not respect the power they deliver when they have been fired away, and he was the one I was entrusting my safety to. In fairness I should point out that I have myself been that way sometimes now and understand the pain in the neck it must have been for him to get me prepared for the game, especially while he was a little* hungover  (it was the day after his B-Day^^)! BUT when I had gotten the rental suit, a mask, a marker (98 custom) and a safety briefing from Mats, I was ready for battle and boy did I get it!During the day I hoisted flags, got overshot and even got bunkered by Mats when I sat terrified in a tower, hearing the paintballs hitting the outside of it. I have never felt that kind of rush as I did out on that field and from that moment on, I was hooked. It then became the new thing that each time I was out on the field I would get shot by my own teammates during the day, either on the way to respawn, just before game start or after the game had ended. This activity soon got it's own name, the "Iller jakt" which is 'Ferret hunt' in English.

So, my first big game! That was Weekend War 5 in Rosersberg, Sweden the summer of 2009. A small town with ruins, two story houses made of containers, a small building with intact windows (got taken out of play because of the windows which got shot to pieces) and a 20 meter tower at one of the respawns. This place was used by the Swedish fire brigade as a testing ground to put out firers and for training bomb dogs etc so it is pretty cool. During this weekend, we got there on the Friday afternoon and I helped out with what I could at this awesome event because it was BFP and The Rock Adventure who organized it. So I helped set up the safety net and etc, did some field work and helped out, but to play at this field was amazing! In all of the container buildings you couldn't see anything because the walls were covered in the ash from the fires so even with flashlights it was hard to see outlines, which made it more nerveracking to clear one of them! After that weekend I knew that this game what I wanted to play for the rest of my life. 

During 2009 I did 2 things, one I am proud of and one I am not so proud of. The thing I'm not proud of is that I bought my first paintball marker, an ION-XE! It was an awesome paintball marker, do not get me wrong! It was what I did with it I am not proud of. I had learned to disassemble it to clean and lubricate it and I was under stress and assembled it wrong, more correctly, I put the bolt the wrong way... When it didn't work, I went in with it to my friends at WizeGuy and they just laughed at me and asked "Anything else worng with it except that the bolt is backwards?". The shame and slander I had to endure and still endures after that event have stuck with me ever sense, BUT I did do something good. I got my long time friend and neighbor, Johan Nordling to come out and play paintball and he, just as me, was instantly hooked and is much, much more technical then I! Good dead for the year accomplished: Checked!

My nickname was earned at Kilsbergsbataljen 8 which was held in Örebro, Sweden.  I was given it by the captain of The Unit, Peter Hellman, for have done the best defence during the day (might not have been a defence, just a good play during the day). As I got the small ribbon he said "Illern!" (The Ferret) and when I told the guys the name they said it probably was because of me never being able to stand still or shut up out on the field and I might understand them, sometimes, kinda, or something like that. And since then I have kept it and uses it to the fullest!T

he biggest and last thing I will write is the most awesome event I have been to is the Euro Big Game in Mahlwinkel, Germany. Just think about it, 20 Swedes leave Sweden with the biggest paintball event in Europe to bring havoc both on and off the field, who would not wanna do that? I wanted to, I did and we conquered that field. I remember the first rush so clear, our team captain, Rikard Elfving was in the lead, 10 meters ahead of me with a pump and had twisted his ankle badly when he encountered resistance, we started shooting and all we 20 Swedes made a line and swiped the whole left side clear of opponents! And that was just the first 10 minutes of the 8 hours to play just during 3 days of paintball. 

And not to mention the friendships you made with the guys I met down there.I wanna thank Ben Thompson and the whole current crew of Spbtv to let me join you guys and I will do my best to with whole your standards that you have made during these years!