Black Dragon (New Zealand Paintball Team)

Black Dragon was a New Zealand tournament paintball team documented in North Island competition from 1998 to 2001. The team won the published 1998 National Paintball League Division Two competition and Division Two at the 1998 New Zealand Paintball Nationals. It later finished second at the 1999 Auckland Easter tournament, third at the 1999 Northland Open and fourth in Division One at the 2001 Volcanic Rotorua tournament.[2][3][4][5][6][8]

The team was also referred to as Black Dragons in a 2001 captain-contact discussion.[11] This plural form referred to the same team. Black Dragon was separate from the earlier Dragons Claw team and from the team recorded as Dragon in 2009.

History

1998 season

Black Dragon competed at the Actions Paintball tournament held on 31 May 1998. The five-player centre-flag event used two fields at Actions Paintball Sports Arena. Black Dragon finished eighth overall with 262 points and third among the Division Two entries.[1]

The 1998 National Paintball League Division Two team list named Aaron Page as Black Dragon's manager.[2] The separately preserved results page recorded Black Dragon first with 24 league points.[3] The page does not state whether every scheduled fixture was completed, so the figure is described as the published league result rather than an independently verified final-season total.

Black Dragon also won Division Two at the 1998 New Zealand Paintball Nationals, held at Actions Paintball in Te Atatū on 24–25 October. The team finished fifth overall with 884 points. The contemporary report explicitly identifies Black Dragon as the Division Two winner, but does not print a complete divisional classification for every team.[4]

1999 season

At the 1999 Auckland Easter tournament, Black Dragon finished second with 1,340 points, behind Saints on 1,525 and ahead of Katipo 1 on 1,330.[5]

Black Dragon finished third overall and third in Division One at the 1999 Northland Open with 455 points. A contemporary photograph caption identifies Kyn Jackson of Actions Paintball as playing for Black Dragon at the event.[6]

At the Actions Paintball Queen's Birthday tournament on 6 June 1999, Black Dragon provided refereeing rather than entering as a competing team.[7]

Black Dragon finished fifth at the 1999 New Zealand Paintball Nationals, held at Actions Paintball in Helensville on 23–24 October, scoring 742 points.[9]

2001 activity

Black Dragon competed in Division One at the Volcanic Rotorua tournament on 2–3 June 2001. The team finished third in the preliminary standings with 1,155 points and advanced to the Division One final.[8]

Black Dragon recorded 30 final-round points and finished fourth, behind Jetts, Saints and Katipo A.[8]

At the 2001 New Zealand Paintball Nationals, unnamed Black Dragon members joined the Australian team Jetts after the collapse of Ansett disrupted travel for some of Jetts' players. This was an event-specific guest-player arrangement and was not a Black Dragon team entry.[10]

A captain-contact discussion preserved in January 2002 included the form Black Dragons but did not identify a captain and questioned the team's current name.[11] The discussion documents continued recognition of the team name but does not establish competitive participation in 2002.

A separate November 2001 forum report named Black Dragon among groups represented at social attack-and-defend play in temporary accommodation in Rotorua. This was not a tournament result.[12]

Team identity

The singular Black Dragon and plural Black Dragons identify the same New Zealand team. The singular form is used as the article title because it is the form printed in the surviving tournament results and league records.[1][3][4][5][6][8][9]

The following similarly named teams are separate:

Dragons Claw, an earlier New Zealand team with its own history.
Dragon, a different team recorded at the 2009 Queen's Birthday tournament.

No results belonging to Dragons Claw or the 2009 Dragon team are included in this article.

Documented people

Person	Documented involvement	Evidence limit
Aaron Page	Named as Black Dragon's manager in the 1998 NPL Division Two team list	The source is a manager list, not a complete playing roster.[2]
Kyn Jackson	Identified in a contemporary photograph caption as playing for Black Dragon at the 1999 Northland Open	The evidence establishes participation at that event, not his complete period with the team.[6]
Vanessa	Described with Kyn Jackson in a 2001 report as formerly of Black Dragon	No surname or dates of membership are supplied.[13]

The 2001 Northland Open report describes Kyn and Vanessa of Extreme X as former Black Dragon members. This establishes previous association but does not show that Extreme X was a renamed or successor Black Dragon organisation.[13]

Recorded tournament results

Date	Competition	Classification	Recorded result
31 May 1998	Actions Paintball tournament	Division Two	8th overall; 3rd in Division Two; 262 points.[1]
1998	National Paintball League Division Two	Division Two	1st in the published table; 24 league points.[3]
24–25 October 1998	New Zealand Paintball Nationals	Division Two	Division Two winner; 5th overall; 884 points.[4]
1999	Auckland Easter tournament	Overall	2nd; 1,340 points.[5]
1999	Northland Open	Division One	3rd overall and in Division One; 455 points.[6]
23–24 October 1999	New Zealand Paintball Nationals	Overall	5th; 742 points.[9]
2–3 June 2001	Volcanic Rotorua Paintball Tournament	Division One	4th; 30 final-round points.[8]

League points, preliminary totals and final-round scores are different scoring measures and should not be compared as equivalent totals.

References