Raiderz (New Zealand Paintball Team)

Raiderz was a New Zealand tournament paintball team documented in national competition in 2003 and 2004. The team's name was printed as Raiders in a 2003 tournament report, while contemporary 2004 sources used the correct spelling Raiderz.[1][2][3]

Raiderz finished second at the 2003 Auckland Queen's Birthday Superball, third in the Cup at the 2004 edition and fourth in the Cup at the 2004 Rotorua tournament.[1][2][3]

2003 season

The first presently documented appearance of Raiderz was at the Auckland Queen's Birthday Superball in 2003. The contemporary report, which rendered the name as Raiders, described the side as a new team composed primarily of former Kamo Karzi players.[1]

Raiderz placed third after the preliminary round, scoring 809 points and qualifying for the four-team finals. The team finished second overall behind Phoenix. A Raiderz player identified only as Jason was named player of the tournament; the source does not provide his surname.[1]

2004 season

Raiderz appeared in the published seeded draw for the 2004 Wellington X-Cess, held during Easter 2004.[4] A contemporary tournament report confirms that the team began strongly but did not reach the final placings. The report does not give Raiderz an overall finishing position.[5]

At the Queen's Birthday Superball at Kumeu, Raiderz qualified for the four-team Cup competition alongside Evil Factory NZ, Saints and Sleazy Weasel. Raiderz finished third, behind Evil Factory NZ and Saints.[2]

Raiderz later competed at the Rotorua International Stadium tournament during Labour Weekend. The team reached the Cup semi-finals, where it was defeated by Smash and Grab. Raiderz then finished fourth, behind Sydney SWAT, Smash and Grab and Menace.[3]

Players and team activity

A contemporary account by John Egan identifies Tony "Skinny" Dickson and "Big Sy" as members of Raiderz. It also records that Raiderz helped Egan's newly formed team prepare for the 2004 Rotorua tournament.[6]

In a 2007 forum correction, Sy Galt, posting as "Big SY", stated that he was the sole former Raiderz player still playing with Legion. This documents Galt's connection with both teams, but does not establish that Legion was a continuation of Raiderz.[7]

No complete Raiderz roster has been established from the surviving contemporary sources.

Team identity

The 2003 Queen's Birthday report uses the spelling Raiders, while the 2004 records use Raiderz.[1][2][3][5][6] These records refer to the same team; Raiderz is the correct spelling and Raiders is retained as a documented source variant.

Tournament results

Date	Tournament	Location	Result
June 2003	2003 Auckland Queen's Birthday Superball	Auckland	2nd[1]
9–11 April 2004	2004 Wellington X-Cess	Wellington	Did not reach the final placings[5]
5–6 June 2004	2004 Auckland Queen's Birthday Superball	Kumeu, Auckland	3rd, Cup[2]
23–24 October 2004	2004 Rotorua Paintball Tournament	Rotorua	4th, Cup[3]

References