Team Raven (New Zealand Paintball Team)
Team Raven was a New Zealand competitive paintball team documented between 1997 and 2001. Contemporary records also used the forms Raven, Ravens and the apparent misspelling Team Ravan. The team finished second in Division Two and sixth overall at the 1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals.[1]
The New Zealand team was unrelated to overseas paintball teams using Raven or Ravens names.
Identity and personnel
[edit]The forms Team Raven, Raven, Ravens and Team Ravan occur across New Zealand tournament and ranking records from the same period. A contributor familiar with the team identifies the New Zealand entries as the same organisation and recalls that the team was captained by a person named Charles. No contemporary source providing Charles's surname or a complete event roster has been recovered.
Dave Pellet's March 1998 National Paintball League information identified Duncan Caskey as Team Raven's manager.[2] The source describes team managers rather than captains, so Caskey's documented role does not resolve or contradict the contributor's recollection of Charles as captain.
Tournament history
[edit]1997
[edit]Team Raven competed at the 1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals, held at Actions Paintball Sports Arena in Te Atatū on 25–26 October. The five-player centre-flag tournament had eleven participating teams. Team Raven scored 642 points, finishing sixth overall and second in Division Two behind Kamo Karzi.[1]
The retrospective 1997 Valhalla National Rankings placed Team Raven sixth with a ranking score of 58.[3]
1998
[edit]At the 1998 Northland Open, held in Whangārei on 22 February, Ravens scored 145 points and finished fifth of five teams. It was the only Division Two entry and received the divisional trophy.[4]
Team Raven was subsequently listed in the 1998 National Paintball League Division Two programme with Duncan Caskey as manager. The separately published results page used the spelling Team Ravan and recorded 14 league points. The page did not publish a position for the team or state that the standings represented a completed season.[2]
At the 1998 Auckland Easter Tournament on 12 April, Ravens scored 68 points in the preliminary round and finished seventh of seven entries. The team did not advance to the four-team final round.[5]
The retrospective 1998 Valhalla National Rankings placed Team Raven fifteenth with a score of 21.[6]
1999
[edit]Ravens competed at the 1999 Northland Open on 28 February, finishing seventh of nine teams with 256 points. The result placed the team among the four entries classified in Division Two.[7]
At the two-day 1999 Auckland Easter Tournament, Ravens finished eighth of ten teams with 575 points.[8]
On 6 June, Ravens competed in a twelve-team, five-player tournament at Actions Paintball. It advanced into the six-team Secondary competition and finished second in that classification behind Vipers.[9]
The 1999 Valhalla National Rankings placed Team Raven equal fourteenth with Team Crisis, each recording a ranking score of 43.[10]
2001
[edit]The October 2001 Valhalla three-player table ranked Team Raven twenty-eighth with a total of 5. The entire value was attributed to the preliminary stage of an event labelled Combat Zone.[11] This calculated ranking contribution establishes a recorded appearance but does not provide a raw tournament score, placing or roster.
Documented personnel
[edit]| Person | Documented role | Evidence status |
|---|---|---|
| Charles | Recalled team captain | Contributor recollection; surname and event rosters not recovered |
| Duncan Caskey | Team manager in the March 1998 National Paintball League information | Contemporary published record[2] |
Tournament results
[edit]| Year | Tournament or series | Recorded name | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals | Team Raven | 6th overall; 2nd in Division Two — 642 points[1] |
| 1998 | 1998 Northland Open | Ravens | 5th of 5; sole Division Two entry — 145 points[4] |
| 1998 | National Paintball League Division Two | Team Ravan | 14 published league points; position not stated[2] |
| 1998 | 1998 Auckland Easter Tournament | Ravens | 7th of 7 in the preliminary round — 68 points[5] |
| 1999 | 1999 Northland Open | Ravens | 7th of 9 — 256 points[7] |
| 1999 | 1999 Auckland Easter Tournament | Ravens | 8th of 10 — 575 points[8] |
| 1999 | 1999 Actions Queen's Birthday Tournament | Ravens | 2nd in the Secondary competition[9] |
Valhalla rankings
[edit]| Year | Rank | Ranking score |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 6th | 58[3] |
| 1998 | 15th | 21[6] |
| 1999 | Equal 14th | 43[10] |
| 2001 | 28th in the October three-player table | 5[11] |
Valhalla values were calculated rankings rather than raw tournament points or national championship results.
References
[edit]- The 1997 Two Day NZ National “SplatMan” Tournament. Rob Maddox, paintball.co.nz. Contemporary results and divisional classifications.
- The 1998 “SplatMan” Division 2 League; The 1998 NPL Division 2 League Results. paintball.co.nz. Team-manager list and published league points.
- Mercenaries Star — 1997 Hall of Heroes. Retrospective Valhalla ranking table.
- 1998 Northland Open. Rob Maddox, paintball.co.nz. Contemporary event report and results.
- 1998 Auckland Easter Tournament. Ian McDonald, paintball.co.nz. Contemporary event report and results.
- Mercenaries Star — 1998 Hall of Heroes. Retrospective Valhalla ranking table.
- 1999 Northland Open. paintball.co.nz. Contemporary event report and results.
- 1999 Auckland Easter Tournament. Paul “Spider” McKay, paintball.co.nz. Contemporary event report and final scores.
- Actions Paintball Tournament — 6 June 1999. paintball.co.nz. Contemporary tournament report and classifications.
- Mercenaries Star — 1999 Hall of Heroes. Retrospective Valhalla ranking table.
- Mercenaries Star — October 2001 Hall of Heroes. Contemporary format-specific Valhalla table.