Editing 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 Paintball 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.[4] The contemporary report explicitly identifies Black Dragon as the Division Two winner but does not print a complete divisional classification for every team.

=== 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 referees 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 (Australian Paintball Team)|Jetts]] after the collapse of Ansett disrupted travel for some of the Jetts players.[10] This was an event-specific guest-player arrangement and was not a Black Dragon team entry.

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 the groups represented at social attack-and-defend play in temporary accommodation in Rotorua.[12] This was not a tournament result.

== 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 ==
{| class="wikitable"
! 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
| The report does not supply a surname or membership dates.[13]
|}

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

== Recorded tournament results ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Date
! Competition
! Classification
! Recorded result
|-
| 31 May 1998
| Actions Paintball tournament
| Division Two
| Eighth overall; third in Division Two; 262 points.[1]
|-
| 1998
| National Paintball League Division Two
| Division Two
| First in the published table; 24 league points.[3]
|-
| 24–25 October 1998
| [[New Zealand Paintball Nationals]]
| Division Two
| Division Two winner; fifth overall; 884 points.[4]
|-
| 1999
| Auckland Easter tournament
| Overall
| Second; 1,340 points.[5]
|-
| 1999
| Northland Open
| Division One
| Third overall and in Division One; 455 points.[6]
|-
| 23–24 October 1999
| [[New Zealand Paintball Nationals]]
| Overall
| Fifth; 742 points.[9]
|-
| 2–3 June 2001
| [[Volcanic Rotorua Paintball Tournament]]
| Division One
| Fourth; 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.

== See also ==
* [[Paintball in New Zealand]]
* [[New Zealand Paintball Nationals]]
* [[National Paintball League (New Zealand)]]
* [[Volcanic Rotorua Paintball Tournament]]
* [[Dragons Claw]]

== References ==
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020817065120/http://www.paintball.co.nz/t310598.htm Actions Paintball Tournament, 31 May 1998 — NZ Paintball Online]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020606144228/http://www.paintball.co.nz/div298.htm Rob Maddox, ''The 1998 SplatMan Division 2 League'', team information dated 8 March 1998]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020613121455/http://www.paintball.co.nz/npld298.htm The 1998 NPL Division 2 League Results — Paintball.co.nz]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020817071008/http://www.paintball.co.nz/nats98.htm Rob Maddox, ''The 1998 Two Day NZ Nationals Tournament'' — Paintball.co.nz]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020606115511/http://www.paintball.co.nz/estr99.htm 1999 Auckland Easter Tournament — Paintball.co.nz]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20010114135800/http://www.paintball.co.nz/north99.htm 1999 Northland Open — Paintball.co.nz]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20030407202809/http://www.paintball.co.nz/t060699.htm Actions Paintball Queen's Birthday Tournament, 6 June 1999 — NZ Paintball Online]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020811192709/http://www.paintball.co.nz/volcanic.htm Rob Maddox, ''The 2001 Rotorua Volcanic Paintball Tournament'' — Paintball.co.nz]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020817070413/http://www.paintball.co.nz/nats99/ Rob Maddox, ''The 1999 Two Day NZ Nationals Tournament'' — Paintball.co.nz]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020806192513/http://www.paintball.co.nz/nats01.htm Rob Maddox, ''The 2001 Two Day NZ Nationals Tournament'' — Paintball.co.nz]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020102013147/http://pub73.ezboard.com:80/fnzpaintballfrm2.showMessage?topicID=101.topic Team Captain Contact Details — NZ Paintball forum, archived 2 January 2002]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020102020555/http://pub73.ezboard.com:80/fnzpaintballfrm2.showMessage?topicID=99.topic Fun and Games in Rotovegas — NZ Paintball forum, archived 2 January 2002]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20011217012758/http://www.paintball.co.nz/north2001.htm Rob Maddox, ''The 2001 Northland Paintball Open'' — Paintball.co.nz, archived 17 December 2001]

[[Category:New Zealand paintball teams]]
[[Category:New Zealand paintball history]]
[[Category:Paintball in Auckland]]