Editing Flashpoint (New Zealand Paintball Team)

'''Flashpoint''', also recorded as '''Flash Point''', was a New Zealand tournament [[paintball]] team based in Dunedin. A contemporary team directory dates its beginnings to 1994 and records members living in both the North and South Islands.[1]

The team competed nationally from at least 1997 through 2011. Its documented results include winning the 2001 Invercargill three-player tournament and the Plate competition at the 2004 Rotorua event, finishing second in Division One at the 2009 Christchurch Easter tournament, and placing third in the round-robin stage of the 2011 Southern Series II event.[6][13][16][19]

== History ==

=== Beginnings ===

The Paintball.co.nz South Island team directory states that Flashpoint began in 1994 and was based in Dunedin, with members in Tauranga, Christchurch, Dunedin and Tapanui. It describes the team as playing together only once or twice a year while regularly travelling to the Auckland Nationals.[1]

This is the directory's contemporary account; a separate formation record has not been recovered.

=== 1997–2000 ===

Flashpoint attended its first documented Auckland tournament at the [[New Zealand Paintball Nationals]] on 25–26 October 1997. It finished eighth overall and fourth in Division Two with 602 points. Its classification was discussed during the weekend, but the report records the final ruling that Flashpoint would compete in Division Two.[2]

At the 24–25 October 1998 Nationals, Flashpoint finished tenth with 455 points.[3] It again finished tenth at the 23–24 October 1999 Nationals, scoring 475 points.[4]

Flashpoint also played at the Easter 2000 tournament at Thunderball Adventure Games in Wellington on 22–23 April. A contemporary Phoenix account confirms its participation but does not provide an exact placing.[5]

At the 21–22 October 2000 Nationals, Flashpoint competed in the First Division and recorded 560 preliminary points. It did not reach the divisional finals.[7]

=== 2001–2004 ===

Flashpoint won the 2001 Invercargill three-player tournament, defeating Damage Inc 49–4 in the final. Four teams competed over two days on the Hill and Moat fields.[6]

Mark Abbott's report describes Flashpoint as defending its previous year's title. This attributes a 2000 Invercargill victory to the team, although a separate 2000 result sheet has not been recovered.[6]

At the 2001 Nationals, Flashpoint reached the First Division final and finished fourth with 30 final-round points. The report identifies [[Brian Thornley|Brian “B2” Thornley]] as captain.[8]

Flashpoint finished seventh among eight teams at the 2002 [[South Pacific Championships]], held at Thunderball on 30–31 March.[12]

At the October 2004 Rotorua tournament, Flashpoint defeated Menace Blue to win the Plate competition. The event had 23 entries divided into Cup and Plate competitions after pool play.[13]

=== Later competition ===

In a retrospective Facebook post, Thornley identified footage of Flashpoint playing Blindboyz at Grenada Field in Wellington in 2007. He described Flashpoint as his former team. The post does not identify a tournament, result or complete roster.[14]

At the 2008 Wellington Easter tournament, the preliminary table recorded Flashpoint with 416 points. The final overall results used the spelling “Flash Point” and placed the team ninth among 13 entries.[15]

Flashpoint finished second in Division One at the 2009 Christchurch Easter five-player tournament with 1,222 points, behind SCK Factory and ahead of STK.[16][17]

At the Christchurch Easter event in 2010, a contemporary results post placed Flashpoint third among seven teams. The accompanying figure of 70 was an unofficial ranking allocation calculated by the poster rather than a raw tournament score or an adopted season total.[18]

Flashpoint competed at Southern Series II in Ashburton in 2011. The organiser's results placed the Dunedin team third in the double round robin with 1,668 points. Flashpoint subsequently finished fourth in the separate Ashburton Cup play-off.[19]

== Team organisation and players ==

Brian Thornley's ''On The Road Again'', listed among Paintball.co.nz's 2002 articles, describes arranging Flashpoint's flights, accommodation and transport for North Island tournaments. He names Tofty, Mark, Alic and Tekky as North Island players arriving at the team's accommodation.[11]

The account documents a geographically dispersed team but does not provide a complete event roster or surnames for those four players.[11]

{| class="wikitable"
! Published name
! Documented association
! Source context
|-
| [[Brian Thornley|Brian “B2” Thornley]]
| Flashpoint captain
| 2001 Nationals report.[8]
|-
| Brian “B2” Thornley
| Identifies Flashpoint among his paintball roles
| Individual profile preserved in April 2002.[9]
|-
| James “Tekno” Archibald
| Flashpoint player; described his role as a designated runner
| Individual profile preserved in April 2002.[10]
|-
| Tofty; Mark; Alic; Tekky
| Identified as North Island players in Thornley's travelling-team account
| Article listed under 2002.[11]
|}

The capture dates of the individual profiles do not establish joining dates or membership throughout a particular season. The name Tekky in the travel account is not expanded to James Archibald solely from its similarity to Tekno.

=== K.S.B. entry ===

Ken Ryder's report of the June 1998 Invercargill triples lists a Dunedin entry named '''K.S.B.''', comprising captain Kerry Brooks, Steve Sharpe and Brian “B2” Thornley. The report prints Thornley's forename as Bryan, while his own profile uses Brian.[9][20]

K.S.B. finished third. Thornley's participation connects the event entry with Flashpoint personnel, but the surviving source does not establish that K.S.B. was a formal alternative name for the full Flashpoint team. It is therefore treated as a linked event entry rather than replacing the published K.S.B. name.[20]

== Recorded tournament results ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Competition
! Classification
! Recorded result
! Points
! Source
|-
| 1997
| [[New Zealand Paintball Nationals]]
| Overall / Division Two
| 8th overall; 4th in Division Two
| 602
| [2]
|-
| 1998
| [[New Zealand Paintball Nationals]]
| Overall
| 10th
| 455
| [3]
|-
| 1999
| [[New Zealand Paintball Nationals]]
| Overall
| 10th
| 475
| [4]
|-
| 2000
| Wellington Easter tournament
| Open
| Participation confirmed; exact placing not established
| Not supplied
| [5]
|-
| 2000
| Invercargill three-player tournament
| Open
| Winner, as reported retrospectively in the 2001 event account
| Not supplied
| [6]
|-
| 2000
| [[New Zealand Paintball Nationals]]
| First Division preliminary round
| Did not reach divisional finals
| 560
| [7]
|-
| 2001
| Invercargill three-player tournament
| Final
| 1st; defeated Damage Inc
| 49–4
| [6]
|-
| 2001
| [[New Zealand Paintball Nationals]]
| First Division final
| 4th
| 30
| [8]
|-
| 2002
| [[South Pacific Championships]]
| Overall
| 7th
| Not supplied
| [12]
|-
| 2004
| Rotorua tournament
| Plate
| 1st; defeated Menace Blue
| Not supplied
| [13]
|-
| 2008
| Wellington Easter tournament
| Overall
| 9th
| 416 in preliminary table
| [15]
|-
| 2009
| Christchurch Easter five-player tournament
| Division One
| 2nd
| 1,222
| [16][17]
|-
| 2010
| Christchurch Easter tournament
| Overall
| 3rd
| Raw score not supplied
| [18]
|-
| 2011
| Southern Series II, Ashburton
| Round robin / Ashburton Cup
| 3rd in round robin; 4th in Cup
| 1,668 in round robin
| [19]
|}

Preliminary totals, final-round points and individual match scores are identified separately. Paid-entry lists and planned attendance without corresponding participation evidence are excluded.

== National rankings ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Season
! Ranking category
! Position
! Ranking score
|-
| 1997
| Combined
| Equal 7th
| 55
|-
| 1998
| Combined
| 13th
| 35
|-
| 1999
| Combined
| 6th
| 74.5
|-
| 2000
| Combined
| Equal 24th
| 46
|-
| 2001
| Seven-player
| 14th
| 77.9
|-
| 2001
| Five-player
| 13th
| 24
|}

Sources: Mercenaries Star's Valhalla standings.[21][22][23][24][25]

The 2001 tables are dated October. Their accumulated scores are not directly comparable with the averaged values used in earlier seasons. Valhalla positions are calculated national rankings rather than placings at individual tournaments.[25][26]

== See also ==

* [[Brian Thornley]]
* [[New Zealand Paintball Nationals]]
* [[South Pacific Championships]]
* [[Valhalla National Rankings]]
* [[Paintball in New Zealand]]

== References ==

# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020420034245/http://www.paintball.co.nz/teamsi.htm Paintball Teams in New Zealand — South Island directory, Paintball.co.nz. Archived 20 April 2002.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020613133123/http://www.paintball.co.nz/nats97.htm Rob Maddox, The 1997 Two Day NZ National “SplatMan” Tournament, Paintball.co.nz. Archived 13 June 2002.]
# [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. Archived 17 August 2002.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020817070413/http://www.paintball.co.nz/nats99/ Rob Maddox, The 1999 Two Day NZ Nationals Tournament, Paintball.co.nz. Archived 17 August 2002.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20011020080141fw_/http://www.blacksun.co.nz/phoenix/news.htm Phoenix — contemporary account of the Wellington Easter tournament, 22–23 April 2000. Archived 20 October 2001.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020814203254/http://www.paintball.co.nz/inv2001.htm Mark Abbott, The 2001 Invercargil 3-man, Paintball.co.nz. Archived 14 August 2002.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020613133336/http://www.paintball.co.nz/nats00.htm Rob Maddox, The 2000 Two Day NZ Nationals Tournament, Paintball.co.nz. Archived 13 June 2002.]
# [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. Archived 6 August 2002.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020421082601/http://www.paintball.co.nz/whb2.htm Brian “B2” Thornley — Who's Who of New Zealand Paintball, undated profile. Archived 21 April 2002.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020423174915/http://www.paintball.co.nz/whtekno.htm James “Tekno” Archibald — Who's Who of New Zealand Paintball, undated profile. Archived 23 April 2002.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20021025160032/http://www.paintball.co.nz/flashpointb2.htm Brian “B2” Thornley, Flashpoint: On The Road Again, Paintball.co.nz. Listed among the site's 2002 articles; archived 25 October 2002.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020817064944/http://www.paintball.co.nz/sthpac02.htm Martin Dannefaerd and Ants, SouthPacs 2002, Paintball.co.nz. Event dated 30–31 March 2002 in the contemporary report.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20051218174533/http://www.paintball.co.nz/articles/2004/roto2004.htm Rob Maddox, The Rotorua Event: 2004, Paintball.co.nz, October 2004.]
# [https://www.facebook.com/Brian.Bman.Thornley/posts/only-seems-like-yesterday-my-old-team-flashpoint-and-blindboyz-were-battling-it-/10164071103033778/ Brian Bman Thornley — retrospective post identifying Flashpoint and Blindboyz footage from Grenada Field, Wellington, in 2007.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20081018150035/http://www.paintball.net.nz/archive/index.php/t-1646.html Wellington Easter 2008 results discussion, NZ P8NT forum, including preliminary scores and final overall order.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20130207182353/http://paintball.net.nz/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=2279 Easter 2009 results, NZ P8NT forum, posted 13 April 2009.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20130207193335/http://paintball.net.nz/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=2058 Easter 09 — Christchurch five-player event announcement, NZ P8NT forum.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20130218034735/http://paintball.net.nz/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=2590&view=print 2010 Season Points and Event Results, NZ P8NT forum, posted 4 April 2010.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20130207171317/http://paintball.net.nz/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3200 Southern Series II — Ashburton, NZ P8NT forum, including results posted 24 April 2011.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020812223935/http://www.paintball.co.nz/3manovr.htm Ken Ryder, Invercargill 3-man Results — June 1998, Paintball.co.nz. Archived 12 August 2002.]
# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/VALHALLA/1997Hall.htm Mercenaries Star — Valhalla Hall of Heros: 1997.]
# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/VALHALLA/1998Hall.htm Mercenaries Star — Valhalla Hall of Heros: 1998.]
# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/VALHALLA/1999Hall.htm Mercenaries Star — Valhalla Hall of Heros: 1999.]
# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/VALHALLA/2000Hall.htm Mercenaries Star — Valhalla Hall of Heros: 2000.]
# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/VALHALLA/2001Hall.htm Mercenaries Star — Valhalla Hall of Heros: 2001. Standings dated October 2001.]
# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/VALHALLA/RankIndex.htm Mercenaries Star — Valhalla National Team Rankings methodology.]

== External links ==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20021025160032/http://www.paintball.co.nz/flashpointb2.htm Flashpoint: On The Road Again — Brian Thornley's contemporary team account]

[[Category:New Zealand paintball teams]]
[[Category:New Zealand paintball history]]