Editing New Zealand Paintball Players League


'''New Zealand Paintball Players League''' ('''NZPPL''') was a New Zealand tournament [[paintball]] league active during the early 2010s. The league organised competitive paintball events at venues around the country, including tournaments in the [[Wellington]] and [[Auckland]] regions. Its competitions used X-Ball and RaceTo formats, with divisions for electronic and mechanical paintball markers.

The NZPPL operated a national tournament series during 2013 and 2014, including the [[NZPPL International Pacific Championship]] in Auckland. Its 2014 competition results are preserved in the [[PBLeagues]] tournament database.[1]

== History ==

=== Establishment ===

The New Zealand Paintball Players League was established to organise competitive tournament paintball in New Zealand.

The league operated under the abbreviation NZPPL and maintained a website at nzppl.com. Its competitions included regional events and national series championships.

The NZPPL was active by 2013, when it organised a national tournament series that concluded with a final event at [[Asylum Paintball]] in Kingseat, south of Auckland.[2]

The league's founding date and original management structure have not been established from the surviving published records.

=== 2013 season ===

The NZPPL organised a tournament series during 2013, attracting teams from across New Zealand.

The series featured a number of established teams, including X-Fighter$, KC Damage and Wellington Vendetta.

The final event of the 2013 season was held at Asylum Paintball, situated within the former [[Kingseat Hospital]] complex at 833 Kingseat Road, Kingseat, Karaka.

The two-day final was won by '''KC Damage''', with '''Wellington Vendetta''' finishing second and '''X-Fighter$ Fracture''' third.

The overall 2013 season championship was won by '''X-Fighter$''', which recorded two event victories and a third-place finish during the series.[2]

{| class="wikitable"
|+ 2013 NZPPL season final
! Position
! Team
|-
| 1
| KC Damage
|-
| 2
| Wellington Vendetta
|-
| 3
| X-Fighter$ Fracture
|}

The tournament was filmed by New Zealand paintball media organisation Blacksheep Media, led by Tony Dickson.

A video of the final was released in March 2014. The accompanying press release described the event as the conclusion of the 2013 NZPPL season and announced plans for the following year's competitions.[2]

=== 2014 season ===

The NZPPL continued operating during 2014, organising events in the Wellington and Auckland regions.

A March 2014 announcement described a four-event calendar, with two competitions scheduled on the Kapiti Coast and two at Asylum Paintball in Auckland.[2]

The proposed calendar included:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Announced 2014 NZPPL calendar
! Dates
! Location
! Event
|-
| 12–13 April
| Kapiti Coast
| Opening event
|-
| 31 May – 2 June
| Kapiti Coast
| Second event
|-
| 30–31 August
| Auckland
| RaceTo tournament
|-
| 25–26 October
| Auckland
| International Pacific Championship
|}

The surviving PBLeagues database records three events from the 2014 season: the April event at Paraparaumu, the August event in Auckland and the International Pacific Championship in October.[1]

The announced May–June event does not appear in the surviving PBLeagues event listing.

==== NZPPL Race 2 Event 1 ====

The first recorded event of the 2014 season took place on '''12–13 April''' at '''Adrenalin Paintball Sports''', located at 111 State Highway 1, Paraparaumu.

The event used a mechanical Division 1 RaceTo-X format.

PBLeagues lists five registered and paid teams, with games scheduled for a ten-minute X-Ball format.[3]

The published registration fee was NZ$1,050 per team, increasing to NZ$1,200 after the regular registration deadline.

This event represented the league's activity in the lower North Island during the 2014 season.

==== NZPPL Race 2-4 Event 2 ====

The second event recorded by PBLeagues took place in Auckland on '''30–31 August 2014'''.

The tournament included a Pro X-Ball division with six participating teams.[4]

'''ADHD''' finished first in the recorded Pro X-Ball event, followed by '''Trauma''' and '''The Wild Bunch'''.

{| class="wikitable"
|+ August 2014 NZPPL Pro X-Ball event
! Event placing
! Team
|-
| 1
| [[ADHD (paintball team)|ADHD]]
|-
| 2
| Trauma
|-
| 3
| The Wild Bunch
|-
| 4
| Kamikaze Knights
|-
| 5
| Low Gear
|-
| 6
| Mischief Militia
|}

The PBLeagues season table also records several teams as having moved divisions, affecting their positions in the published season rankings.[4]

==== International Pacific Championship ====

The final recorded event of the 2014 NZPPL season was the '''International Pacific Championship''', held on '''25–26 October 2014''' in Auckland.

The event took place at Asylum Paintball and included teams from New Zealand, Australia and French Polynesia.

The Division 1 X-Ball competition was won by '''Trauma''', with '''Legacy NZ''' second and '''Kamikaze Knights''' third.

'''Phoenix Tahiti''' of French Polynesia finished fourth, while Australia's '''South East Cartel''' finished fifth.[4]

{| class="wikitable"
|+ 2014 NZPPL International Pacific Championship – Division 1 X-Ball
! Position
! Team
! Country
|-
| 1
| Trauma
| New Zealand
|-
| 2
| Legacy NZ
| New Zealand
|-
| 3
| Kamikaze Knights
| New Zealand
|-
| 4
| [[Phoenix Tahiti]]
| French Polynesia
|-
| 5
| South East Cartel
| Australia
|-
| 6
| Low Gear
| New Zealand
|-
| 7
| Mischief Militia
| New Zealand
|-
| 8
| CamoMeat
| New Zealand
|}

The tournament was among the documented international competitive paintball events hosted in New Zealand during the early 2010s.

The participation of teams from French Polynesia and Australia connected the domestic New Zealand tournament circuit with the wider Asia-Pacific paintball community.

== Competition formats ==

The NZPPL operated several forms of tournament paintball during its documented seasons.

=== X-Ball ===

X-Ball is a tournament paintball format in which teams compete in timed matches, with multiple points played to determine the result.

The NZPPL's 2014 season included Pro X-Ball and Division 1 X-Ball competitions.

Teams used tournament equipment and inflatable-bunker playing fields.

The format was similar to those used in contemporary international tournament leagues.

=== RaceTo competitions ===

The NZPPL used RaceTo competition formats, in which teams played multiple points within a timed match.

The league's 2014 opening event was advertised as a RaceTo-X competition with a ten-minute game time.[3]

The specific point limit and other regulations depended on the competition division.

=== Mechanical paintball ===

The league also organised a mechanical-marker division.

The April 2014 Paraparaumu event was designated '''Mechanical – Division 1 RaceTo-X''' in PBLeagues.

Mechanical paintball divisions limited players to markers using mechanical firing systems rather than electronic firing controls.

This provided a separate competitive category within the league's event programme.

== Venues ==

NZPPL events took place at several New Zealand paintball venues.

=== Adrenalin Paintball Sports ===

[[Adrenalin Paintball Sports]] hosted the April 2014 NZPPL event at 111 State Highway 1 in Paraparaumu.

The venue provided a tournament location on the Kapiti Coast, serving teams from the Wellington region and elsewhere in New Zealand.

The competition is documented in the PBLeagues event database.[3]

=== Asylum Paintball ===

[[Asylum Paintball]] hosted the final event of the 2013 NZPPL season and events during 2014.

Situated at the former Kingseat Hospital site in Kingseat, Karaka, Asylum provided outdoor inflatable-bunker tournament facilities and additional recreational playing areas.

The venue hosted the August 2014 tournament and the October International Pacific Championship.[2]

Asylum also hosted the separate [[South Auckland Paintball Club]] Race Series.

== Teams ==

The NZPPL attracted competitors from Auckland, Wellington and other parts of New Zealand.

Teams appearing in the league's documented results include:

* ADHD
* CamoMeat
* KC Damage
* Kamikaze Knights
* Legacy NZ
* Low Gear
* Mischief Militia
* The Wild Bunch
* Trauma
* Wellington Vendetta
* X-Fighter$
* X-Fighter$ Fracture

The 2014 International Pacific Championship additionally included:

* Phoenix Tahiti – French Polynesia
* South East Cartel – Australia

The teams competed in different divisions and seasons. Appearance in the league's records does not indicate participation in every event.

== Relationship with other competitions ==

The NZPPL operated alongside other paintball competitions in New Zealand, including the South Auckland Paintball Club Race Series.

The organisations were separate, although both attracted players from the Auckland tournament paintball community and held events at Asylum Paintball.

Teams such as ADHD and CamoMeat participated in NZPPL events as well as SAPC competitions.[5][6]

The NZPPL was also distinct from the original [[National Paintball League (New Zealand)|New Zealand National Paintball League]], which was established in 1997.

The earlier NPL was organised by Ian Southern and Dave Pellet and involved several North Island paintball operators. No organisational continuity between the original NPL and the NZPPL has been established.[7]

== Media coverage ==

The NZPPL received coverage from New Zealand paintball media organisations.

Blacksheep Media, led by Tony Dickson, recorded the 2013 season final at Asylum Paintball.

The resulting video was released in March 2014 and accompanied by a press release distributed through Scoop Independent News.[2]

The video documented tournament play at the venue and included participating teams from the national series.

Tournament schedules and results from the following season were also recorded through PBLeagues, an international paintball competition registration and results platform.

== Online presence ==

The NZPPL maintained an official website at '''nzppl.com'''.

The domain was included in contemporary promotional material and the PBLeagues event database.[1][2]

PBLeagues preserved the league's 2014 event calendar and several sets of division standings. These records document individual events, team placements and ranking points.

The surviving archive provides evidence of NZPPL activity during 2013 and 2014, although the league's subsequent operating history has not been established.

== See also ==

* [[History of paintball in New Zealand]]
* [[Paintball in New Zealand]]
* [[South Auckland Paintball Club]]
* [[Asylum Paintball]]
* [[Adrenalin Paintball Sports]]
* [[ADHD (paintball team)]]
* [[Phoenix Tahiti]]
* [[National Paintball League (New Zealand)]]

== References ==

# [https://pbleagues.com/leagues/267 New Zealand Paintball Players League – League Event Archive]. ''PBLeagues''. Event calendar and results for 2014.
# [https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1403/S00280/blacksheep-media-release-2013-nzppl-video.htm Blacksheep Media Release 2013 NZPPL Video]. ''Scoop Independent News'', 16 March 2014.
# [https://pbleagues.com/event/3346 NZPPL Race 2 Event 1]. ''PBLeagues'', 12–13 April 2014. Paraparaumu event details and competition format.
# [https://pbleagues.com/league/267/seasonRankings/2014 New Zealand Paintball Players League – 2014 Season Rankings]. ''PBLeagues''.
# [https://pbleagues.com/team/OsP8T5RKxmUCKT9A ADHD – Team Event History]. ''PBLeagues''.
# [https://pbleagues.com/team/i1OStLFsJdZpG67W CamoMeat – Team Event History]. ''PBLeagues''.
# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/Rules/Leagues/NPLIntro.htm The Rise and Fall of the New Zealand National Paintball League]. ''Mercenaries Star''. History of the original 1997 NPL.

== External links ==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.nzppl.com/ NZPPL – archived official website]
* [https://pbleagues.com/leagues/267 NZPPL – PBLeagues event archive]
* [https://pbleagues.com/league/267/seasonRankings/2014 NZPPL – 2014 season standings]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykou3SjP0vQ 2013 NZPPL final – Blacksheep Media video]
* [https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU1403/S00280/blacksheep-media-release-2013-nzppl-video.htm 2013 season final press release]

[[Category:New Zealand paintball leagues]]
[[Category:New Zealand paintball history]]
[[Category:Paintball tournaments in New Zealand]]
[[Category:2010s in paintball]]