Wellington Hybrid (New Zealand Paintball

Wellington Hybrid was a competitive paintball team based in Wellington, New Zealand. Founded by Martin Dannefaerd, the team competed domestically and represented New Zealand in the inaugural season of the Australian X-Ball League (AXL) in 2005. Wellington Hybrid won the second AXL round at Fox Studios in Sydney and later finished eighth at the 2005 Sydney Masters.[1][2][3]

History

Formation and 2004 season

Wellington Hybrid brought together players from several New Zealand teams. Its contemporary industry profile described the squad as a combination of leading teams and players, with experience drawn partly from Wellington's informal Sunday Club.[1]

The profile stated that the teams from which Hybrid was formed had each finished among the top four at the major events they entered during 2004. It also reported that Wellington Hybrid concluded the 2004 New Zealand series in fourth place.[1] This wording does not establish that Hybrid itself contested every major event in 2004, or that all of the cited placings were achieved under the Wellington Hybrid name.

The profile identified founder Martin Dannefaerd as the team's captain and manager. Wellington Hybrid used the website `www.hybrid.org.nz`.[1]

2005 programme

Wellington Hybrid's 2005 industry profile described plans for both Australian X-Ball and the New Zealand seven-player tournament series. The stated objective was to challenge for the inaugural AXL season and establish the team among the leading sides in New Zealand.[1] These were contemporary ambitions rather than records of completed results.

The profile reported that Wellington Hybrid had accepted the sole New Zealand place in the inaugural AXL. After the opening round, it described the team as running second in the series and listed forthcoming rounds at Fox Studios in Sydney and the Gravity Games in Perth.[1]

The team's preparation included a training session in Rotorua in January 2005. Photographs from the session show participants wearing jerseys from several earlier teams; those jerseys do not, by themselves, establish that the represented teams merged into Wellington Hybrid.[4]

Australian competition

Wellington Hybrid competed in the Australian X-Ball League during 2005. Contemporary photographic albums document appearances at Rockhampton, Fox Studios and Mount White.[2][5][6]

At the second AXL round, held at Fox Studios in Sydney in May 2005, Wellington Hybrid finished first.[2] This was the team's best documented AXL event result.

The team also competed at the 2005 Sydney Masters, where it finished eighth after reaching the quarter-finals.[3]

Year	Competition	Location	Result
2005	Australian X-Ball League, round 1	Rockhampton, Queensland	Participation documented; the contemporary industry profile reported the team running second in the series after the opening round.[1][5]
2005	Australian X-Ball League, round 2	Fox Studios, Sydney	1st[2]
2005	Australian X-Ball League, round 4	Mount White, New South Wales	Participation documented[6]
2005	Sydney Masters	Sydney, New South Wales	8th; quarter-finalists[3]

Later activity

Photographs from Kaiwharawhara in February 2006 have been identified as showing Wellington Hybrid training in Wellington, although the Flickr album itself does not name the team.[7]

Wellington Hybrid competed at the Big Boys Toys paintball event in Auckland in November 2006, finishing third.[8] Photographs taken by Matt Wong also document the team's participation at the Sydney Masters in November 2006.[9]

A separate album from Easter 2007 describes a first-place tournament result, but its surviving title and description do not identify the winning team. The result therefore cannot be attributed to Wellington Hybrid without further evidence.[10]

Players and personnel

The following people are identified in Wellington Hybrid's contemporary profile or photographic archives:

Martin Dannefaerd – founder, captain and manager.[1]
Jono Clark – player.
Ryan Pike – player.
Matt Wong, also known as Stick – player and photographer.
Simon Galt, also known as Big Sy – player.
Josh Bailey – identified in contemporary team photographs.
Pete Hamilton – identified in contemporary team photographs.

The photographic archives contain further first names, nicknames and people wearing Wellington Hybrid clothing, but these have not been included as confirmed players where their full identities or roles remain uncertain. People attending training sessions were not necessarily members of the tournament roster.

Historical record

Much of Wellington Hybrid's surviving history is preserved in Flickr collections maintained by the team and participants. These include the team's own event albums, Dannefaerd's 2005 industry profile and photographs maintained by Wong under the account name `spinner`.[1][2][3][9]

The industry profile is a contemporary promotional document. It provides direct evidence of the team's organisation, plans and self-reported position at the beginning of 2005, but its statements of future objectives should be distinguished from the results subsequently documented in event albums.

References

Wellington Hybrid industry profile, Flickr. Contemporary team profile uploaded by Martin Dannefaerd, 2 March 2005.
Fox Studios, Wellington Hybrid Flickr archive. Australian X-Ball League round 2 photographs and first-place result, May 2005.
Masters 2005, Wellington Hybrid Flickr archive. Sydney Masters photographs and eighth-place result.
Wellington Hybrid training, Rotorua, Flickr. Photographs from January 2005.
Rockhampton 2005, Wellington Hybrid Flickr archive. Australian X-Ball League round 1 photographs.
Australian X-Ball League round 4, Mount White, Flickr. Photographs from 2005.
Kaiwharawhara, February 2006, Flickr. Photographic collection by Ants and Di.
Big Boys Toys 2006, Wellington Hybrid Flickr archive. Auckland event photographs and third-place result.
Sydney Masters, November 2006, Flickr. Photographic collection by Matt Wong.
Easter 2007 tournament, Flickr. Album by Matt Wong reporting a first-place result without identifying the team.

External links