Syrian Suicide Squad (New Zealand Paintball Team): Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 05:19, 26 October 2026

Syrian Suicide Squad (SSS) was an Auckland-based New Zealand tournament paintball team active during the 1990s. The team competed at the 1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals and adopted the name Phoenix for the beginning of the 1998 season.[1][2]

The Auckland Phoenix that succeeded Syrian Suicide Squad was entirely separate from Wellington Phoenix, which developed independently in Wellington.[1]

History

Syrian Suicide Squad

Syrian Suicide Squad competed at the 1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals, held on 25–26 October at Actions Paintball in Te Atatū, Auckland. The team finished ninth overall and fifth in Division Two with 422 points.[2]

The team also finished ninth in the retrospectively compiled 1997 Valhalla National Rankings, with a ranking score of 38. The ranking score was a calculated seasonal value and was separate from the team's Nationals tournament points.[3]

Neil Harris later described himself as having managed or co-managed Syrian Suicide Squad for seven years. His profile is undated, so that statement does not establish a precise management period or the team's exact formation date.[4]

Auckland Phoenix

The team's Phoenix website announced a new team name and a new website for the beginning of 1998. It identified Phoenix as an Auckland paintball team and linked directly to the former Syrian Suicide Squad pages.[1]

The announcement stated that an explanation of the name change would be published later, but the surviving page does not provide that explanation.[1]

Phoenix entered the 1998 National Paintball League Division Two competition. The league list identified Dave Armstrong as team manager. The surviving results recorded 16 league points for Phoenix but did not provide a final placing.[5][6]

Neil Harris's later profile identified him as a former Phoenix member who subsequently played as a guest for other teams. In context, this refers to the Auckland Phoenix associated with Syrian Suicide Squad, not the separate Wellington team.[4]

Players and team personnel

Name	Documented association
Neil Harris	Reported managing or co-managing Syrian Suicide Squad; later a former Auckland Phoenix member[4]
Dirk Koornneef	Longstanding Syrian Suicide Squad member[7]
Dave Armstrong	Manager of the Phoenix entry in the 1998 NPL Division Two team list[5]

These records do not constitute a complete playing roster. Harris's reported management period should not be converted into exact team operating dates, and the available sources do not establish that every named person played at the same event.

Team identity

The archived Phoenix website directly documents the change from Syrian Suicide Squad to Phoenix and identifies the renamed team as Auckland-based.[1]

The Auckland team must not be confused with Wellington Phoenix. The Wellington organisation has its own history, tournament results and player group, and no organisational connection with Syrian Suicide Squad or Auckland Phoenix has been established.

Unqualified tournament records using only the name Phoenix should be assigned to either team only when their date, location, roster or source context establishes the identity.

Recorded results

Year	Name used	Competition or ranking	Result
1997	Syrian Suicide Squad	1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals	9th overall; 5th in Division Two; 422 points[2]
1997	Syrian Suicide Squad	Valhalla National Rankings	9th; ranking score 38[3]
1998	Phoenix	National Paintball League Division Two	16 league points; final placing not supplied[5][6]

Team websites

Syrian Suicide Squad maintained a website at homepages.ihug.co.nz/~subby. The Auckland Phoenix website continued linking to those pages after announcing the change of name.[1]

The renamed team used phoenix.org.nz.[1]

References

External links

Archived Auckland Phoenix website

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+'''Syrian Suicide Squad''' ('''SSS''') was an Auckland-based New Zealand tournament [[paintball]] team active during the 1990s. The team competed at the 1997 [[New Zealand Paintball Nationals]] and adopted the name '''Phoenix''' for the beginning of the 1998 season.[1][2]
-'''Syrian Suicide Squad''' ('''SSS''') was an Auckland-based amateur [[paintball]] team active in New Zealand during the 1990s. The team participated in regional paintball activities and the [[New Zealand Paintball Nationals]], with its results appearing in contemporary tournament records and the [[Valhalla National Rankings]].[1][2]
+The Auckland Phoenix that succeeded Syrian Suicide Squad was entirely separate from [[Wellington Phoenix]], which developed independently in Wellington.[1]
 == History ==
-Syrian Suicide Squad was part of Auckland's competitive paintball community during the 1990s.
+=== Syrian Suicide Squad ===
-Paintball writer [[Neil Harris|Neil M. Harris]] described Syrian Suicide Squad as a well-known Auckland amateur team in his article ''The Lone Gunman: Memoir of a Big Day Out''. The account mentions the team's presence at a paintball gathering held at [[Splat Attack Paintball]] in Silverdale on 25 April, although the event year has not been conclusively established.[1]
+Syrian Suicide Squad competed at the 1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals, held on 25–26 October at Actions Paintball in Te Atatū, Auckland. The team finished ninth overall and fifth in Division Two with 422 points.[2]
-The team also competed in organised tournaments during the period when New Zealand's competitive paintball scene was developing its national league structure.
+The team also finished ninth in the retrospectively compiled 1997 [[Valhalla National Rankings]], with a ranking score of 38. The ranking score was a calculated seasonal value and was separate from the team's Nationals tournament points.[3]
-=== 1997 New Zealand Nationals ===
+Neil Harris later described himself as having managed or co-managed Syrian Suicide Squad for seven years. His profile is undated, so that statement does not establish a precise management period or the team's exact formation date.[4]
-Syrian Suicide Squad competed at the 1997 [[New Zealand Paintball Nationals]], held on 25–26 October at [[Actions Paintball Sports Arena]] in Te Atatū, Auckland.
+=== Auckland Phoenix ===
-The tournament featured 11 teams competing in a five-player centre-flag format.
+The team's Phoenix website announced a new team name and a new website for the beginning of 1998. It identified Phoenix as an Auckland paintball team and linked directly to the former Syrian Suicide Squad pages.[1]
-According to the contemporary tournament results documented by [[Rob Maddox]], Syrian Suicide Squad finished ninth overall with 422 points.[2]
+The announcement stated that an explanation of the name change would be published later, but the surviving page does not provide that explanation.[1]
-The team also appears in the retrospective 1997 standings preserved by the [[Valhalla National Rankings]] database.[3]
+Phoenix entered the 1998 National Paintball League Division Two competition. The league list identified Dave Armstrong as team manager. The surviving results recorded 16 league points for Phoenix but did not provide a final placing.[5][6]
-=== 1999 Re-organisation and Reformation===
+Neil Harris's later profile identified him as a former Phoenix member who subsequently played as a guest for other teams. In context, this refers to the Auckland Phoenix associated with Syrian Suicide Squad, not the separate Wellington team.[4]
-The SSS was finally folded in 1998, when the team made the decision to go Semi-professional.  The team was offered sponsyrship by Kyn 'Action' Jackson and David Pellet.  Not all of the team were keen to go professional and some members dropped out (Tim and Jakie Coates), and some new members joined.  The sponsorship came with strings.  The name was deemed too close to offensive, and the team was re-formed as Phoenix.  This should not be confused with the Wellington based 'Team Phoenix" formed in 1999.
-== Players ==
+== Players and team personnel ==
-'''Neil M. Harris''' founded the Syrian Suicide Squad with Tim Coates and Dirk Koorrneef.  has been identified through retrospective participant testimony as a member of Syrian Suicide Squad.
+{| class="wikitable"
+! Name
+! Documented association
+|-
+| Neil Harris
+| Reported managing or co-managing Syrian Suicide Squad; later a former Auckland Phoenix member[4]
+|-
+| Dirk Koornneef
+| Longstanding Syrian Suicide Squad member[7]
+|-
+| Dave Armstrong
+| Manager of the Phoenix entry in the 1998 NPL Division Two team list[5]
+|}
-Harris was also associated with [[Mercenaries Star]], an early New Zealand paintball information website that preserved tournament results, rankings, calendars and historical records.[4]
+These records do not constitute a complete playing roster. Harris's reported management period should not be converted into exact team operating dates, and the available sources do not establish that every named person played at the same event.
-'''Patrick DiCamillo'''
+== Team identity ==
-'''David Armstrong'''
+The archived Phoenix website directly documents the change from Syrian Suicide Squad to Phoenix and identifies the renamed team as Auckland-based.[1]
-'''Kelvin Geen'''
+The Auckland team must not be confused with Wellington Phoenix. The Wellington organisation has its own history, tournament results and player group, and no organisational connection with Syrian Suicide Squad or Auckland Phoenix has been established.
-'''Kirk Koornneef'''
+Unqualified tournament records using only the name ''Phoenix'' should be assigned to either team only when their date, location, roster or source context establishes the identity.
-'''Matt'''
+== Recorded results ==
-'''Tim Coates'''
+{| class="wikitable sortable"
+! Year
+! Name used
+! Competition or ranking
+! Result
+|-
+| 1997
+| Syrian Suicide Squad
+| [[1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals]]
+| 9th overall; 5th in Division Two; 422 points[2]
+|-
+| 1997
+| Syrian Suicide Squad
+| [[Valhalla National Rankings]]
+| 9th; ranking score 38[3]
+|-
+| 1998
+| Phoenix
+| National Paintball League Division Two
+| 16 league points; final placing not supplied[5][6]
+|}
-'''Jackie Coates'''
+== Team websites ==
-== Later history ==
+Syrian Suicide Squad maintained a website at ''homepages.ihug.co.nz/~subby''. The Auckland Phoenix website continued linking to those pages after announcing the change of name.[1]
-The team's precise establishment date and final period of activity are not documented in the currently available sources. Its involvement beyond the 1990s requires further verification.
+The renamed team used ''phoenix.org.nz''.[1]
 == See also ==
-* [[History of paintball in New Zealand]]
+* [[Wellington Phoenix]]
 * [[New Zealand Paintball Nationals]]
-* [[Mercenaries Star]]
+* [[National Paintball League (New Zealand)]]
 * [[Valhalla National Rankings]]
 == References ==
-# Neil M. Harris, ''The Lone Gunman: Memoir of a Big Day Out'', historical New Zealand paintball account, previously recovered in WikiPaintball research.
+# [https://web.archive.org/web/19981206002013/http://www.phoenix.org.nz/ Team Phoenix, Auckland team homepage. Page last updated 16 March 1998; archived 6 December 1998.]
-# Rob Maddox, ''1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals'', contemporary tournament report originally published through Paintball.co.nz, transcription preserved in WikiPaintball historical research, October 2026.
+# [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://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/VALHALLA/1997Hall.htm Mercenaries Star - Valhalla Hall of Heroes, 1997.]
+# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/VALHALLA/1997Hall.htm Mercenaries Star, ''Valhalla Hall of Heros: 1997''.]
-# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/ Mercenaries Star - Archived New Zealand paintball information website.]
+# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020421081431/http://www.paintball.co.nz/whharris.htm Neil Harris, ''Who's Who of New Zealand Paintball'', undated profile. Archived 21 April 2002.]
+# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020606144228/http://www.paintball.co.nz/div298.htm ''The 1998 “SplatMan” Division 2 League'', compiled by Rob Maddox; 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. Archived 13 June 2002.]
+# [https://web.archive.org/web/19980204164230/http://www.webel.co.nz/whdirk.htm Dirk Koornneef, ''Who's Who of New Zealand Paintball'', undated profile. Archived 4 February 1998.]
 == External links ==
-* [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/VALHALLA/1997Hall.htm Valhalla 1997 national rankings]
+* [https://web.archive.org/web/19981206002013/http://www.phoenix.org.nz/ Archived Auckland Phoenix website]
 [[Category:New Zealand paintball teams]]
-[[Category:New Zealand paintball history]]
 [[Category:Paintball in Auckland]]
+[[Category:1990s in New Zealand paintball]]

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