Rik Goldsworthy

Rik Goldsworthy is a New Zealand tournament paintball player and former captain of Team Saints, one of New Zealand's established competitive paintball teams during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Goldsworthy captained Saints during a period in which the team competed in national tournaments and expanded into international competition, including the 2004 NPPL Huntington Beach Open in California, United States.

His involvement is documented in contemporary New Zealand tournament records and an April 2004 interview conducted by Rob Maddox for Paintball.co.nz.

Paintball career

Team Saints

Goldsworthy was a member and captain of Team Saints, a New Zealand tournament paintball organisation active during the 1990s and 2000s.

Saints participated in major domestic tournaments including the New Zealand Nationals, Northland Open, South Pacific Championships and Wellington Cup.

The team competed in multiple formats, including five-player and seven-player tournament paintball.

Saints also operated several squads, including Saints Gold and Saints Black.

The historical Valhalla national rankings system recorded Saints Gold as the leading New Zealand team in 1998 and 2000.

The 2001 Valhalla rankings identified Saints Gold as the national seven-player ranking champion, with the team also finishing second in the five-player rankings.

These rankings represented combined results from multiple tournaments rather than individual national championship titles. [1][2][3]

International competition

In March 2004, Goldsworthy travelled with Team Saints to the United States to compete at the 2004 NPPL Huntington Beach Open.

The tournament was part of the National Professional Paintball League (NPPL) Super 7 series and was held in Huntington Beach, California, from 19 to 21 March.

Saints won three of their eight games.

The competition represented an opportunity for the New Zealand team to play against international opposition using professional tournament equipment and field layouts.

In an April 2004 interview with Rob Maddox, Goldsworthy discussed the team's experience in Huntington Beach and described it as his best tournament experience.

He also explained that the travelling team roster had been influenced by the financial ability of individual players to participate.

At the time of the interview, Goldsworthy expressed an interest in returning to the event in 2005. Whether that proposed return took place has not been established. [4]

Team development

In the April 2004 interview, Goldsworthy discussed efforts to rebuild Team Saints and develop younger competitive paintball players.

The team was working toward maintaining two competitive squads, providing opportunities for newer players alongside established tournament competitors.

Goldsworthy also discussed the importance of practising on international tournament layouts as New Zealand teams sought to improve their competitiveness overseas.

The interview provides contemporary evidence of the challenges faced by New Zealand tournament teams, particularly the costs of international travel and the limited opportunities for exposure to overseas competition. [4]

Historical significance

Goldsworthy's involvement with Team Saints coincided with a period of development in New Zealand tournament paintball.

During the late 1990s and early 2000s, New Zealand teams competed in independently organised regional tournaments, national championships and international competitions.

Saints was among the leading teams of the period, as recorded by the Valhalla national rankings archive.

The team's 2004 participation at Huntington Beach also forms part of the documented history of New Zealand teams competing in major international speedball tournaments.

See also

• Team Saints
• Paintball in New Zealand
• Paintball tournaments in New Zealand
• New Zealand Nationals
• National Professional Paintball League
• NPPL Huntington Beach Open
• New Zealand paintball personalities

References

1. Mercenaries Star, Valhalla 1998 National Rankings. Records Saints Gold in first place.
2. Mercenaries Star, Valhalla 2000 National Rankings. Records Saints Gold as the leading team.
3. Mercenaries Star, Valhalla 2001 National Rankings. Records Saints Gold as seven-player ranking champions.
4. Rob Maddox, "Interview with Rik Goldsworthy", Paintball.co.nz, April 2004. Interview conducted during Wellington X-Cess 2004. Historical transcript preserved from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine; original article URL not yet recovered.
5. Mercenaries Star, Valhalla Ranking Methodology. Explains tournament scoring and separate Saints squads.

External links

• Mercenaries Star historical archive