Clown Monkeys (New Zealand Paintball Team)

Clown Monkeys was a Christchurch-based New Zealand competitive paintball team documented in New Zealand and Australian tournament competition from 2009 to 2015. Its results included victory at the opening round of the 2012 Australian Super 7s season and runner-up finishes at the 2010 Christchurch Easter tournament, the 2010 Greater Auckland Open, the 2011 Ashburton Cup and the 2015 Auckland Paintball Cup.[2][4][6][7][10]

The separate New Zealand team recorded as Monkeys in 2008 is not treated as Clown Monkeys.

History

New Zealand competition

Clown Monkeys' first confirmed result is from the Christchurch Easter tournament held at Urban Paintball on 11–12 April 2009. The team competed in Division Two and finished fourth with 324 points, behind Assassinz, Mugshot and Team Superbad.[1]

At the Christchurch Easter tournament on 3–4 April 2010, Clown Monkeys competed in Division One and finished second behind SCK Factory. Flashpoint placed third.[2] A subsequently published experimental ranking calculation assigned Clown Monkeys 85 points for the result, but these were proposed ranking points rather than the team's raw tournament score.[2]

Clown Monkeys also reached the final of the Greater Auckland Open at North Shore Paintball in November 2010. The team defeated Convicts in the semifinal before finishing second behind SCK Factory.[3][4] A retrospective report identified eight participating teams and stated that the tournament used a race-to-three format, a 12.5-balls-per-second semi-automatic limit, the 2010 PSP World Cup field layout and a turf playing surface.[3] Derder Productions filmed the tournament, with individual match videos published through a dedicated Vimeo channel.[4]

In April 2011, Clown Monkeys represented Christchurch at Southern Series II in Ashburton. The team finished second in the thirteen-team double round robin with 1,712 points, behind Ashburton Havoc.[5] Clown Monkeys also advanced to the Ashburton Cup final and again finished second to Havoc.[5]

A pre-event list for the 2011 NZPPL Nationals included Clown Monkeys among nineteen intended entries. No complete result confirming the team's final placing has been recovered, so the listing is retained as registration evidence rather than a tournament result.[6]

Australian competition

The official Super 7s results archive records Clown Monkeys in the Semi Pro division at the fourth round of the 2011 Australian series, earning 28 ranking points.[7]

Clown Monkeys won the opening Super 7s round of 2012 on 11–12 February. PBLeagues records first place among eleven teams, using the division label Division 4.[8] The organiser's season archive lists the team in Semi Pro and records 30 points for the opening round, eight for the second and 28 for the third.[7]

PBLeagues records twelfth place at the second round on 19–20 May 2012.[8] Its team history also lists entries for the August third round and November Masters event, without final placings.[8]

Clown Monkeys competed in the Pro division of the 2013 Super 7s series, finishing fourth in the published season standings with 98 points. The team earned ranking points at all four rounds.[7]

In 2014, Clown Monkeys finished eighth in the published Pro standings with 66 points earned at rounds one, two and four.[7] A contemporary report by Sydney SWAT's Dave “Blacky” Black records that Clown Monkeys defeated SWAT during the second round.[9]

2015 Auckland Paintball Cup

Clown Monkeys competed in Open X-Ball at the 2015 Auckland Paintball Cup, held at Asylum Paintball on 7–8 March. The team finished second among seven entries, behind the Australian team Hard2Overcome.[10]

A contemporary account published by DYE records Hard2Overcome defeating Clown Monkeys 4–2 in their opening match and 4–0 in the final.[11]

Sponsorship and media

DYE's account of the 2015 Auckland Paintball Cup identified Clown Monkeys as a DYE-sponsored team.[11]

Clown Monkeys appeared in a segment of The Erin Simpson Show broadcast on 11 May 2012. The programme is catalogued by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision.[12] Planet Eclipse subsequently featured the television appearance on its official blog on 29 June 2012.[13]

Selected results

Date or season	Competition	Division	Result
11–12 April 2009	Christchurch Easter tournament	Division Two	4th; 324 points[1]
3–4 April 2010	Christchurch Easter tournament	Division One	2nd[2]
November 2010	Greater Auckland Open	Open	2nd[3][4]
April 2011	Southern Series II, Ashburton	Open	2nd in round robin; Ashburton Cup runner-up[5]
2011, round 4	Australian Super 7s	Semi Pro	28 ranking points[7]
11–12 February 2012	Australian Super 7s, round 1	Semi Pro; Division 4 in PBLeagues	1st of 11[7][8]
19–20 May 2012	Australian Super 7s, round 2	Semi Pro; Division 4 in PBLeagues	12th[7][8]
2013 season	Australian Super 7s	Pro	4th overall; 98 points[7]
2014 season	Australian Super 7s	Pro	8th overall; 66 points[7]
7–8 March 2015	2015 Auckland Paintball Cup	Open X-Ball	2nd of 7[10][11]

See also

• Paintball in New Zealand
• 2015 Auckland Paintball Cup

References

1. Christchurch Easter 2009 results, NZ Paintball Forum, 13 April 2009.
2. 2010 Season Points and Event Results, NZ Paintball Forum, 4 April 2010.
3. Greater Auckland Open retrospective report, NZ Paintball Forum, 22 November 2010.
4. Derder Productions, Greater Auckland Open video channel, archived 31 August 2011.
5. Southern Series II results, Ashburton, NZ Paintball Forum, April 2011.
6. 2011 NZPPL Nationals team list, NZ Paintball Forum, 15 October 2011.
7. Super 7s Paintball Tournament historical results, including 2011–2014 standings.
8. PBLeagues, Clown Monkeys team profile and tournament history.
9. Dave “Blacky” Black, Super 7s Round 2 Wrap Up!, PaintballShop.com, 2014.
10. PBLeagues, 2015 Auckland Paintball Cup final placings, 7–8 March 2015.
11. DYE Paintball, Asylum Cup – Auckland Trip 2015, 2015.
12. The Erin Simpson Show, series 4, programme 47, Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, broadcast 11 May 2012.
13. Planet Eclipse, Clown Monkeys on TV!!!, 29 June 2012.

External links

• Clown Monkeys on PBLeagues
• Clown Monkeys television appearance — Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision