Comic Relief (New Zealand Paintball Team)

Comic Relief was a New Zealand competitive paintball team based in Wellington, with documented tournament activity from 2001 to 2002. Contemporary forum discussion also shortened the name to Comic.[1][2]

The team competed in the 2001 and 2002 Wellington Cup tournaments and the 2002 Hawke's Bay Triples.[1][3][4]

History

2001 Wellington Cup

Comic Relief's first recovered tournament record is the 2001 Wellington Cup, held at Thunderball Adventure Games in Wellington during August. The five-player centre-flag event attracted ten North Island teams.[1][2]

Comic Relief finished ninth with 152 points. Contemporary forum replies referred to the entry as both Comic and Comic Relief and described it positively as a newcomer team.[1][2]

The October 2001 Valhalla National Rankings placed Comic Relief fourteenth in the five-player standings with 21.7 ranking points, derived from its Wellington Cup result.[5]

A November 2001 team-contact discussion listed Tim Simpson as the contact for Comic Relief.[6] The source does not explicitly identify him as captain.

2002 season

Comic Relief competed at the Hawke's Bay Triples at Stoney Creek Ranch, Hastings, on 2–3 February 2002. Seventeen teams played three-player centre-flag games, with each player limited to 100 paintballs per game.[3]

The team recorded −34 preliminary points and did not advance to the final. The report does not explain the negative total. Comic Relief received the tournament's “Most Stand-Out Team” award.[3]

Later in 2002, Comic Relief returned to the 2002 Wellington Cup at Thunderball Adventure Games. Six teams competed after a scheduled seventh entry did not attend. Comic Relief finished sixth with 104 points.[4]

Relationship with Wellington Phoenix

A former participant recalls that Comic Relief later became connected with Wellington Phoenix. The available contemporary results show that Comic Relief and Phoenix were separate entries at the 2002 Wellington Cup, where Phoenix finished fifth and Comic Relief sixth.[4] The relationship should therefore not be presented as a simple change of name at that time.

The recollection may describe a later movement of Comic Relief players into the existing Phoenix organisation or a later organisational succession. No contemporary source establishing the date, transferred players or precise form of that transition has been recovered.

Documented personnel

Person	Documented association
Tim Simpson	Listed as the Comic Relief contact in November 2001; the source does not establish that he was captain.[6]

Tournament results

Year	Tournament	Format	Result
2001	2001 Wellington Cup	Five-player	9th of 10; 152 points[1]
2002	Hawke's Bay Triples	Three-player	17th in the preliminary table; −34 points; Most Stand-Out Team award[3]
2002	2002 Wellington Cup	Five-player	6th of 6; 104 points[4]

See also

• Wellington Phoenix (paintball team)
• Wellington Cup
• Paintball in New Zealand

References

1. Martin Dannefaerd, The 2001 Wellington Cup, Paintball.co.nz, 2001.
2. Wellington Cup discussion, NZ Paintball Message Forum, June–August 2001.
3. Dazz Marshall, Hawkes Bay 3-Man 2002, Paintball.co.nz, February 2002.
4. Peter Hamilton, Wellington Cup 2002, Paintball.co.nz, August 2002.
5. Valhalla National Rankings, Mercenaries Star, October 2001.
6. Team Captain Contact Details, NZ Paintball Message Forum, November 2001.