Wellington Hybrid (New Zealand Paintball

Wellington Hybrid was a competitive paintball team and club based in Wellington, New Zealand. First documented in September 2004, Hybrid competed in New Zealand and represented the country during the inaugural season of the Australian X-Ball League (AXL) in 2005. The team won the second AXL round at Fox Studios in Sydney, finished eighth at the 2005 Sydney Masters and remained active in New Zealand competition until at least 2012.[1][6][9][18][19]

The shortened tournament name Hybrid, where it appears in Australian or New Zealand competition records, refers to Wellington Hybrid. Martin Dannefaerd ran the team and was identified in contemporary material as its captain and manager.[3][4]

History

Formation

The earliest recovered contemporary record of Hybrid is an official website announcement dated 5 September 2004. The post introduced “Team Hybrid” as a newly organised team and described it as “the new team on the block”.[1] This establishes that the team existed by September 2004, but does not provide a precise founding date.

The announcement was signed “Marty”, referring to Martin Dannefaerd. Dannefaerd subsequently appeared as the team's captain, manager and author of its official announcements.[1][3][4]

Hybrid's original website was hosted at `hybrid.wpsa.org.nz/hybrid/`. It contained sections for the team, members, results, sponsors, paintball information and an image gallery. The site offered sponsorship packs and used `hybrid@wpsa.org.nz` as its contact address.[1]

By December 2004, the site had been rebuilt at `hybrid.wpsa.org.nz`. Matt Wong published a welcome message describing it as the future online home of the “New Zealand Hybrid Paintball team”.[2] The organisation subsequently used `hybrid.org.nz`, while contemporary forum signatures and tournament material used the name Wellington Hybrid.[7][17]

An industry profile published in March 2005 described Hybrid as bringing together players from several established New Zealand teams and Wellington's informal Sunday Club.[3] This does not establish that those earlier teams formally merged into Hybrid.

2004 competition

The 2005 industry profile reported that Wellington Hybrid concluded the 2004 New Zealand series in fourth place.[3]

The profile also referred to results obtained during 2004 by the teams from which Hybrid's players had been drawn. Those earlier results are not treated as Hybrid results unless the team competed under the Hybrid name.

2005 New Zealand season

Hybrid finished second at the Wellington Easter tournament in 2005, earning 46 national ranking points. Saints finished first with 50 points, Menace third with 43 and HSR fourth with 40.[17]

Hybrid did not attend the subsequent Kumeu event, while a proposed Rotorua round was cancelled. The published season calculation therefore placed Saints first with 93 points and Hybrid second with 46.[17] These were calculated national rankings, rather than a second-place finish at every event in the series.

In September 2005, Wellington Hybrid announced plans to organise and referee a seven-player Labour Weekend tournament after the cancellation of Rotorua 2005. A later update listed Hybrid, Cynical, Evil and an unnamed TAG team as prospective entrants.[20] The surviving discussion does not contain results or conclusive evidence that the proposed tournament was completed, so it is not included in the team's confirmed tournament record.

Australian X-Ball League

Hybrid prepared during late 2004 to accept New Zealand's place in the inaugural Australian X-Ball League. An early website item by Dannefaerd discussed the teams announced for the following season.[2]

On 5 January 2005, Dannefaerd announced that Hybrid's playing lines had been selected for the opening AXL event at Rockhampton, Queensland. Separate website articles covered the event schedule and field layout.[4]

Following the Rockhampton round in February, Hybrid reported that it was running second in the AXL series. The surviving front page links to complete results and standings, but does not preserve the individual match results.[4] Contemporary photographs provide additional evidence of Hybrid's participation.[5]

At the second AXL round, held at Fox Studios in Sydney in May 2005, Wellington Hybrid finished first.[6]

In September, Hybrid confirmed that it intended to contest the final Sydney-area AXL round. A website countdown placed the event on 8 October 2005, while contemporary photographs identify the venue as Mount White, New South Wales.[7][8] The available evidence confirms participation but does not establish Hybrid's final placing at that round.

Sydney Masters

On 6 September 2005, Hybrid confirmed its entry in the Australian Masters in Sydney that November. The tournament was hosted by Action Paintball and included the American professional team Infamous.[7]

Wellington Hybrid reached the quarter-finals and finished eighth. Infamous won the tournament, while the Auckland team Menace finished second.[9][10]

A photographic collection maintained by Matt Wong also documents Hybrid's participation at the Sydney Masters in November 2006. A final placing has not been established from the surviving material.[14]

Training and club development

Hybrid conducted a training session in Rotorua in January 2005.[16] Photographs show participants wearing jerseys associated with several earlier teams. The jerseys do not establish that every represented team merged into Hybrid or that every person pictured formed part of a tournament roster.

By August 2005, Hybrid was using both indoor and outdoor training facilities. On 21 August, it announced that it had obtained an outdoor training ground on a soccer field for tournament practice.[7]

In January 2006, the team announced that it was using an indoor facility at the Daytona indoor go-kart centre in Petone, provided by TAG Paintball.[11]

By February 2006, the organisation styled itself Wellington Hybrid Incorporated and operated both a competitive team and a wider paintball club. Its website contained separate sections for the team, club, sponsors, schedule, results and youth development.[11]

On 2 February 2006, Hybrid announced the appointment of Nigel Le Grice as Youth Development Manager. The resulting Young Gunz programme was intended to provide secondary-school students with an organised route into paintball.[11]

A contemporary forum announcement for the proposed 2005 Labour Weekend tournament identified Ants as Hybrid's coach.[20]

Wellington Easter 2006

A payment-status list published on 1 March 2006 recorded separate entries named Hybrid 1 and Hybrid 2 for the Wellington Easter tournament.[21] These were two squads entered by Wellington Hybrid rather than unrelated teams.

A later discussion described Hybrid as having finished tenth at the event, but the recovered material does not contain a complete official result table. The tenth-place result should therefore be treated as a contemporary participant report rather than a fully verified official placing.[17]

Later New Zealand competition

At the 2011 Queen's Birthday tournament in Rotorua, Hybrid scored 812 points in the published preliminary table and finished second in the Cup. Disposal Unit won, with Arachnids third and Expendables fourth.[18]

Hybrid was reported in fourth place at the NZPPL Super 5 Man Auckland Event 1, held at Lock N Load Paintball on 7–8 April 2012.[19] The placing was posted by a participant with the qualification “if I am not mistaken”; no contradictory result was found in the surviving discussion, but it is not an official result sheet.

Martin Dannefaerd advertised for players in November 2011 with the intention of developing a second Wellington team alongside Hybrid. The proposal mentioned support from TAG Paintball, but the surviving notice does not establish that the second team was formed, named or entered in competition.[22]

Tournament results

Year	Competition	Location	Recorded result
2004	New Zealand series	New Zealand	4th in the series, as reported in Hybrid's 2005 industry profile[3]
2005	Wellington Easter tournament	Wellington, New Zealand	2nd; 46 national ranking points[17]
2005	Australian X-Ball League, round 1	Rockhampton, Queensland	Participation confirmed; Hybrid reported itself second in the series after the round[4][5]
2005	Australian X-Ball League, round 2	Fox Studios, Sydney	1st[6]
2005	Australian X-Ball League, final Sydney-area round	Mount White, New South Wales	Participation confirmed; final placing not established[7][8]
2005	Sydney Masters	Sydney, New South Wales	8th; quarter-finalist[9]
2006	Wellington Easter tournament	Wellington, New Zealand	Hybrid 1 and Hybrid 2 entered; tenth place reported for Hybrid, official result table not recovered[17][21]
2006	Sydney Masters	Sydney, New South Wales	Participation confirmed; final placing not established[14]
2011	Queen's Birthday tournament	Rotorua, New Zealand	2nd in the Cup; 812 preliminary points[18]
2012	NZPPL Super 5 Man Auckland Event 1	Lock N Load Paintball, Auckland	Reported 4th; participant-reported placing[19]

Big Boys Toys 2006

The third-place Professional division team at the 2006 Big Boys Toys tournament was Wellington Vendetta, not a separate Wellington Hybrid entry. Vendetta included former or associated Hybrid players, but its placing should not be recorded as a Wellington Hybrid result.[23]

Players and personnel

The following people are identified in contemporary Hybrid material, photographic archives or associated forum records:

• Martin Dannefaerd – ran the team; identified as captain and manager and wrote official team announcements.[3][4]
• Matt Wong (Stick) – player and contributor to the team's website and photographic record.[2][6]
• Chris Rosedale (Rosey) – Hybrid middle player; contemporary forum signatures also associate him with Insane, Wellington Vendetta, Arachnids and Wellington Phoenix.[20][24]
• Jono Clark – identified in the team's historical record.
• Ryan Pike – identified in contemporary photographs.
• Simon Galt (Big Sy) – identified in contemporary photographs.
• Josh Bailey – identified in contemporary team photographs.
• Peter Hamilton – identified in contemporary team photographs.
• Mike Rule (Krazy Mike) – publicly identified himself with Wellington Hybrid while publishing the 2011 Rotorua results.[18]
• Nigel Le Grice – Youth Development Manager from February 2006.[11]
• Ants – identified as Hybrid's coach in the 2005 Labour Weekend tournament announcement.[20]

A 2005 three-player result discussion congratulated Hybrid players Nige, Darren and Rosey. The evidence supports those names for that particular entry but does not establish their surnames or a complete team roster.[24]

People attending Hybrid training sessions were not necessarily members of its tournament roster.

Relationship with Wellington Phoenix and Wellington Vendetta

In a 2010 recruitment notice, Chris Rosedale, posting as Rosey, stated that some remaining Wellington Phoenix players joined Wellington Hybrid in 2005 and travelled to Australia for X-Ball.[25] This documents player movement but does not establish that Phoenix and Hybrid were the same team.

Several Hybrid-associated players later appeared with Wellington Vendetta. Tournament results recorded under Wellington Vendetta remain Vendetta results unless the contemporary event record explicitly used the Hybrid name.

Equipment and sponsorship

Following the opening 2005 AXL round, Hybrid credited SYN USA with supplying its playing jerseys. The report stated that the jerseys were produced and delivered in time for the Australian campaign.[4]

Visible equipment in photographs does not by itself establish a formal team-wide sponsorship arrangement.

See also

• Australian X-Ball League
• Wellington Phoenix (New Zealand Paintball Team)
• Wellington Vendetta (New Zealand Paintball Team)
• Martin Dannefaerd
• Matt Wong
• New Zealand Paintball Players Association
• New Zealand Paintball Players League
• Paintball in New Zealand
• Paintball teams in New Zealand

References

1. Wellington Hybrid original website, archived 27 September 2004. Includes the 5 September 2004 introduction of Team Hybrid.
2. Wellington Hybrid official website, archived 16 December 2004. Includes Matt Wong's welcome message and Martin Dannefaerd's early AXL announcement.
3. Wellington Hybrid industry profile, Flickr, uploaded 2 March 2005.
4. Wellington Hybrid official website, archived 18 March 2005. Includes announcements concerning the Rockhampton roster, the opening AXL round and team equipment.
5. Rockhampton 2005, Wellington Hybrid Flickr archive.
6. Fox Studios, Wellington Hybrid Flickr archive. Documents the AXL round-two victory.
7. Wellington Hybrid official website, archived 13 September 2005.
8. Australian X-Ball League at Mount White, Flickr, 2005.
9. Masters 2005, Wellington Hybrid Flickr archive. Records the team's eighth-place result.
10. Wellington Hybrid official website, archived 30 December 2005.
11. Wellington Hybrid official website, archived 18 February 2006. Includes Young Gunz, Nigel Le Grice's appointment and the Petone indoor facility.
12. Kaiwharawhara, February 2006, Flickr.
13. Big Boys Toys 2006 photographs, Wellington Hybrid Flickr archive. The album documents associated participants but does not supersede the event result naming Wellington Vendetta.
14. Sydney Masters, November 2006, Flickr collection maintained by Matt Wong.
15. Easter 2007 tournament, Flickr. The album reports a first-place result without identifying the winning team.
16. Wellington Hybrid training in Rotorua, Flickr, January 2005.
17. Rankings, NZ P8NT. Contemporary discussion containing the 2005 New Zealand ranking calculation and a report of Hybrid's 2006 Wellington Easter placing.
18. Scores from Rotorua, NZ P8NT, June 2011. Includes the tournament score table and final placings.
19. NZPPL Event 1 2012 Auckland, NZ P8NT, April 2012. Contains the qualified participant-reported placings.
20. Labour Weekend Hybrid Tournament, NZ P8NT, September–October 2005.
21. Wellington Easter tournament discussions, NZ P8NT archive index. Includes the surviving Hybrid 1 and Hybrid 2 entry discussions.
22. Wellington team recruitment discussion, NZ P8NT, November 2011.
23. 2006 Big Boys Toys Paintball Tournament. Published Professional division standings naming Wellington Vendetta in third place.
24. Three-player tournament results, NZ P8NT, 2005.
25. Team Phoenix — looking for players, NZ P8NT, 15 December 2010.

External links

• Wellington Hybrid historical Flickr albums
• Wellington Hybrid 2005 industry profile
• Archived Wellington Hybrid website, February 2006