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

Revision as of 07:38, 24 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 changed its name to Phoenix by early 1998.[1][2]

History

1997 competition

Syrian Suicide Squad competed at the 1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals, held on 25–26 October at Actions Paintball in Te Atatū, Auckland. A contemporary tournament report by Rob Maddox records the team finishing ninth with 422 points.[2]

The team also ranked ninth in the retrospectively compiled 1997 Valhalla National Rankings, with a ranking score of 38. This was separate from its Nationals tournament score.[3]

Change of name

The team's Phoenix website, last updated on 16 March 1998, announced a new name and a new website for the start of 1998. It identified Phoenix as an Auckland paintball team and linked directly to the former Syrian Suicide Squad website.[1]

The announcement stated that an explanation of the name change would be added later, but did not itself give the reason.[1]

Recorded results

Year	Competition or ranking	Position	Score	Source
1997	New Zealand Paintball Nationals	9th	422 tournament points	[2]
1997	Valhalla National Rankings	9th	38 ranking points	[3]

Team websites

Syrian Suicide Squad maintained a website at homepages.ihug.co.nz/~subby. The Phoenix website continued to link to those pages after announcing the team's new name in 1998.[1]

Phoenix's new website used the address phoenix.org.nz.[1]

References

Team Phoenix — homepage. Page last updated 16 March 1998; Internet Archive capture dated 6 December 1998. Identifies Phoenix as an Auckland paintball team, announces the name change and links to the former Syrian Suicide Squad website.
Rob Maddox, “1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals”, Paintball.co.nz, October 1997. Contemporary tournament report recording Syrian Suicide Squad ninth with 422 points; direct archived article URL not recovered.
Mercenaries Star — Valhalla Hall of Heros: 1997. Lists Syrian Suicide Squad ninth with a ranking score of 38. Archived GeoCities page preserved by OoCities.

External links

Archived Phoenix team website

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+'''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 changed its name to '''Phoenix''' by early 1998.[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]
 == History ==
-Syrian Suicide Squad was part of Auckland's competitive paintball community during the 1990s.
+=== 1997 competition ===
-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]
-The team also competed in organised tournaments during the period when New Zealand's competitive paintball scene was developing its national league structure.
-=== 1997 New Zealand Nationals ===
-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.
-The tournament featured 11 teams competing in a five-player centre-flag format.
-According to the contemporary tournament results documented by [[Rob Maddox]], Syrian Suicide Squad finished ninth overall with 422 points.[2]
-The team also appears in the retrospective 1997 standings preserved by the [[Valhalla National Rankings]] database.[3]
-=== 1999 Re-organisation and Reformation===
-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 ==
-'''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.
-Harris was also associated with [[Mercenaries Star]], an early New Zealand paintball information website that preserved tournament results, rankings, calendars and historical records.[4]
+Syrian Suicide Squad competed at the 1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals, held on 25–26 October at [[Actions Paintball]] in Te Atatū, Auckland. A contemporary tournament report by Rob Maddox records the team finishing ninth with 422 points.[2]
-'''Patrick DiCamillo'''
+The team also ranked ninth in the retrospectively compiled 1997 [[Valhalla National Rankings]], with a ranking score of 38. This was separate from its Nationals tournament score.[3]
-'''David Armstrong'''
+=== Change of name ===
-'''Kelvin Geen'''
+The team's Phoenix website, last updated on 16 March 1998, announced a new name and a new website for the start of 1998. It identified Phoenix as an Auckland paintball team and linked directly to the former Syrian Suicide Squad website.[1]
-'''Kirk Koornneef'''
+The announcement stated that an explanation of the name change would be added later, but did not itself give the reason.[1]
-'''Matt'''
+== Recorded results ==
-'''Tim Coates'''
+{| class="wikitable"
+! Year
+! Competition or ranking
+! Position
+! Score
+! Source
+|-
+| 1997
+| New Zealand Paintball Nationals
+| 9th
+| 422 tournament points
+| [2]
+|-
+| 1997
+| Valhalla National Rankings
+| 9th
+| 38 ranking points
+| [3]
+|}
-'''Jackie Coates'''
+== Team websites ==
-== Later history ==
+Syrian Suicide Squad maintained a website at homepages.ihug.co.nz/~subby. The Phoenix website continued to link to those pages after announcing the team's new name in 1998.[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.
+Phoenix's new website used the address phoenix.org.nz.[1]
 == See also ==
-* [[History of paintball in New Zealand]]
 * [[New Zealand Paintball Nationals]]
-* [[Mercenaries Star]]
 * [[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 — homepage]. Page last updated 16 March 1998; Internet Archive capture dated 6 December 1998. Identifies Phoenix as an Auckland paintball team, announces the name change and links to the former Syrian Suicide Squad website.
-# Rob Maddox, ''1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals'', contemporary tournament report originally published through Paintball.co.nz, transcription preserved in WikiPaintball historical research, October 2026.
+# Rob Maddox, “1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals”, Paintball.co.nz, October 1997. Contemporary tournament report recording Syrian Suicide Squad ninth with 422 points; direct archived article URL not recovered.
-# [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]. Lists Syrian Suicide Squad ninth with a ranking score of 38. Archived GeoCities page preserved by OoCities.
-# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/ Mercenaries Star - Archived New Zealand paintball information website.]
 == 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 Phoenix team website]
 [[Category:Paintball teams]]

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