1999 New Zealand Paintball Nationals
The New Zealand Paintball Nationals 1999 was a national tournament paintball event held on 23–24 October 1999 at Actions Paintball Sports Arena in Helensville, Auckland, New Zealand. Thirteen teams competed in a five-player, centre-flag format across two fields.[1]
Paint Contractors won the tournament with 1,045 points, finishing 20 points ahead of Saints Gold. Phantom 5 Purple placed third.[1]
Organisation
The tournament was held during New Zealand's Labour Weekend at Actions Paintball Sports Arena, operated by Kyn Jackson.[1]
Games used an eight-minute, five-player, centre-flag format. Competition took place across two adjoining fields:
- Bunker — described as the larger and slower field
- Speedball — a faster-playing field[1]
Most of the refereeing was carried out by members of Kamo Karzi. Marty Kinny served as head marshal and worked with a group of roving officials responsible for monitoring potentially difficult games.[1]
Players' markers were chronographed as they entered the fields. Early delays and technical problems affected the synchronisation of games, but the report stated that the officiating subsequently proceeded more smoothly.
Teams
Thirteen teams entered the tournament:[1]
- Assault Korps
- Black Dragon
- Crisis
- Flashpoint
- House Steiner
- Katipo One
- Katipo Two
- Paint Contractors
- Phantom 5 Black
- Phantom 5 Purple
- Saints Gold
- Saints Grey
- Warp Speed
Several established organisations entered more than one squad. Katipo competed as Katipo One and Katipo Two, Phantom 5 entered Black and Purple squads, and Saints entered Gold and Grey squads.
The source reported that Katipo One included two visiting Australian players. Their identities were not recorded in the article.[1]
Tournament
Opening day
The first day began at approximately 10:00.[1]
Crisis defeated Katipo One during the second round of games. Crisis later played Flashpoint, which eliminated the Crisis players but did not complete a flag hang.
Assault Korps defeated Katipo Two, while Saints Gold recorded victories over Saints Grey and Katipo One.[1]
The tournament report also noted concern about the use of red paint, which was prohibited under the event rules. No immediate penalty was imposed, but the affected teams were advised that the paint might not be permitted at future tournaments.
Second day
The second day included a period of heavy rain at approximately 11:00, although conditions later improved.[1]
Paint Contractors defeated Saints Gold in under one minute. The result left Saints Gold in second position after seven games. Paint Contractors also defeated Saints Grey after eliminating three players from the break.[1]
Saints Grey recorded a clean flag pull and hang against Katipo One. Saints Gold later defeated Flashpoint with a clean pull and hang in under 90 seconds.
The Speedball field's spectator platform was closed following concerns about communication between spectators and Phantom 5 Black. The report stated that Phantom 5 Black was not found responsible, no results were changed and no penalty was imposed.[1]
Results
The final standings were:[1]
| Position | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paint Contractors | 1,045 |
| 2 | Saints Gold | 1,025 |
| 3 | Phantom 5 Purple | 820 |
| 4 | Katipo One | 765 |
| 5 | Black Dragon | 742 |
| 6 | Saints Grey | 715 |
| 7 | Crisis | 555 |
| 8 | Katipo Two | 525 |
| 9 | House Steiner | 505 |
| 10 | Flashpoint | 475 |
| 11 | Assault Korps | 465 |
| 12 | Phantom 5 Black | 390 |
| 13 | Warp Speed | 235 |
Paint Contractors won the championship by 20 points over Saints Gold.[1]
The contemporary report identified Brent as captain of Paint Contractors and Rik as captain of Saints Gold. Their surnames were not provided.
Awards
The following awards and recognitions were recorded:[1]
| Award | Recipient | Recorded reason |
|---|---|---|
| Team of the Year | Saints Gold | Continued support and promotion of New Zealand paintball domestically and overseas |
| Player of the Year | Marty Friend | Sportsmanship and attitude towards the sport and other players |
| Informal “Kenny” award | Chris O'Donnell, Assault Korps | Awarded by the marshals following an unarmed flag attempt against Phantom 5 Purple |
The marshals also identified Warp Speed as a developing team to watch and gave particular mention to a player known as Des. The surviving report does not provide his full name.[1]
Officiating
The tournament report described the refereeing as among the strongest seen at a New Zealand tournament up to that time.[1]
Officials were generally assigned to specific fields, while the head marshal's roving group observed potentially difficult games. This structure was intended to improve consistency and provide additional oversight.
The report also recorded occasional technical problems involving a loudspeaker and the game-start signalling equipment. These issues caused confusion during some early games but were resolved during the tournament.
Historical documentation
The event was documented in a contemporary report by Rob Maddox, originally published through Paintball.co.nz.[1]
The report preserves the tournament date, venue, format, team entries, final scores, awards and observations concerning individual games and officiating.
Photographs associated with the archived report depict several participating teams and aspects of the venue, including Paint Contractors, Katipo, Saints Gold, Phantom 5, Black Dragon, Flashpoint and the tournament marshals.
See also
- New Zealand Paintball Nationals
- Actions Paintball
- Paint Contractors
- Saints
- Phantom 5
- Paintball.co.nz