Legion (New Zealand Paintball Team)
Legion was a New Zealand tournament paintball team documented from 2006 to 2008. The team won Division Two of the 2006 Super 5s, moved into Division One for 2007 and led that championship after six rounds, then won the 2008 Wellington Easter Tournament.[2][5][9]
Legion also finished third at the 2006 Northland Open, fourth at the 2006 Big Boys Toys Paintball Tournament, third at the 2007 Northland Open and second at the 2007 Christchurch X-ball Tournament.[1][3][4][8]
History
2006 season
Legion finished third at the 2006 Northland Open, an eight-team, five-player tournament held at an indoor Auckland venue, behind joint winners Kaos and Snipers.[1]
The contemporary report identifies Legion's event line-up as Kenny, Ollie, Matty, Rob and an unnamed Raiderz player. These names relate to that tournament and do not establish the complete standing roster.[1]
Legion won Division Two of the 2006 Super 5s season with 5,512 championship points, ahead of Solid on 5,279 and Sinista on 5,077. At the final round on 3 December, Legion finished third in the combined classification with 725 points, behind XXX and Menace.[2]
At the 2006 Big Boys Toys tournament at the Auckland Showgrounds, Legion finished fourth, behind DOA, Vagrant and Wellington Vendetta.[3]
2007 season
Legion finished third in the Professional division at the 2007 Northland Open, behind Menace and XXX.[4]
Having won Division Two in 2006, Legion competed in Division One of the 2007 Super 5s. It won the opening round on 25 February, finished second in the March and April rounds, then won the June, July and August rounds.[5]
The team's documented round results were:
| Round | Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 February 2007 | 1st | 913 |
| 2 | 25 March 2007 | 2nd | 805 |
| 3 | 22 April 2007 | 2nd | 804 |
| 4 | 24 June 2007 | 1st | 923 |
| 5 | 22 July 2007 | 1st | 753 |
| 6 | 26 August 2007 | 1st | 697 |
After the sixth round, Legion led the published Division One standings with 4,895 points, ahead of Menace on 4,246 and Solid on 3,197. These were interim standings; the surviving sources do not establish the final 2007 championship placing.[5]
In September, Legion finished second to Splinter at the 2007 Christchurch X-ball Tournament. STK placed third and Murder Inc fourth.[8]
2008 season
Legion won the 2008 Wellington Easter Tournament, held at Grenada North Soccer Field on 22–23 March. Thirteen teams competed. Legion also designed and set up the tournament field.[9]
The organiser's final classification placed Legion first, ahead of The Nick Dawson Experience featuring Ethan Bailey and Splinter. A provisional preliminary table recorded Legion leading on 1,020 points.[9]
Legion was subsequently included in an expression-of-interest list for the 2008 Western Springs Open. That list was preliminary and does not confirm that the team participated.[10]
The Wellington Easter victory is the latest confirmed Legion result identified in the inspected sources. It does not establish when the team ceased operating.
Relationship with Raiderz and other teams
Legion had a documented personal connection with Raiderz through its captain, Sy Galt, who posted under the name “Big SY”. In a contemporary correction on 31 August 2007, Galt stated that Legion was not generally composed of former Raiderz players and described himself as the sole Raider still playing.[6] This establishes Galt's previous Raiderz association while contradicting a broader account of Legion as a Raiderz successor.
The 2006 Northland Open report separately described Legion's event line-up as Kenny, Ollie, Matty, Rob and an unnamed Raiderz player.[1] The source does not identify the unnamed player, and it cannot be assumed that this was Galt.
Legion is also treated as distinct from the earlier entry Phantom Legion, which appeared in 2003 tournament records. No inspected source establishes an organisational or roster relationship between the two names.[11]
Documented players
A roster post published during the 2007 Super 5s season supplied the following Legion names. It was a published team-details entry, not proof that every person played in every round.[6]
| Name as published | Documented role or limitation |
|---|---|
| Sy Galt (“Big SY”) | Captain; previously associated with Raiderz [6] |
| Seth Brown | Listed player [6] |
| Todd | Listed player; surname not supplied [6] |
| Gary | Listed player; surname not supplied [6] |
The 2006 Northland Open report separately names Kenny, Ollie, Matty and Rob, plus an unnamed Raiderz player, as Legion's line-up at that event.[1] The source does not supply their surnames or establish how that event squad relates to the roster published in 2007. Gary's surname and earlier team associations have not been recovered.
Selected results
| Year | Event | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 2006 Northland Open | 3rd [1] |
| 2006 | 2006 Super 5s | Division Two champion, 5,512 points [2] |
| 2006 | 2006 Big Boys Toys Paintball Tournament | 4th [3] |
| 2007 | 2007 Northland Open | 3rd in the Professional division [4] |
| 2007 | 2007 Super 5s | Led Division One after six rounds, 4,895 points; final placing not recovered [5] |
| 2007 | 2007 Christchurch X-ball Tournament | 2nd [8] |
| 2008 | 2008 Wellington Easter Tournament | 1st [9] |
See also
- Northland Open
- Super 5s (New Zealand)
- 2007 Christchurch X-ball Tournament
- 2008 Wellington Easter Tournament
References
- NZ P8NT, “Northland open”, page 1, post-event report by Big SY, published 6 February 2006; page 2, subsequent player discussion.
- NZ Paintball Message Forum, “December super 5's scores”, posted 4 December 2006.
- NZ Paintball Message Boards, “BBT Urgent”, 4–8 December 2006; reported Big Boys Toys tournament placings.
- NZ Paintball Message Boards, “Northland scores”, results posted 5 February 2007.
- “Super 5's round 1 scores”; “Round 2 Super 5's scores”; “Round 3 Super 5's scores”; “June super fives”; “Round 5 Super 5's scores”; “Round 6 August Super 5 scores”, NZ Paintball Message Forum, February–August 2007.
- NZ P8NT, “Auckland Super 5's Series Thread”, team details, roster and relationship correction, including Sy Galt's post of 31 August 2007.
- NZ Paintball Message Forum, “Round 7 September Super 5's”, event announcement; no recovered results.
- NZ P8NT, “CHCH Results”, page 1; page 2, results and discussion posted 9–10 September 2007.
- NZ P8NT, “Info for Easter Tournament Wellington 2008”; “Wellington Tournament Easter 2008”; “Easter 2008 – Prelim results”.
- NZ Paintball Message Boards, “Springs open Labour weekend 08”, preliminary expressions of interest.
- Rob Maddox, Rotorua International Tournament – Oct 03, NZ Paintball Online, October 2003.