Volcanic Rotorua Paintball Tournament
Volcanic Rotorua Paintball Tournament, also advertised as RotoVegas Rotorua, was a competitive paintball tournament held at Rotorua International Stadium, New Zealand. Tag n' Release and the Rotorua Paintball Club organised the 2001 event, while the 2002 report credited the club and Peter Mumby. Australia's Jetts won the leading division in both years.[1][2][4]
History
Development
The tournament developed within the organising community behind the Rotorua Invitational, which began at Blue Lake Reserve in December 2000. Russell Clement's contemporary account described plans for a larger stadium competition over Queen's Birthday weekend in 2001, with inflatable fields, spectator seating and facilities for visiting teams.[3]
Clement credited Tag n' Release members with most of the planning and stated that Kyn Jackson had been asked to assist with running the tournament.[3]
2001
The first Volcanic tournament was held on 2–3 June 2001 at Rotorua International Stadium. Seventeen teams competed in seven-player games with a flag at each end of the field.[1]
The announcement specified Australian Paintball Players League rules, entry of NZ$500 per team and permission for teams to supply their own paintballs.[4]
Play took place across a Sup'Air inflatable field and a smaller speedball field. Contemporary reporter Rob Maddox described the event as the first occasion on which Sup'Air had been available for play in New Zealand.[1]
Martin Dannefaerd was head referee. Other referees named in the report included Vanessa, Dirk Koorneef, Tekno and Stimpy.[1]
Preliminary results
Each team played fourteen preliminary games. The top four teams in each division advanced to separate finals.[1]
| Team | Division | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Katipo A | One | 1,215 |
| Saints | One | 1,168 |
| Black Dragon | One | 1,155 |
| Jetts | One | 1,154 |
| Phoenix | One | 1,048 |
| Phantom | One | 920 |
| Damage | Two | 895 |
| Kamo Karzi | One | 895 |
| Tag n' Release | One | 875 |
| Katipo B | One | 830 |
| Damn Natives | Two | 695 |
| Full Boar | Two | 400 |
| Havoc | Two | 395 |
| Shock Tactics | Two | 350 |
| Warp Speed | Two | 350 |
| Brew Ha | Two | 290 |
| Insane | Two | 79 |
Final results
Jetts won Division One, ahead of Saints and Katipo A. Team Damage won Division Two, followed by Damn Natives and Full Boar.[1]
| Place | Division One | Points | Division Two | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jetts | 290 | Team Damage | 220 |
| 2 | Saints | 220 | Damn Natives | 210 |
| 3 | Katipo A | 145 | Full Boar | 135 |
| 4 | Black Dragon | 30 | Havoc | 20 |
These are the tournament report's raw scores. The Valhalla National Rankings subsequently expressed performances from the event as normalised ranking contributions.[1][5]
Named players
The event report identifies the following players. These are partial squad records, not complete team rosters.[1]
| Team | Players identified at the 2001 event |
|---|---|
| Saints | Rik Goldsworthy (captain), Kane Anderson |
| Wellington Phoenix | Ryan Pike |
| Kamo Karzi | Rob Maddox |
| Tag n' Release | Tony Dickson |
| Katipo A | Reg |
| Full Boar | Robert (captain) |
| Damn Natives | Toka |
| Warp Speed | Des, Mike |
| Havoc | Ange |
Ryan Pike received the Volcanic Player award. Tony Dickson received the Saturday NeoTech Player of the Day award, and Reg of Katipo A received Sunday's award. Warp Speed received the fair-play award, while Full Boar was recognised as the highest-scoring newcomer team.[1]
2002
The second tournament, described in the contemporary report as the Tracs Volcanic, was held on 1–2 June 2002 at Rotorua International Stadium. Twenty teams attended, including Australian entries Jetts and Diabolique, both of which included some New Zealand players.[2]
The Rotorua Paintball Club and Peter Mumby organised the event. Two inflatable fields were used: the previous year's Sup'Air field, subsequently acquired by Extreme Events, and another field from Christchurch supplemented by wooden barricades.[2]
Teams initially competed in four seeded pools. The ten highest-scoring teams advanced to the Cup competition, while the remaining ten played for the Plate. Games used a centre flag and lasted ten minutes.[2]
Final results
Jetts retained the Cup, with Saints second and Katipo third. Rush won the Plate ahead of Titans and Fusion.[2]
| Place | Cup | Points | Plate | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jetts | 705 | Rush | 793 |
| 2 | Saints | 627 | Titans | 708 |
| 3 | Katipo | 567 | Fusion | 600 |
| 4 | Diabolique | 514 | Flashpoint | 440 |
| 5 | Damage | 486 | Marksmen | 439 |
| 6 | Phantom | 425 | Damage Inc | 392 |
| 7 | Shock Tactics | 417 | Havoc | 323 |
| 8 | Kamo Karzi | 370 | Brew Ha | 225 |
| 9 | Dam Natives | 277 | Insane | 210 |
| 10 | Phoenix | 214 | Solidaire | 4 |
Damage and Damage Inc were separate entries, appearing in the Cup and Plate respectively.[2]
Named captains and awards
Maddox identified Alan Gatland as Kamo Karzi's captain and Rik Goldsworthy as Saints captain. Their teams' second-day encounter ended with Gatland eliminating Goldsworthy and hanging the flag for Kamo Karzi.[2]
Goldsworthy received the players' choice award for the event's top player. Titans received the NeoTech ProGear award for an up-and-coming team. Jetts donated its team-uniform prize to Solidaire, the lowest-scoring amateur team.[2]
At the event's conclusion, Peter Mumby stated that he intended to step back from actively organising the tournament.[2]
See also
- Paintball in New Zealand
- Rotorua Invitational
- Tag n' Release
- Rotorua Paintball Club
- Valhalla National Rankings
- New Zealand Paintball Nationals
References
- Rob Maddox, The 2001 Rotorua Volcanic Paintball Tournament, Paintball.co.nz; archived 11 August 2002.
- Rob Maddox, The 2002 Rotorua Volcanic Paintball Tournament, Paintball.co.nz; archived 13 June 2002.
- Russell Clement, Rotorua Invitational Paintball Days, Mercenaries Star, including the inaugural event report and plans for the 2001 stadium tournament; preserved by OoCities.
- Volcanic Rotorua Paintball Tournament, Mercenaries Star, 2001 tournament announcement; preserved by OoCities.
- Valhalla Hall of Heroes – 2001, Mercenaries Star, seven-player rankings; preserved by OoCities.