House Steiner (New Zealand Paintball Team)
House Steiner was a New Zealand tournament paintball team associated with Wellington, Palmerston North and Whanganui. Willy Aull's account describes assembling a ten-player tournament team under the House Steiner name in 1990. Contemporary records document later competition, including fourth place at the 1998 New Zealand Paintball Nationals, victories at the 1999 and 2001 Hawke's Bay Triples, and a reported Wellington Cup victory in 2001.[1][2][4][6][7]
Later publications of historical photographs preserve additional player identifications and evidence of sponsorship, although their upload dates do not establish when the photographs were taken.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]
History
Early group and tournament-team formation
In an undated profile preserved in February 2002, Willy Aull recalled an earlier House Steiner group associated with Massey students in Palmerston North, naming Marcel Ensing. He tentatively dated that group to 1984; the account does not establish a confirmed founding year.[1]
Aull separately described assembling the House Steiner tournament team in 1990. According to his account, John Sheldon and Lyall Norton of Thunderball Adventure Games were organising a ten-player South Pacific Open in Wellington. Aull, his brothers Doug and David Aull, and Marcel Ensing wanted to enter, and he recruited six additional Thunderball players.[1]
The Aull brothers had previously used the name Lords of Discipline Palmerston North. They asked to use Ensing's House Steiner name for the tournament entry.[1]
This account distinguishes the earlier group from the tournament team assembled in 1990. It is a participant's recollection rather than a surviving registration document.[1]
Early competition and photographic records
A photograph published by the House Steiner Facebook profile on 23 August 2011 identifies the team as representing Palmerston North and Wellington at a 1991 T-Ball tournament. Its caption describes a ten-player format with 30-minute halves and identifies William Aull, David Aull and Nick Gee. These are retrospective identifications.[13]
Other photographs identify House Steiner at the T-Ball South Pacific Open in Lower Hutt. Captions published in August 2011 identify Thunderball Adventure Games at Manor Park and tentatively date the photographs to 1996.[14]
Another photograph identifies House Steiner at an Actions tournament near Auckland. Comments identify the location as Helensville, with another specifying Parakai; the tournament year is not established.[15]
A photograph caption also records participation in a seven-player tournament in Wanganui. William Aull subsequently recalled a first-place finish in a comment, but the preserved material does not establish the event's date or provide contemporary results.[16]
1998–1999
House Steiner finished fourth with 940 points at the 24–25 October 1998 New Zealand Paintball Nationals at Actions Paintball in Te Atatū.[2]
At the 1999 Hawke's Bay Triples, House Steiner Red won and House Steiner Blue finished second. Blue led the preliminary competition, while Red defeated The Boys From The Black Stuff in a deciding semi-final. Red then won the two-game final by one elimination.[4]
Both Steiner entries were described as Wellington teams. The report does not provide their named squads or numerical final scores.[4]
At the 23–24 October 1999 Nationals at Actions Paintball in Helensville, House Steiner finished ninth with 505 points.[3]
A historical photograph uploaded by the team profile on 11 March 2012 separately identifies House Steiner in Wellington during the late 1990s.[17]
2000
Phoenix's contemporary report identifies House Steiner among the finalists at the South Pacific Championships, held at Thunderball Adventure Games on 22–23 April 2000. It does not establish Steiner's exact final placing.[6]
House Steiner provided refereeing at the 2000 Wellington Cup, which Phoenix won.[6]
The 2000 Valhalla rankings recorded two separate entries: House Steiner Red and House Steiner Black. These were ranked individually rather than combined into a single team score.[10][12]
2001
House Steiner won the Hawke's Bay Triples in February 2001. Phoenix's contemporary report names a four-player squad led by Willy Aull, with Marty Dannefaerd, Wayne Hilliam and Evan Lewis.[6]
A forum report posted on 13 August 2001 states that Steiner won the Wellington Cup. It describes Steiner, Saints and Tag n' Release as the leading three teams, separated by fewer than 30 points, but does not explicitly assign second and third places or give their totals.[7]
Historical squads and player records
Reported 1990 tournament-team assembly
Willy Aull's account names the following people involved in assembling the ten-player entry:[1]
- Willy Aull
- Doug Aull
- David Aull
- Marcel Ensing
He describes recruiting six further Thunderball players but does not name them. This is an account of assembling the team, not a verified complete final registration roster.
Hawke's Bay Triples squad, February 2001
| Player | Role recorded in the event report |
|---|---|
| Willy Aull | Captain |
| Marty Dannefaerd | Player |
| Wayne Hilliam | Player |
| Evan Lewis | Player |
Source: Phoenix's contemporary tournament report.[6]
Hilliam also appears on Phoenix's broader website roster, while Lewis is separately listed among people who had played with Phoenix. These overlapping records do not establish permanent transfers or exclusive membership.[8]
Retrospective photographic identifications
Historical photographs published by the House Steiner Facebook profile contain tags identifying the following people. These identifications span several photographs and do not constitute a complete roster for any single season.[13][15][16][17][18][19]
- Aaron Jay
- Adon Upjohn
- Andrew Walbran
- Chris McDonald
- Damon Goldsworthy
- David Aull
- Duncan McCloud
- Gareth Morgan
- James Keenan
- Jason Pointon
- Kane Anderson
- Marcel Ensing
- Mark Anderson
- Matt Wong
- Mita Warbrick
- Nick Gee
- Rob Taylor
- William Aull
The photograph retrospectively dated to the 1991 T-Ball tournament identifies William Aull, David Aull and Nick Gee.[13]
The undated Actions tournament photograph identifies Matt Wong, Kane Anderson, Aaron Jay, Mita Warbrick, Jason Pointon and Adon Upjohn.[15]
The photograph captioned as a Wanganui seven-player tournament identifies William Aull, David Aull, Mark Anderson and Marcel Ensing.[16]
The photograph described as late-1990s Wellington identifies Kane Anderson, William Aull, Jason Pointon and Adon Upjohn.[17]
The Facebook publication dates are upload dates, rather than established dates of the photographed events.
Sponsorship
Historical team photographs show a House Steiner banner bearing the wording “Sponsored by Bullseye Paintballs”. A group photograph uploaded on 18 August 2011 also shows most of those pictured wearing matching Bullseye Paintballs shirts.[17][18]
The photographs document the sponsorship association but do not establish its starting date or duration.
Recorded tournament results
| Year | Competition | Entry | Recorded result | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | New Zealand Paintball Nationals | House Steiner | 4th; 940 points | [2] |
| 1999 | Hawke's Bay Triples | House Steiner Red | 1st | [4] |
| 1999 | Hawke's Bay Triples | House Steiner Blue | 2nd | [4] |
| 1999 | New Zealand Paintball Nationals | House Steiner | 9th; 505 points | [3] |
| 2000 | South Pacific Championships | House Steiner | Finalist; exact placing not established | [6] |
| 2001 | Hawke's Bay Triples | House Steiner | 1st | [6] |
| 2001 | Wellington Cup | House Steiner | Reported winner | [7] |
The undated Wanganui victory recalled in a later photograph comment is not assigned to a year in this table.[16]
Recorded rankings
| Season | Entry | Ranking category | Position | Ranking score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | House Steiner | Combined | 6th | 51 |
| 1999 | House Steiner | Combined | 11th | 57 |
| 2000 | House Steiner Red | Combined | 6th | 80.5 |
| 2000 | House Steiner Black | Combined | 15th | 65 |
| 2001 | House Steiner | Five-player | 3rd | 93.4 |
| 2001 | House Steiner | Three-player | 6th | 84.3 |
Sources: Mercenaries Star's Valhalla standings.[5][9][10][11]
The 2001 five-player contribution came from the opening round of the Wellington Cup, while the three-player contribution came from the Hawke's Bay Triples.[11]
The 2001 tables are dated October. These positions are calculated national rankings rather than placings at individual tournaments. The 2001 tables present accumulated round scores, whereas the earlier methodology averaged calculated round scores.[11][12]
See also
- Paintball in New Zealand
- New Zealand Paintball Nationals
- Wellington Phoenix (paintball team)
- Valhalla National Rankings
- Mercenaries Star
References
- Willy Aull — Who's Who of New Zealand Paintball, undated profile. Archived 22 February 2002.
- Rob Maddox, The 1998 Two Day NZ Nationals Tournament, Paintball.co.nz. Archived 17 August 2002.
- Rob Maddox, The 1999 Two Day NZ Nationals Tournament, Paintball.co.nz. Archived 17 August 2002.
- Rick Levick, 1999 Hawkes Bay Triples, Paintball.co.nz. Archived 6 June 2002.
- Mercenaries Star — Valhalla Hall of Heros: 1998.
- Phoenix — contemporary team news and tournament reports, 1999–2001. Archived 20 October 2001.
- Wellington Cup — NZ Paintball forum discussion, including the report posted through Big P's account on 13 August 2001. Archived 15 January 2002.
- Phoenix — undated roster and people who had played with the team. Archived 6 February 2002.
- Mercenaries Star — Valhalla Hall of Heros: 1999.
- Mercenaries Star — Valhalla Hall of Heros: 2000.
- Mercenaries Star — Valhalla Hall of Heros: 2001. Standings dated October 2001.
- Mercenaries Star — Valhalla National Team Rankings methodology.
- House Steiner — photograph captioned “House Steiner (Palmy/Wellington) T-Ball Tourney 1991”. Uploaded 23 August 2011; caption and tags preserved in the screenshot supplied for the existing article.
- House Steiner — South Pacific Open photographs. Uploaded 18 and 23 August 2011; captions tentatively identify 1996 and Thunderball Adventure Games at Manor Park, Lower Hutt. Preserved in screenshots supplied for the existing article.
- House Steiner — photograph captioned “House Steiner, Wellington @ Actions Tourney”. Uploaded 18 August 2011; caption, tags and location comments preserved in the screenshot supplied for the existing article.
- House Steiner — photograph captioned “House Steiner, Wanganui Tourney. 7-man format”. Uploaded 23 August 2011; caption, tags and William Aull's later first-place recollection preserved in the screenshot supplied for the existing article.
- House Steiner — photograph captioned “House Steiner late 1990's Wellington, New Zealand”. Uploaded 11 March 2012; photograph shows the Bullseye Paintballs banner. Caption and tags preserved in the screenshot supplied for the existing article.
- House Steiner — team photograph and identification tags. Uploaded 18 August 2011; shows the Bullseye Paintballs banner and matching shirts.
- House Steiner — additional tagged team photograph. Uploaded 23 August 2011; tags identify William Aull, David Aull, Gareth Morgan and Andrew Walbran. Preserved in the screenshot supplied for the existing article.
External links
- House Steiner on Facebook — historical photographs, captions and recollections.