Victorian Paintball Players Association

The Victorian Paintball Players Association (VPPA) was an Australian paintball players' organisation established in Victoria in 1990. It promoted participation in paintball, supported players and field operators, organised tournaments and scenario games, operated a playing field at Reefton and arranged interstate recreational trips.[1]

During the mid-1990s, the VPPA helped develop organised tournament paintball in Victoria. Its activities included introductory rental-equipment competitions, open-class tournaments, the Victorian Three-Man Open Series, large scenario games, charity fundraising and advocacy concerning restrictions on Sunday paintball.[2][3][4]

History

Establishment

The VPPA was established in 1990 to promote paintball, encourage the formation of new teams and make participation more affordable.[1]

A contemporary account by a founding member stated that Victoria then had five paintball fields and was struggling to maintain four active teams. The Cockatoo, Blackwood and Negambie fields supported the association by offering VPPA members discounts of approximately 15 per cent on paintballs and other services.[1]

The association assisted prospective players with equipment choices, directed new players to nearby fields and supported field operators at council meetings by supplying information about paintball.[1]

The original committee structure included a representative from each member team. This was subsequently replaced by an elected executive consisting of a president, vice-president, secretary and treasurer.[1]

By 1996, contemporary correspondence reported that Victoria had nine fields and six established teams.[1]

Committee

A committee election announced in 1995 recorded the following outgoing officers:

Position	Outgoing officer
President	Steven Bevens
Secretary	Mic Bradshaw
Treasurer	Tina Janichen

The incoming committee was:

Position	Officer
President	Anthony “Stealth” Surie
Vice-president	Michael Honeybone
Secretary	Steve Bradshaw
Treasurer	Jodie Hollingworth

The association described its objectives as promoting public awareness of paintball and encouraging the sport's growth in Victoria and elsewhere in Australia.[5]

Reefton field

The VPPA operated a playing site described as the VPPA Pro Field at Reefton.[6]

Before a major scenario game in 1995, association members spent approximately two months constructing bunkers, a bus compound, a safe area and other structures. The field included bush, open areas, a hill, a village and opposing bases.[6]

The surviving sources do not establish when the VPPA obtained the site, its precise address or how long the association continued operating it.

Scenario games

Cops and Druggies

In March 1995, the VPPA organised a two-day scenario game at its Reefton field based on conflict between the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and Colombian drug cartels.[6]

The scenario was written by Steffi Bradshaw. Players were divided between the DEA and cartel sides, with pump-action and semi-automatic markers distributed between the teams to provide a reasonably even equipment balance.[6]

The cartel side attempted to carry weighted boxes representing drugs across the field, while the DEA attempted to intercept them. Anthony Surie directed the event with assistance from Troy Dix and Jodie Hollingworth.[6]

The VPPA provided meals and overnight facilities, while association members and volunteers prepared and later cleaned the field.[6]

Further scenario games at Reefton were listed in the association's 1996 calendar.[7]

Tournament development

Introductory competition

The VPPA organised an amateur five-player tournament at Splatball Village, Frankston, during 1995. Twelve teams attended.[2]

The event used rental markers and limited paint and was intended to introduce regular recreational players to competitive paintball without requiring them to purchase tournament equipment.[2]

A proposed open-class three-player competition was delayed by uncertainty surrounding restrictions on Sunday paintball. It was eventually held on Saturday, 14 October 1995.[2][8]

Southern Three-Man Open

The Southern Three-Man Open was held at Challenge Paintball's Narbethong field in October 1995. It was described as Victoria's first open-class tournament in which competitors could use their own equipment.[8]

Five teams entered. Each played eight preliminary games before the two leading teams advanced to a best-of-three final.

The preliminary standings were:

Team	Points
Red Lizards	415
Combat Wombats	365
Challenge Raiders	274
Looney Tunes	100
Challenge Raiders 2	15

The South Australian Combat Wombats defeated the VPPA's Red Lizards in the final.[8]

The final placings were:

Position	Team
1	Combat Wombats
2	Red Lizards
3	Challenge Raiders 1
4	Looney Tunes
5	Challenge Raiders 2

Steve “Poss” Wilson received the event's Best Referee recognition, while Paul Bambling of Looney Tunes received the sportsmanship award.[8]

1996 Victorian Three-Man Open Series

In 1996, the VPPA replaced its previous one-off competitions with a four-round Victorian Three-Man Open Series.[3]

The first round was held at Splatball Village, Carrum Downs, on 3 February 1996. Fourteen teams entered, making it the largest documented open-class tournament field in Victoria at that time.[3]

The competition used three playing fields and a ten-minute, three-player format. Each team played eight preliminary games before the leading teams advanced to the finals.[3]

Apparition led the finals standings, but Challenge Raiders won the grand final. The leading tournament placings were:

Position	Team
1	Challenge Raiders
2	Apparition
3	Red Lizards

Pete “Rowdy” Richards of the Combat Wombats received the sportsmanship award.[3]

A raffle at the tournament raised A$350 for the Peninsula Animal Aid Shelter. Prizes were supplied by the VPPA, Australian Paintballer and Splatball Village.[3]

The remaining rounds were scheduled for May, August and November 1996, with an overall trophy planned for the most consistent team across the series.[7]

Sunday paintball restrictions

In 1995, enforcement of an old Victorian law restricting the discharge of firearms on Sundays affected the VPPA's ability to schedule tournaments.[4]

The restriction contained exceptions for activities including gun-club meetings, but paintball had not been included among those exemptions. This caused the postponement and rescheduling of the Southern Three-Man Open.[2][4]

The VPPA contacted parliamentarians and supplied information intended to demonstrate that paintball was a legitimate organised sport. Mark Fitzgerald of Victorian Splatball Headquarters subsequently reported that the Victorian Liberal Party cabinet had voted to remove the restriction, although written confirmation had not been received when Australian Paintballer went to press.[4]

The surviving source therefore documents the VPPA's advocacy and the reported cabinet decision, but does not by itself establish the date on which any legal change formally took effect.

Road trips

The VPPA organised group trips to paintball fields outside Victoria, combining recreational games with fundraising and social activities.

Mount Gambier

Eleven players attended a winter road trip to Trevor Long's fields at Mount Gambier, South Australia. The group played on bush, bunker and speedball fields over two days.[2]

The 1996 events calendar identified further VPPA road trips planned for June and October.[7]

Canberra

A later trip took 24 participants from Victoria to Predator Paintball in Canberra. Anthony Surie and Steven Bevens drove the group, while Jodie Hollingworth handled organisational and financial arrangements.[9]

Players from Mount Gambier and the Delegates joined the games. A raffle raised A$300 for the Canberra branch of the ACT Society for the Physically Handicapped Children.[9]

Trevor Long received the travelling group's Most Valuable Player award.[9]

Online presence

The VPPA used email for correspondence by late 1995. An association address was published for people seeking information about paintball or VPPA membership.[10]

By 1996, the association was connected with plans to establish web pages containing information and links for Victorian fields, the VPPA and paintball tournaments.[11]

These records place the VPPA among the Australian paintball organisations adopting Internet communications during the mid-1990s.

Activities

Documented VPPA activities included:

representing the interests of Victorian paintball players;
promoting paintball to the public and government;
supporting field operators at council meetings;
helping new players select equipment and locate fields;
negotiating member discounts;
encouraging the formation of teams;
organising tournaments and tournament referees;
operating the Reefton playing field;
staging scenario games;
arranging interstate road trips; and
conducting charity raffles and fundraising.[1][3][6][9]

The date on which the association ceased operating has not been established from the available sources.

References

“VPPA History and Purpose”, letter from a founding member and former president, Australian Paintballer, April–June 1996, p. 6. Records the association's establishment in 1990, objectives, early structure and support from Victorian fields.
Mike Wallis, “Victorian Tournament Paintball: The Key to a Boom in Paintball in Australia?”, Australian Paintballer, December 1995–February 1996, p. 26.
Mic Bradshaw, “Challenge Raiders Clean Up at VPPA 3-Man”, Australian Paintballer, April–June 1996, p. 33.
“Victorian Sunday Paintball Restrictions”, Australian Paintballer, December 1995–February 1996, p. 10.
Anthony Surie, “VPPA Committee Elections”, Australian Paintballer, June–July 1995, p. 20.
Mic Bradshaw, “Drug Lords Go Unchecked by Victorian Cops”, Australian Paintballer, June–July 1995, pp. 58–59.
Australian Paintballer, Australian Tournament and Events Calendar 1995–96, December 1995–February 1996, p. 35.
Mic Bradshaw, “Southern Three-Man Open”, Australian Paintballer, December 1995–February 1996, p. 30.
Mic Bradshaw, “Legendary VPPA Road Trip Rolls into Unwary Canberra”, Australian Paintballer, April–June 1996, p. 34.
Anthony Surie, interview with Glenn Palmer and VPPA contact information, Australian Paintballer, December 1995–February 1996, p. 14.
Mike Wallis, discussion of Australian paintball Internet resources and the VPPA, Australian Paintballer, April–June 1996, p. 28.