Australian Super 7s

Australian tournament paintball series

The Australian Super 7s, also known as the Super 7s Paintball Series or S7S, is an Australian tournament paintball championship. The present series was launched in 2006 and is associated with Action Paintball Games. It has included professional, semi-professional and amateur divisions and has attracted teams and players from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the United States and Canada.[1][2]

An earlier Australian competition using the Super Sevens Series name was announced in 1996. Available records do not establish continuous organisation between the 1996 competition and the series launched in 2006.[3]

The current championship is held at Action Paintball Games in Yarramundi, New South Wales.[1]

History

1996 Super Sevens Series

An early Super Sevens Series was announced by Tim McCarthy of Paintball Australia in 1996. McCarthy proposed a seven-player, bring-your-own-paint competition as a more affordable alternative to contemporary ten-player tournaments.[3]

The format was intended to make it easier for teams to recruit travelling squads, reduce the cost of tournament paint and encourage competition outside Sydney. The series used professional and amateur rankings and assigned experienced teams to referee its events.[3]

Two rounds were announced for 1996:

Round	Tournament	Date	Location
1	South Pacific Championships	5–7 October 1996	Mudgeeraba, Queensland
2	Rebel Tour	30 November–1 December 1996	Skirmish Adventures, Helensburgh, New South Wales

A proposed four-round 1997 calendar included events at Mount White in New South Wales, a South Australian venue, the Gold Coast in Queensland and Helensburgh in New South Wales.[3] The surviving announcement records the intended calendar rather than confirming that all four rounds took place.

Launch of the modern series

The present Australian Super 7s championship was launched in 2006 as a four-round national tournament series.[4] Contemporary coverage described the 2006 season as the first Australian Super 7s Series, indicating that it was presented as a new competition despite the earlier use of the Super Sevens name.[4]

The inaugural championship used three divisions:

Professional
Semi-professional
Division 1

The series travelled between states and concluded with a final round hosted by Action Paintball Games. The championship offered a professional series prize of A$10,000, seven gold championship rings and paint, in addition to prizes awarded at individual rounds.[4]

2006 season

The principal professional contest during the inaugural season developed between Sydney SWAT and New Zealand team Menace. SWAT won the opening round, with Menace finishing second. Menace then won Round 2, an achievement described by Australian Paintball Magazine as the first victory by a New Zealand team at a major Australian tournament.[4]

SWAT defeated Menace in the Queensland round, leaving the two teams tied on series points before the final event. The series championship was consequently decided by whichever team placed higher in Round 4.[4]

The professional preliminary standings at the final round were:

Position	Team	Points
1	Sydney SWAT	1,089
2	Apocalypse	1,006
3	Menace	977
4	Shock	921
5	Furions	654
6	Mongrel Mob	652

SWAT defeated Shock in its semi-final, while Menace defeated Apocalypse. The best-of-three professional final was tied after its first two games. SWAT won the deciding game to take both the round and the inaugural series championship.[4]

The final Round 4 placings were:

Division	First	Second	Third
Professional	Sydney SWAT	Menace	Apocalypse
Semi-professional	Sydney X-Fighters	Jetts	Bitchin
Division 1	Adrenaline Freaks	Shenanigans	Uprising

Sydney SWAT became the 2006 professional series champion. Backlash won the semi-professional series.[4]

State of Origin competition

The final 2006 tournament weekend also incorporated a ten-player State of Origin event. Teams representing New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory competed, while Menace undertook refereeing duties.[4]

New South Wales won the event, followed by Queensland and Western Australia. The New South Wales roster included several Sydney SWAT players, while Australian Capital Territory and Queensland selected players from their own tournament teams.[4]

International players and training

The 2006 final round included visiting international players and instructors. Danny Tiljak of Avalanche and Adam Connolly of Edmonton Impact joined Sydney SWAT, while Thomas Taylor of XSV coached the team. Junior Brown of XSV played with Apocalypse, and Nicky Truter joined the Western Australian team Furions.[4]

A tournament clinic hosted by Action Paintball Games covered breakouts, running and shooting, snap shooting and communication. Its instructors included Tiljak, Taylor and Brown. Planet Eclipse also conducted a technical course for owners of its Ego marker.[4]

Later seasons continued to attract international participation. New Zealand teams documented in the series include Menace, the Wellington Rebels and the Manawatu Titans. Singaporean teams have also appeared in the official rankings.[2]

2007 expansion

Following the inaugural season, organisers announced a four-round 2007 championship spanning New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland. Paintball Pete's Reffs Inc was appointed to handle refereeing for the series.[4]

The announced schedule included:

Round	Date	Venue
1	17–18 February 2007	Action Paintball Games, Rouse Hill, New South Wales
2	19–20 May 2007	Action Paintball Games, Western Australia
3	4–5 August 2007	National Paintball Fields, Blacksoil, Queensland
4	16–18 November 2007	Action Paintball Games, Canoelands, New South Wales

The professional championship again offered A$10,000 and seven gold rings. Advertised individual-round prizes included A$6,000 for the professional winner and A$3,000 for the semi-professional winner.[5]

Menace won the 2007 professional series standings with 184 points, two points ahead of Sydney SWAT. Platinum led the semi-professional standings and The Business led the amateur division.[2]

Later development

By 2012, the Super 7s was operating a four-round championship at Action Paintball Games in Rouse Hill. PBLeagues records document rounds in February, May, August and November, with the final event promoted as the Australian Masters.[6][7]

The championship continued through the 2010s with teams including Sydney SWAT, Menace, Hostile Intentions, Sydney X-Fighters, East Side Raw, Perth Crisis, the Wellington Rebels and the Eskimo Brothers.[2]

The series subsequently moved to Action Paintball Games' Yarramundi venue at 770 Springwood Road, New South Wales.[1]

Competition structure

The modern Super 7s generally consists of four rounds, with teams accumulating ranking points towards their divisional season standings.[2]

The principal divisions are:

Professional
Semi-professional
Amateur

Divisional names and lower-division formats have varied during the series' history. Earlier seasons used designations including Division 1, novice competition and three-player formats.[4][6]

The final round is traditionally promoted as the Paintballshop.com Masters or Australian Masters. Series champions receive team awards, while the professional championship has continued the tradition of awarding seven individual championship rings.[8]

Selected professional champions

Season	Champion	Points	Notes
2006	Sydney SWAT	—	Inaugural season of the modern series.[4]
2007	Menace	184	Finished two points ahead of Sydney SWAT.[2]
2010	Hostile Intentions	116	Official historical standings.[2]
2019	East Side Raw	110	Finished ahead of Expendables and Perth Crisis.[2]
2023	Eskimo Brothers	88	Three-round scoring season in the published standings.[2]
2024	Sydney SWAT	120	Won all four rounds.[2]
2025	NVS	116	Tied with Sydney SWAT and won the championship under the series tie-breaking rules.[2]

This table contains selected seasons for which final professional standings are documented and is not a complete list of champions.

2026 season

The 2026 championship consists of four rounds, with separate weekends for the professional, semi-professional and amateur divisions. The final rounds are scheduled for November 2026.[9]

After three completed rounds, Sydney SWAT led the professional standings with 90 points after winning all three events. Bitchin was second on 84 points and RAW Allstars third on 78.[2]

Try It & See led the semi-professional standings with 90 points, while Wait & See led the amateur division with the same total.[2]

Media coverage

Super 7s events have been documented through tournament videos, promotional productions and live internet broadcasts. Historical material includes footage produced by DerDer Productions, professional match recordings and tournament galleries.[10]

The current series provides live webcasts of professional events through YouTube and Facebook.[1]

References

Super 7s Paintball — official tournament website.
Super 7s Paintball — official historical and current rankings.
“Tim throws his hat into the ring”, Australian Paintballer, April–June 1996, p. 26.
“Australian Super 7s Series, Round 4”, Australian Paintball Magazine, 2006, pp. 14–17.
“2007 Australian Super 7s Series”, Australian Paintball Magazine, 2006, p. 40.
PBLeagues — Super 7s Round 1, 11–12 February 2012.
PBLeagues — Super 7s Round 4: Masters, 23–25 November 2012.
Super 7s Paintball — prizes and championship rings.
Super 7s Paintball — 2026 event dates.
Super 7s Paintball — tournament media archive.

External links