Saints (New Zealand Paintball Team)
Saints, also known as Team Saints, was a New Zealand tournament paintball organisation active from at least 1995 into the 2000s. The team won the 1995 South Pacific Championships in Wellington and a seven-player tournament in Auckland later that year.[1][2]
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the organisation fielded several squads, including Saints Gold, Saints Black and Saints Grey. Saints Gold led the independent Valhalla National Rankings in 1998, 1999 and 2000, and headed the published seven-player rankings in 2001.[5][6][7][8]
Saints also competed internationally, travelling to Australia in 1995 and the United States for the 2004 National Professional Paintball League (NPPL) tournament at Huntington Beach, California.[3][12]
History
1995 season
South Pacific Championships
Saints won the 1995 New Zealand South Pacific Championships, held in Wellington over the Easter weekend.
The Australian team Sydney HEAT finished second.[1]
Australian South Pacific Championships
Later in 1995, Saints travelled to New South Wales to compete in the Australian South Pacific Paintball Championships at Adventure Quest Games near Windsor.
Seven ten-player teams entered the competition: Saints, Top Hat Jokers, Sydney SWAT, Black Reign, Black Reign/No Fear, Hardline and United Newcastle.[3]
Saints did not advance to the four-team finals.
Top Hat Jokers won the tournament, followed by Black Reign, Sydney SWAT and Black Reign/No Fear.[3]
In the 1995 Australian team rankings published by Australian Paintballer, Saints received 56.25 professional ranking points from its single Australian tournament appearance.[4]
Auckland seven-player tournament
Saints won a seven-player tournament held at Tactics, Bethells Beach, Auckland, on 21–22 October 1995.
Six teams competed in a double round-robin format.
Saints won nine of its ten games and finished with 910 points, ahead of X-Men and Katipo.[2]
| Position | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saints | 910 |
| 2 | X-Men | 683 |
| 3 | Katipo | 628 |
| 4 | Whangarei Paint Contractors | 324 |
| 5 | Dragons Claw Hell Patrol | 293 |
| 6 | Dragons Claw Sentinels | −35 |
The contemporary tournament report identified Rik Goldsworthy, referred to as Rick, as the Saints captain.[2]
1997 season
The April–June 1997 issue of Paintballer featured Saints on its cover under the headline "Warriors Still!", describing the team's efforts to regain its previous competitive standing.[11]
Saints Black finished second in the 1997 Valhalla National Rankings with 79 points, behind Katipo.
At the 1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals, Saints Black also finished second behind Katipo, recording 866 tournament points.[9]
1998 season
Saints Gold led the 1998 Valhalla National Rankings with 92.5 points.
Saints Grey finished second with 78 points, while Saints Black placed fifth with 64 points.[5]
At the 1998 New Zealand Paintball Nationals, Saints Gold won the tournament with 1,290 points.
Paint Contractors finished second with 1,008 points, while Saints Grey placed third with 970.[5]
1999 season
Saints Gold retained first place in the Valhalla National Rankings in 1999, recording 91 points.
Saints Grey finished fourth with 77 points.[6]
2000 season
Saints Gold led the Valhalla rankings for a third consecutive season in 2000, recording 91 points.
The ranking compiler reported that the squad had averaged approximately 96 per cent of the available preliminary-round points during its tournament appearances.[7]
Saints Grey finished equal second with Team Crisis on 82.5 points.
Saints Black was also recorded in the standings, placing twenty-third with 50 points.[7]
2001 season
The Valhalla rankings for 2001 recorded Saints Gold in seven-player, five-player and three-player competition.[8]
In the seven-player rankings, Saints Gold finished first among 23 entries with 400.5 cumulative points.
The results incorporated the Northland Open, RotoVegas and New Zealand Nationals.
| Competition stage | Points |
|---|---|
| Northland Open | 100 |
| RotoVegas preliminary round | 83.4 |
| RotoVegas First Division round | 73.3 |
| Nationals preliminary round | 87.5 |
| Nationals First Division final | 56.3 |
| Total | 400.5 |
Saints Gold finished second in the five-player rankings with 211 points, behind Tag n' Release on 214.5 points.
The squad also placed fourth in the three-player rankings with 152.5 points.[8]
2004 NPPL Huntington Beach
Saints travelled to California to compete in the opening round of the 2004 NPPL Super 7 Series at Huntington Beach, held from 19 to 21 March.
The tournament attracted approximately 160 teams from twelve countries.[12]
Saints captain Rik Goldsworthy discussed the team's participation in an April 2004 interview conducted by Rob Maddox for Paintball.co.nz.
Goldsworthy reported that Saints won three of its eight games.[13]
He also expressed an intention to return to Huntington Beach the following year, although a subsequent appearance has not been established from the available records.
Photographic documentation
A contemporary photographic collection of Saints at Huntington Beach is preserved in a Flickr album titled Huntington Beach 2004.[15]
The album contains 28 photographs and is described as documenting Saints at the opening round of the 2004 NPPL series.
The photographs were published through the account of Martin Dannefaerd, who was involved in operating a New Zealand paintball website at the time.
Dannefaerd was not a member of Saints.
Historical participant identification associates Rik Goldsworthy, Kane Anderson, Peter Hamilton and a player known as Stat with the team depicted in the photographs.
The jerseys do not display player names, so these identifications are based on participant recollections rather than uniform lettering.
The collection provides additional contemporary documentation of Saints' international tournament participation.
Team structure
Saints Gold
Saints Gold was the organisation's principal competitive squad during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The squad led the Valhalla rankings in 1998, 1999 and 2000, and finished first in the published seven-player standings in 2001.[5][6][7][8]
Saints Black
Saints Black competed as a separately ranked squad.
The team finished second in the 1997 Valhalla rankings and at the 1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals.
It placed fifth in the 1998 national rankings and appeared again in the 2000 standings.[5][7][9]
Saints Grey
Saints Grey was another squad associated with the wider Saints organisation.
The team appeared as Grey in several Valhalla ranking tables, while the 1998 New Zealand Nationals results identified it as Saints Grey.[5]
The squad placed fifth in the 1997 rankings, second in 1998, fourth in 1999 and equal second in 2000.[5][6][7][9]
The Valhalla rankings treated separately named squads as individual competitive entries rather than combining their results under one organisation.[14]
Notable players
Rik Goldsworthy
Rik Goldsworthy, also recorded as Rick Goldsworthy, was a Saints player and captain.
A contemporary report from the October 1995 Auckland seven-player tournament identified him as captain under the name Rick.[2]
Goldsworthy continued to be associated with Saints during the 2000s and captained the team at the 2004 NPPL Huntington Beach tournament.[13]
Kane Anderson
Kane Anderson has been identified through historical participant recollections as a member of the Saints team photographed at the 2004 NPPL Huntington Beach tournament.[15]
His complete tournament record with Saints has not yet been established.
Peter Hamilton
Peter Hamilton has been identified as a member of the Saints team appearing in the 2004 Huntington Beach photographic collection.[15]
Hamilton was subsequently associated with Wellington Hybrid, appearing in photographs from the team's 2005 Australian X-Ball League campaign.
Stat
Stat was a Saints player identified by nickname in historical photographs of the 2004 Huntington Beach team.[15]
His full name has not yet been established.
Selected tournament results
| Year | Tournament | Squad | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | South Pacific Championships | Saints | 1st |
| 1995 | Australian South Pacific Paintball Championships | Saints | Did not reach finals |
| 1995 | Auckland seven-player tournament | Saints | 1st |
| 1997 | New Zealand Paintball Nationals | Saints Black | 2nd |
| 1998 | New Zealand Paintball Nationals | Saints Gold | 1st |
| 1998 | New Zealand Paintball Nationals | Saints Grey | 3rd |
| 2004 | NPPL Huntington Beach | Saints | Three wins from eight games |
National ranking record
| Year | Squad | Format | Position | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Saints Black | Combined | 2nd | 79 |
| 1997 | Grey | Combined | 5th | 71 |
| 1998 | Saints Gold | Combined | 1st | 92.5 |
| 1998 | Grey | Combined | 2nd | 78 |
| 1998 | Saints Black | Combined | 5th | 64 |
| 1999 | Saints Gold | Combined | 1st | 91 |
| 1999 | Grey | Combined | 4th | 77 |
| 2000 | Saints Gold | Combined | 1st | 91 |
| 2000 | Grey | Combined | Equal 2nd | 82.5 |
| 2000 | Saints Black | Combined | 23rd | 50 |
| 2001 | Saints Gold | Seven-player | 1st | 400.5 |
| 2001 | Saints Gold | Five-player | 2nd | 211 |
| 2001 | Saints Gold | Three-player | 4th | 152.5 |
The 2001 figures are cumulative tournament-round totals and are not directly comparable with the ranking scores used in previous seasons.[8]
See also
- South Pacific Championships
- New Zealand Paintball Nationals
- National Paintball League (New Zealand)
- Northland Open
- Katipo Paintball Team
- Tag n' Release
- Valhalla National Rankings
- Rik Goldsworthy
- Wellington Hybrid
- Paintball in New Zealand
References
- Australian Paintballer, June–July 1995, "Sydney HEAT Make Friends in High Places".
- Australian Paintballer, December 1995–February 1996, report on the Auckland seven-player tournament at Tactics, Bethells Beach.
- Australian Paintballer, December 1995–February 1996, "South Pacific Extravaganza".
- Australian Paintballer, April–June 1996, "1995 Australian Team Rankings".
- Valhalla Hall of Heroes, 1998, Mercenaries Star historical archive.
- Valhalla Hall of Heroes, 1999, Mercenaries Star historical archive.
- Valhalla Hall of Heroes, 2000, Mercenaries Star historical archive.
- Valhalla Hall of Heroes, 2001, Mercenaries Star historical archive.
- Valhalla Hall of Heroes, 1997, Mercenaries Star historical archive.
- Australian Paintballer, December 1995–February 1996, report on the Saints' Australian tournament appearance.
- Paintballer, issue 16, April–June 1997, "Warriors Still! The Saints Determined to Regain Feared Status!".
- WARPIG, NPPL Huntington Beach 2004, contemporary tournament coverage.
- Rob Maddox, "Interview: Rik Goldsworthy", Paintball.co.nz, April 2004. Archived interview; direct URL requires recovery.
- Valhalla National Team Ranking Methodology, Mercenaries Star historical archive.
- Martin Dannefaerd, "Huntington Beach 2004", Flickr. Collection of 28 photographs documenting Saints at the opening round of the 2004 NPPL series.