1997 New Zealand Paintball Nationals
The New Zealand Paintball Nationals 1997 was a national tournament paintball event held on 25–26 October 1997 at Actions Paintball Sports Arena in Te Atatū, Auckland, New Zealand. Eleven teams competed in a five-player, centre-flag format.[1]
Katipo One won the tournament and First Division with 1,008 points. Saints Black finished second overall, while Kamo Karzi placed third overall and won Second Division.[1]
The event formed part of the inaugural season of the original New Zealand National Paintball League.[1]
Organisation
The tournament was originally planned for a field in Māngere, Auckland, but was moved to Actions Paintball Sports Arena in Te Atatū several weeks before the event.[1]
The contemporary report identified Dave Pellet as the tournament organiser and credited a wider group of co-organisers and marshals with operating the event. The venue was run by Kyn Jackson, a member of Saints.[1]
Despite the late venue change, the two-day competition finished approximately 15 seconds behind schedule.[1]
Format
The tournament used five-player, centre-flag games with a ten-minute time limit.[1]
Teams played each other once, with First and Second Division teams intermingled in the draw. Total points determined both the overall standings and the separate divisional placings.
Two playing fields were used:
- A bush field containing light scrub and large trees
- An artificial-barricade field constructed over a former go-kart track[1]
Wind affected play on the more exposed barricade field, while the weather otherwise remained mostly fine across the two days.
Teams
Twelve teams were originally included in the draw, but Team Gothique did not attend. Eleven teams competed:[1]
| Team | Division | Regional information recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Paint Contractors | First | Whangārei |
| Saints Black | First | Auckland |
| Saints Grey | First | Auckland |
| Katipo One | First | Auckland |
| Flashpoint | Second | South Island |
| Katipo Two | Second | Auckland |
| Kamo Karzi | Second | Auckland |
| Red Alert | Second | Auckland |
| Syrian Suicide Squad | Second | Not stated |
| Team Raven | Second | Not stated |
| Bay Boyz | Second | Hawke's Bay |
Flashpoint was appearing at its first Auckland tournament. Bay Boyz travelled from Hawke's Bay, while Kamo Karzi entered after winning the 1997 NPL Second Division.[1]
Saints Gold did not compete because members of the squad were attending the Paintball World Cup in Orlando, Florida.[1]
No-show procedure
Team Gothique was included in the original draw but did not attend.[1]
When a team was scheduled to play Gothique, it received a bye and was awarded the maximum game score of 100 points. These awarded scores contributed to the tournament totals.
Tournament
First day
Katipo One led after the first day with 598 points from a possible 600. Paint Contractors followed with 575 points.[1]
Kamo Karzi defeated both Saints Black and Saints Grey during the opening day. Flashpoint led the Second Division standings after the first day, followed by Kamo Karzi, Katipo Two and Team Raven.
The contemporary report contains inconsistent first-day figures for Saints Black, giving 336 points in its narrative and 366 in its accompanying table. Neither figure is required to establish the final tournament result.
Second day
Flashpoint's divisional classification became the subject of discussion after it was initially reported as a First Division team. Officials confirmed on the second day that Flashpoint would compete in Second Division.[1]
Saints Black recovered from its opening-day performance by scoring 530 points from a possible 600 on the second day.
Kamo Karzi moved to the top of Second Division and third place overall after defeating Paint Contractors in its final game and drawing 58–58 with Flashpoint.[1]
Results
The final overall and divisional standings were:[1]
| Overall position | Team | Division | Divisional position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Katipo One | First | 1st | 1,008 |
| 2 | Saints Black | First | 2nd | 866 |
| 3 | Kamo Karzi | Second | 1st | 818 |
| 4 | Paint Contractors | First | 3rd | 791 |
| 5 | Saints Grey | First | 4th | 780 |
| 6 | Team Raven | Second | 2nd | 642 |
| 7 | Katipo Two | Second | 3rd | 608 |
| 8 | Flashpoint | Second | 4th | 602 |
| 9 | Syrian Suicide Squad | Second | 5th | 422 |
| 10 | Red Alert | Second | 6th | 370 |
| 11 | Bay Boyz | Second | 7th | 210 |
Katipo One won First Division and the overall tournament. Kamo Karzi won Second Division and finished third overall.[1]
Trophy presentation
Saints Black captain Jo Pitts presented the national tournament trophy to Katipo One captain Reg Lowe.[1]
Kamo Karzi captain Allan Gatland accepted the Second Division trophy and thanked the team, tournament organisers and Kyn Jackson for his support during the season.
The spelling of Reg Lowe's surname was queried in the contemporary report. It should not be altered without supporting evidence.
Officiating and support
The contemporary report described the refereeing as consistent and stated that games began on schedule.[1]
The draw avoided back-to-back games for participating teams. The report also credited the players with generally fair conduct and good sportsmanship.
Fox Force Five, identified as an all-women team, provided food during the event but did not compete.[1]
Historical documentation
The tournament was documented by Rob Maddox, who competed for Kamo Karzi. His report was originally published through Paintball.co.nz.[1]
The report preserves the venue change, format, participating teams, divisional structure, final scores and trophy presentation.
The 1997 results were later incorporated into the retrospective Valhalla National Rankings. Those rankings should be distinguished from the results of the Nationals itself.
See also
- New Zealand Paintball Nationals
- National Paintball League (New Zealand)
- Actions Paintball
- Katipo
- Kamo Karzi
- Paintball.co.nz