Arena Paintball

Arena Paintball is an outdoor paintball venue located at 558 Kimbolton Road in Feilding, Manawatū, New Zealand. The facility offers recreational paintball, organised club sessions, tournament training and competitive speedball events.

Arena Paintball has hosted New Zealand and international paintball competitions, including the Arena Cup, Corkill Cup and Arena Five-Man Race Series.

The venue is associated with the New Zealand tournament teams Expendables Feilding and Manawatu Titans, and is operated by people involved with the Titans.

History

Establishment

Arena Paintball was established on the outskirts of Feilding, approximately 20 minutes from Palmerston North.

The exact opening date has not been established, although official tournament records confirm that the venue was operational by April 2021. [1]

The facility was developed to accommodate both recreational paintball and organised competitive play.

Its two playing areas allow visitors to participate in different game formats, while its tournament infrastructure supports five-player speedball and X-Ball competitions.

Arena Paintball's own website identifies members of Manawatu Titans as operating the venue. [2]

Business operations

Arena Paintball and Paintball Direct are listed as trading names of Custom Blinds Limited, a New Zealand registered company with company number 1666073 and NZBN 9429034647400.

Company records identify David Hopkins and Diane Karen Hopkins as directors of Custom Blinds Limited. [3]

Paintball Direct operates a retail paintball equipment business with a showroom at the same Kimbolton Road address as Arena Paintball.

The business sells paintball equipment and supplies and provides online registration and payment facilities for certain Arena Paintball tournaments. [4]

Facilities

Playing fields

Arena Paintball operates two outdoor playing areas described on its website as Airball and Speedball.

The Airball field accommodates inflatable paintball bunkers and is used for competitive speedball training and organised tournaments.

The separate Speedball area, also described by the venue as the COD Speedball field, supports recreational games and alternative game formats.

Both playing areas are used for organised club activities. [2]

Recreational paintball

Arena Paintball offers recreational paintball for individuals and organised groups.

Its activities include birthday parties, corporate events, social groups and other private bookings.

The venue provides rental markers, protective masks and paintballs.

Different equipment packages are available for younger and adult participants, including lighter markers using smaller paintballs for children.

The venue operates under published safety rules covering protective equipment, field access and game supervision. [5]

Club days and training

Arena Paintball provides regular opportunities for players to participate outside private recreational bookings.

Its published programme includes club days on the second and final Sunday of each month.

The second Sunday generally uses the Airball field, while the final Sunday uses the COD Speedball field.

The venue offers rental equipment for new players as well as field access for experienced competitors.

Arena Paintball has also offered annual passes providing access to designated club and training sessions. [2][6]

Tournament paintball

Paintball Factory Cup 2021

One of the earliest documented tournaments at Arena Paintball was the Paintball Factory Cup, held on 24 and 25 April 2021.

The event was registered through PBLeagues and used the Arena Paintball venue at 558 Kimbolton Road.

Eight teams were registered in the Open Five-Man division.

The competition used a ten-minute X-Ball format. [1]

The event provides independent confirmation of Arena Paintball's operation as a tournament venue by April 2021.

Arena Cup 2021

Arena Paintball hosted the Arena Cup on 10 and 11 July 2021.

The competition was advertised as a five-player Race event using a Mercy 3 format.

The event was capped at ten teams and featured a full round-robin preliminary stage followed by classification matches.

The original event announcement specified a hopper-plus-four-pod paint limit and a 12.5-balls-per-second ramping limit.

The organisers also provided a dedicated paid refereeing squad rather than relying on participating players to referee matches. [7]

The Arena Cup was an early example of the venue organising tournament-standard competition for New Zealand teams.

Corkill Cup 2021

Arena Paintball hosted the Corkill Cup on 23 and 24 October 2021.

The event continued an established tournament tradition honouring Steve Corkill and his family's contributions to paintball in New Zealand.

The competition was advertised as a two-day five-player Race event.

Its published playing conditions included:

Five-player Race format
Mercy 4 scoring
Ten-minute games
NXL ramping at 10.5 balls per second
Hopper plus two pods of paintballs
Dedicated refereeing team
Round-robin preliminary competition and finals

The organisers also advertised onsite camping and access to showers and toilets. [7]

The event illustrates Arena Paintball's role in hosting established New Zealand tournament traditions as well as newly organised competitions.

Arena Race Series 2022

Arena Paintball organised a three-round five-player Race competition during 2022.

The scheduled rounds were:

16–17 April 2022
4–5 June 2022
22–23 October 2022

The competitions used a five-player Race Mercy 4 format.

The original event announcements limited participation to ten teams per round.

Teams could enter individual rounds or register for all three events at a discounted series price. [7]

The series provided a structured competition calendar for New Zealand tournament teams.

Arena Race Tournament 2025

Arena Paintball continued hosting competitive tournaments in 2025.

Feilding's local events directory advertised an Arena Paintball Race Tournament for 31 May and 1 June 2025. [8]

The listing provides independent local documentation of the facility's continuing tournament activities.

Arena Five-Man Race Series 2026

Arena Paintball organised a three-round five-player Race Series during 2026.

The published calendar scheduled events for:

Round 1: 4–5 April 2026
Round 2: 11–12 July 2026
Round 3: 24–25 October 2026

All three events were scheduled at Arena Paintball in Feilding. [9]

The published competition regulations specified ten-minute games using a Mercy 4 format, with a hopper-plus-four-pod paint allowance.

The series permitted up to 14 teams per round, with eight players allowed on each roster.

Events included Cup and Plate classification competitions, trophies and medals.

The organisers also provided individual player awards, including Most Valuable Player and Most Improved Player. [10]

First round

The opening round took place on 4 and 5 April 2026.

The event attracted teams from New Zealand and Australia.

Sydney SWAT, an established Australian professional paintball team, competed at the venue and finished second.

The Australian team subsequently described the tournament as its first visit to New Zealand together as a squad. [11]

Second round

The second round was held on 11 and 12 July 2026.

Australian team Cult won the event, with Manawatu Titans finishing second and Sydney SWAT third.

The results were documented in contemporary posts by participating teams and the organisers. [11][12]

Provisional season standings

Arena Paintball published the following season standings after the second round:

Position	Team	Points
1	Manawatu Titans	386
2	Sydney SWAT	359
3	Cult	350
4	Expendables	303
5	Reavers	301
6	Lumberjacks	273
7	BOP Blast	262
8	Ballistics Unit 1	261
9	Surge	251
10	Misfits	208

The standings were published on 12 July 2026 and represented the provisional classification before the final round. [12]

The series demonstrated Arena Paintball's role as a cross-Tasman tournament venue, hosting teams from both New Zealand and Australia.

The final round was scheduled for 24 and 25 October 2026.

Competitive teams

Manawatu Titans

Manawatu Titans is a competitive paintball team based in Feilding and associated with Arena Paintball.

The venue's website identifies Titans members as involved in running its operations.

The team has competed internationally in the United States and Australia, including in the National Xball League's Semi-Pro division.

Manawatu Titans won the Semi-Pro X-Ball division at the 2022 NXL Golden State Open in the United States.

The team also participates in Arena Paintball's domestic competition programme.

Expendables Feilding

Expendables Feilding is an internationally active New Zealand paintball team founded by David Hopkins.

The team has competed in the Millennium Series, NXL Europe, Australian Super 7's and Paintball Asia League Series.

Its international achievements include winning the 2017 Millennium Series Semi-Professional championship and 2018 Australian Super 7's Professional season championship.

Arena Paintball has publicly described itself as a home venue for Expendables. [12]

The team continues to appear separately from Manawatu Titans in competition results.

Equipment and safety

Arena Paintball publishes rules for recreational and competitive activities.

Its safety procedures require participants to wear protective masks in playing areas and use barrel sleeves when leaving the field.

Markers must be chronographed before games, with the venue specifying a maximum velocity of 285 feet per second for outdoor recreational play.

The facility generally requires recreational participants to use equipment and paintballs supplied by Arena Paintball.

An exemption applies to approved tournament participants using their own competitive equipment. [5]

These rules form part of the venue's published operating procedures.

Role in New Zealand paintball

Arena Paintball provides facilities for both recreational participation and organised competitive paintball in the Manawatū region.

Since at least 2021, the venue has hosted tournaments involving New Zealand teams and visiting international competitors.

Its regular tournament programme includes five-player Race competitions, dedicated refereeing and structured season rankings.

The venue also provides club days and training opportunities for competitive players.

Through its competition programme, Arena Paintball has become a destination for New Zealand and Australian speedball teams.

References

PBLeagues. "Paintball Factory Cup." Official event registration confirming the Arena Paintball venue, 24–25 April 2021.
Arena Paintball. "About Us." Venue facilities, operations, fields, rental equipment and club-day information.
Company Hub. "Custom Blinds Limited." Company record listing Arena Paintball and Paintball Direct as trading names and David and Diane Hopkins as directors.
Paintball Direct NZ. Retail showroom information, identifying the Kimbolton Road address.
Arena Paintball. "Rules and Game Safety." Official safety regulations.
Paintball Direct. "Arena Paintball Annual Pass 2026." Club participation and field access programme.
Arena Paintball. "Events." Historical event listings for the 2021 Arena Cup, Corkill Cup and 2022 Arena Race Series.
Feilding.co.nz. "Arena Paintball Race Tournament." Local event listing for 31 May–1 June 2025.
Arena Paintball. "Arena Five-Man Race Series 2026." Official calendar showing the three scheduled events.
Paintball Direct. "2026 Race Events." Competition format, roster limitations, entry conditions and prize information.
Sydney SWAT. Historical team updates. Contemporary accounts of the April and July 2026 Arena Race Series rounds.
Arena Paintball. Historical social media updates. Tournament results and provisional standings published 12 July 2026.

External links