Insane (New Zealand Paintball Team)
Team Insane (also known as Insane) was a New Zealand competitive paintball team based in Auckland, active during the early 2000s. Formed around 2000 by players associated with the South Auckland Miniature Wargames Club and Red Alert Paintball Club, the team competed in national and regional three-player and seven-player tournaments.
Insane's most successful documented season was 2001, when it finished second in the national three-man team rankings compiled by the Valhalla database, with 181.7 ranking points. The team also competed in seven-man tournaments, including the Northland Open, RotoVegas in Rotorua and the New Zealand Nationals.[1]
History
Formation
Team Insane was formed in Auckland around 2000, bringing together players from the South Auckland Miniature Wargames Club and the Red Alert Paintball Club.
According to founding member Michael Earley, the team emerged from a group of younger players interested in organised tournament paintball who joined with existing members of the Red Alert paintball community.[4]
Kevin Lunt served as team captain. Other early members included Andy Lunt, Neil Morris, Vitaly Miheev, Francis Hambrook and Adam Hambrook.
Red Alert was associated with Auckland paintball operator Lance Potter, who was involved with the field before its later operation by Gavin Harrison.
The new team adopted the name Insane and began competing in regional and national tournaments during 2000.
Early competition
Insane's name appears in the 2000 national Valhalla rankings published by the New Zealand paintball website Mercenaries Star.
The team recorded nine ranking points in the published standings.[2]
The Valhalla database compiled results from tournaments throughout New Zealand, creating a national comparison of teams competing in different regions.
By 2001, Insane was competing in both seven-man and three-man formats.
The seven-man team entered several major New Zealand tournaments, while its three-man entries achieved stronger results in the national season rankings.
Later activity
Team members continued participating in tournament paintball during 2002.
Earley recalls competing at the Volcanic Rotorua tournament in 2002. He also recalls refereeing tournaments in Rotorua during 2002 and 2003 alongside Vitaly Miheev.[4]
These activities reflect the continued involvement of former or existing team members in the paintball community, although they do not establish that Insane entered every event concerned.
The precise date when Team Insane ceased competing is not documented.
Players
The early Team Insane playing group included:
| Player | Association |
|---|---|
| Kevin Lunt | Captain |
| Andy Lunt | Player |
| Neil Morris | Player |
| Michael Earley | Player |
| Vitaly Miheev | Player |
| Francis Hambrook | Player |
| Adam Hambrook | Player |
The membership information is based on Michael Earley's firsthand recollections of the team during its early years.[4]
The group was also associated with Jared Finlay and Tabitha Crump, although their participation in specific tournament lineups has not been established.
Individual rosters may have differed between events and between three-man and seven-man competition.
Tournament history
2000 season
Insane appears in the 2000 Valhalla national ranking table with a recorded score of nine ranking points.[2]
The Valhalla system evaluated performances from participating tournaments and incorporated results into an annual national table.
Its records were not necessarily a complete account of every tournament held in New Zealand, as the compiler acknowledged that some historical results were missing.[3]
The 2000 entry establishes Insane's participation in the national tournament scene by that year, although the surviving table does not provide a complete match-by-match record for the team.
2001 seven-man season
Insane competed in three recorded seven-man tournament events during 2001.
The Valhalla database lists the team in the Northland Open, RotoVegas in Rotorua and the New Zealand Nationals.[1]
The team's recorded ranking contributions were:
| Tournament | Ranking points |
|---|---|
| Northland Open | 6.7 |
| RotoVegas, Rotorua | 5.6 |
| New Zealand Nationals | 15.9 |
| Total | 28.2 |
Insane finished 21st among 23 teams in the published national seven-man season rankings, with 28.2 points.[1]
The results reflect ranking contributions calculated using the Valhalla methodology rather than raw match scores.
Northland Open
The Northland Open was one of New Zealand's established annual tournament competitions.
Insane participated in the 2001 event as part of its seven-man tournament programme.
Earley recalls playing at the tournament when he was approximately 17 years old, using a Spyder paintball marker and second-hand JT Proflex goggles.[4]
The team's Valhalla ranking contribution from the event was 6.7 points.[1]
RotoVegas
Insane also competed at the 2001 RotoVegas tournament in Rotorua.
The event was part of the Rotorua tournament tradition, which included the Volcanic Rotorua competitions held during the early 2000s.
The Valhalla standings credit Insane with 5.6 ranking points from the event.[1]
Earley recalls the tournament as one of his earliest experiences of competitive paintball against established New Zealand teams.[4]
New Zealand Nationals
Insane entered the New Zealand Nationals during the 2001 season.
Its recorded Valhalla ranking contribution was 15.9 points, the largest of its three recorded seven-man tournament contributions that year.[1]
The result contributed to the team's final seven-man season total of 28.2 ranking points.
2001 three-man season
Insane achieved its strongest documented national ranking in three-man competition during 2001.
The Valhalla standings placed the team second nationally with 181.7 ranking points.[1]
DamNatives Red finished first with 226.4 points, while Tag n' Release GPS finished third with 159.3 points.
| Position | Team | Ranking points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DamNatives Red | 226.4 |
| 2 | Insane | 181.7 |
| 3 | Tag n' Release GPS | 159.3 |
Insane's ranking was calculated from results recorded in the Indoor 3-Man Open Competition and Combat Zone 3-Mans.
| Competition | Ranking points |
|---|---|
| Indoor 3-Man Open Competition | 100 |
| Combat Zone 3-Mans – opening round | 56.7 |
| Combat Zone 3-Mans – final | 25 |
| Total | 181.7 |
The team's second-place position was an overall national season ranking, rather than necessarily a second-place finish at one individual tournament.
The ranking database calculated team performance from tournament-round results, applying different formulas to preliminary and final rounds.[3]
Insane B
The 2001 national three-man standings also list a second team entered as Insane B.
Insane B finished 24th in the published season rankings, recording 28.3 points from the opening round of the Combat Zone three-man competition.[1]
The separate entry indicates that Insane fielded more than one squad in three-man competition.
Valhalla treated named secondary teams as independent entries rather than combining their ranking points with the principal squad.[3]
The individual lineup of Insane B has not been established.
2002 Volcanic Rotorua
Players associated with Insane continued attending tournament events in 2002.
Earley recalls competing at the 2002 Volcanic Rotorua tournament and later being involved in tournament refereeing in the region.[4]
A historical account of the event has been associated with a provisional ninth-place Plate result for Insane, although the original event report has not yet been recovered for confirmation.
The team's participation and results during 2002 are less completely documented than its 2001 season.
Competition formats
Team Insane competed in both seven-man and three-man tournament paintball.
Seven-man paintball
Seven-man competition was a major tournament format in New Zealand during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Teams fielded seven players in elimination-style games, often using fields containing natural cover and purpose-built tournament obstacles.
Major events on the New Zealand calendar included the Northland Open, Rotorua tournaments and the New Zealand Nationals.
Insane competed in these events during the 2001 season.
Three-man paintball
Three-man competition used smaller squads and was commonly held on more compact tournament fields.
Insane participated in the Indoor 3-Man Open Competition and Combat Zone three-man events in 2001.
Its second-place national ranking in the format was considerably stronger than its seven-man ranking during the same season.
The 2001 Valhalla standings demonstrate that the two formats were ranked separately, allowing teams to appear in different positions depending on the competition category.
Valhalla rankings
The Mercenaries Star website maintained the Valhalla database, which compiled tournament results into national team rankings.
The system was designed to compare teams competing at events throughout New Zealand.
Ranking scores were calculated by converting tournament-round results into percentage-based performance values, with additional weighting for final rounds.[3]
Valhalla also treated secondary squads as separate teams where they competed under distinct names.
This methodology explains why Insane and Insane B appeared as separate entries in the 2001 three-man rankings.
The team's published ranking scores should be distinguished from individual match scores or tournament finishing positions.
Subsequent involvement of players
Several players associated with Team Insane remained active in paintball after the team's early tournament appearances.
Michael Earley continued playing, refereeing and working in the paintball industry in New Zealand and overseas.
He later worked with Auckland paintball operations including Lock N Load Paintball and Asylum Paintball.
Vitaly Miheev remained active in Auckland tournament paintball and was subsequently associated with the operation of Asylum Paintball at Kingseat.
These later activities represent the continued participation of individuals from the original team rather than the continuation of Team Insane as an organisation.
See also
- History of paintball in New Zealand
- Paintball in New Zealand
- Mercenaries Star
- Northland Open
- Volcanic Rotorua
- New Zealand Paintball Nationals
- Michael Earley
- Lock N Load Paintball
- Asylum Paintball
References
- Valhalla National Team Rankings, 2001. Mercenaries Star. Seven-man and three-man season standings, tournament ranking contributions and Insane B entry.
- Valhalla National Team Rankings, 2000. Mercenaries Star. Historical team rankings listing Insane.
- Valhalla National Ranking Methodology. Mercenaries Star. Explanation of ranking calculations, tournament rounds and secondary team entries.
- Michael Earley, oral-history recollections recorded for the New Zealand Paintball History project, October 2026. Firsthand account of the team's formation, players and tournament participation.