New Zealand Local Series

New Zealand Local Series (NZLS) was a New Zealand tournament paintball series which organised competitions at multiple venues across the North Island. Surviving results sheets and contemporary reports document events from 2012 to 2019, including competitions in Hastings, Rotorua, Whanganui, Palmerston North, Hāwera and Auckland.[1][2][3][4][19][20][21][22]

Documented champions include Expendables, which secured the 2014 series with one round remaining, and Ballistics Unit, which won consecutive titles in 2018 and 2019.[12][14][22][23]

The series' exact founding date has not been established. By February 2020, another New Zealand paintball organiser reported that NZLS was no longer running.[15]

History

2012 season

An annotated results sheet supplied by Benjamin James Crockett-Androutsos documents the 2012 NZLS Hastings Tournament. The sheet identifies Hastings and 2012 in handwritten annotations and records thirteen ranked teams. Expendables led the recorded standings with 957 points, followed by Arachnidz with 934 and Rusty As with 920.[19]

2014 season

A second annotated results sheet identifies Round 3 in Hastings in 2014. It records ten teams, with Unstable ranked first on 1,725 points, Expendables second on 1,420 and Tempest Blast third on 1,412.[20]

Contemporary newspaper reports identify an NZLS tournament held on 12 October at Kaierau Country Club in Whanganui. The preview called the competition the NZ Local Series, while the subsequent report used the description New Zealand Paintball Regional Series. Both identified the Kaierau venue and organiser Ben Androutsos.[21][22]

The series had been running since March and involved approximately twenty teams across the season. Eight teams attended the October tournament, which Expendables won after also winning the September event.[22]

Expendables secured the overall series title with one round remaining. After the October event, the reported leading series positions were Expendables first, Tempest Blast second, Dysfunctional third and Pentakill fourth. These were interim series standings, rather than the October tournament's finishing order.[22][23]

The final round was scheduled for November at Kaierau. A separate Wanganui Cup competition ran alongside NZLS; Expendables also led that competition, whose final was likewise scheduled for November at the venue.[22][23]

2015 season

Contemporary reports from CAMO MEAT identify Rotorua as the location of the opening round. The team described entering two squads in its first NZLS appearance.[1]

Team Hijinx subsequently published photographs from an NZLS Round 3 tournament in Hastings in May 2015.[2]

Outpost 43 documented the season-ending tournament in Whanganui through a photographic album published in November. Its accompanying report described NZLS as an eight-round competition held throughout the year at different locations around the central North Island.[3]

Outpost 43 congratulated CAMO MEAT on finishing third overall in the championship and winning the Wanganui Speedball Cup. These were separately identified achievements; the report does not establish that winning the cup was equivalent to winning the NZLS final round or overall series.[3]

2016 season

Outpost 43 published a 108-photograph album titled NZLS @ LnL Round 4 2016, documenting a fourth-round event at Lock N Load Adventures.[4]

An event in Hāwera is documented in footage published by Shupershuff. The recording PB NZLS 2016 - Hawera: Immortal vs CZ 2 identifies a match involving Immortal Knights and CZ. Its April 2017 upload date is not the tournament date.[5]

2017 season

Aces High Paintball event

PBLeagues records an NZLS tournament scheduled for 12 February 2017 at Aces High Paintball, 263 Flygers Line, Palmerston North. Listed as NZLS Event #1 Aces High Paintball, it advertised Division Four five-player competition using five-minute games.[6]

Six teams were registered:[6]

Team
Aces
Arachnidz
BOP Blast
Disturbed
Friendly Fire
Immortal Knights

The database preserves entries and scheduled matches. Its displayed placings are not treated as confirmed results because the available schedule does not establish completed scores and the corresponding league championship page contains no completed season results.[6]

Hāwera

A separate Hāwera competition is documented by Shupershuff's recording PB NZLS 2017 - Round 1 Hawera, published on 8 April 2017 and identifying Immortal Knights.[7]

The recording's Round 1 designation is retained as published. Its relationship to the Aces High event numbered Event #1 in PBLeagues has not been established.[6][7]

Final round

Outpost 43 published an 80-photograph album titled NZLS 2017 Final Round LnL on 19 November 2017, documenting the season-ending event at Lock N Load Adventures.[8]

2018 season

Round 2

Surge documented Round 2 at Asylum Paintball through a 40-photograph album in April. In a report published on 1 May, the team acknowledged podium finishes by Ballistics Unit and BOP Blast and thanked Johan and Luke for organising the tournament.[9]

The report stated that the competition had not been played to completion. It does not establish the full results or identify which matches remained outstanding.[9]

Round 3

Surge documented the third round in July through a 59-photograph tournament album. The record identifies the round and month but does not provide complete standings.[10]

Final round and championship

The final round was held at Asylum Paintball in Auckland. Bay of Plenty Paintball Club reported entering two squads, with its leading team finishing second at the event and second overall in the North Island series. Its report, published on 14 November, described heavy rain during the tournament.[11]

Ballistics Unit identified itself as the 2018 NZLS series champion in an announcement published on 28 January 2019.[12]

Crisis Paintball Northland's retrospective history also records its return to tournament competition at NZLS Round 4 in 2018.[13]

2019 season

Round 1

The opening round was held at Asylum Paintball in March. Kaos Theory won, with two Ballistics Unit squads finishing second and third. Ballistics Unit confirmed these placings in a report published on 9 March.[16]

Round 2

The second round was held in May. Ballistics Unit reported winning with Ballistics Unit 1, while Ballistics Unit 2 finished third. Its report credited Expendables with supplying the inflatable bunkers and assisting with field preparation.[17]

Hāwera event

An NZLS tournament took place in Hāwera during October. In a report published on 27 October, Ballistics Unit stated that it had won the round-robin stage and secured the series championship with one round remaining.[18]

The report also identified Chris Waters as the winner of the event's one-on-one competition for a second consecutive year. Winning the round robin is distinguished from winning the entire event, as the account does not establish final tournament placings.[18]

Championship

Ballistics Unit confirmed its 2019 championship in a retrospective published on 1 December, describing consecutive NZLS titles in 2018 and 2019.[14]

Crisis Paintball Northland separately reported finishing third in the 2019 series. This placing comes from the team's retrospective history and has not been independently verified against a complete championship table.[13]

End of the series

On 8 February 2020, the newly established East Coast Paintball League (ECPL) announced that it intended to fill a gap in the regional competition calendar because NZLS was no longer operating.[15]

The announcement described a programme intended to encourage participation and new players, and referred to adopting X-Ball following the example of the New Zealand Race Series. It does not establish an exact NZLS closure date or a formal organisational relationship between NZLS and ECPL.[15]

Competition format

Formats are documented in individual tournament records. The October 2014 Whanganui event used a centre-flag format, with teams seeking to hang the flag at their opponents' base.[21]

The February 2017 Aces High event was registered as Division Four five-player competition with five-minute games.[6]

The surviving records do not establish that one ruleset, match duration or divisional structure applied throughout the series.

Venues

Location	Venue or event	Documented year
Hastings	Hastings tournament	2012[19]
Hastings	Round 3	2014[20]
Whanganui	Kaierau Country Club	2014[21][22]
Rotorua	Opening round	2015[1]
Hastings	Round 3	2015[2]
Whanganui	Season final	2015[3]
Hāwera	NZLS tournament	2016[5]
Palmerston North	Aces High Paintball	2017[6]
Hāwera	Round 1 recording	2017[7]
Auckland	Lock N Load Adventures	2016 and 2017[4][8]
Kingseat, Auckland	Asylum Paintball	2018 and 2019[9][11][16]
Hāwera	NZLS tournament	2019[18]

The table records documented locations rather than a complete venue history.

Documented championship results

Season	Team	Result	Evidence
2014	Expendables	Series champion	Newspaper reports confirming the title was secured with one round remaining.[22][23]
2015	CAMO MEAT	3rd overall	Outpost 43 contemporary report.[3]
2018	Ballistics Unit	Series champion	Team announcement.[12]
2018	Bay of Plenty Paintball Club squad	2nd overall	Club's contemporary report.[11]
2019	Ballistics Unit	Series champion	Team championship report.[14]
2019	Crisis Paintball Northland	Reported 3rd overall	Team retrospective; independently unconfirmed.[13]

Individual tournament results

Event	Documented result
2012 NZLS Hastings Tournament	Recorded standings: Expendables 1st, Arachnidz 2nd, Rusty As 3rd.[19]
2014 NZLS Hastings Round 3	Recorded standings: Unstable 1st, Expendables 2nd, Tempest Blast 3rd.[20]
2014 NZLS September Tournament	Expendables, 1st.[22]
2014 NZLS October Tournament	Expendables, 1st.[22][23]
2015 Wanganui Speedball Cup	CAMO MEAT, 1st; separately identified from its NZLS championship placing.[3]
2018 NZLS Final Round	Bay of Plenty Paintball Club squad, 2nd.[11]
2019 NZLS Round 1	Kaos Theory, 1st; Ballistics Unit squads, 2nd and 3rd.[16]
2019 NZLS Round 2	Ballistics Unit 1, 1st; Ballistics Unit 2, 3rd.[17]
2019 NZLS Hāwera Event	Ballistics Unit won the round robin; Chris Waters won the one-on-one competition.[18]

These are individual event results and awards, not cumulative series standings.

See also

• 2016 NZLS Round 4
• 2016 NZLS Hāwera Event
• 2017 NZLS Hāwera Event
• 2017 NZLS Final Round
• 2018 NZLS Round 2
• 2018 NZLS Round 3
• East Coast Paintball League
• New Zealand Race Series
• History of paintball in New Zealand

References

1. CAMO MEAT – Historical team posts describing the 2015 NZLS opening round in Rotorua.
2. Team Hijinx – NZLS Round 3 Hastings photographs, Facebook, May 2015.
3. Outpost 43 – 2015 NZLS championship placing, Wanganui Speedball Cup and final-round photographs, Facebook, November 2015.
4. Outpost 43 – NZLS at Lock N Load Round 4 2016, Facebook photographic album.
5. Shupershuff – PB NZLS 2016 - Hawera: Immortal vs CZ 2, YouTube, uploaded 8 April 2017.
6. PBLeagues – NZLS Event #1 Aces High Paintball, registration and event details, 12 February 2017.
7. Shupershuff – PB NZLS 2017 - Round 1 Hawera, YouTube, uploaded 8 April 2017.
8. Outpost 43 – NZLS 2017 Final Round at Lock N Load, photographic album, published 19 November 2017.
9. Surge Paintball Team – NZLS Round 2 report, Facebook, 1 May 2018.
10. Surge Paintball Team – NZLS Round 3 July 2018, Facebook photographic album.
11. Bay of Plenty Paintball Club – NZLS: 2018 season ending on a high, 14 November 2018.
12. Ballistics Unit – 2018 NZLS series championship announcement, Instagram, 28 January 2019.
13. Crisis Paintball Northland – Retrospective team history documenting the 2018 return and reported 2019 season placing.
14. Ballistics Unit – 2019 season retrospective and consecutive NZLS championship report, Instagram, 1 December 2019.
15. East Coast Paintball League – Establishment announcement referring to the cessation of NZLS, Facebook, 8 February 2020.
16. Ballistics Unit – NZLS Round 1 tournament results, Instagram, 9 March 2019.
17. Ballistics Unit – NZLS Round 2 results, Instagram, 11 May 2019.
18. Ballistics Unit – NZLS Hāwera event and championship report, Instagram, 27 October 2019.
19. Tournament results sheet, annotated “2012 / Hastings”, supplied by Benjamin James Crockett-Androutsos and identified as NZLS material in the accompanying research correspondence. Scan held in the WikiPaintball research collection as IMG_20261102_0003.pdf.
20. Tournament results sheet, annotated “Hastings / Rd 3 / 2014”, supplied by Benjamin James Crockett-Androutsos. Scan held in the WikiPaintball research collection as IMG_20261102_0002.pdf.
21. Jared Smith, “Shooters take over grounds”, Whanganui Chronicle / NZ Herald, 11 October 2014, New Zealand time.
22. Iain Hyndman, “Feilding team hottest shots in speedball +Photos”, Whanganui Chronicle / NZ Herald, 13 October 2014, New Zealand time. Print edition: “Feilding team hottest shots in speedball”, Wanganui Chronicle, 13 October 2014, p. 28.
23. “Time for a splash of paint”, Wanganui Chronicle, 13 October 2014, p. 7. Photographs by Bevan Conley; newspaper image supplied for research.

External links

• New Zealand Local Series – Facebook
• New Zealand Local Series – PBLeagues historical records