Kyn Jackson

Kyn Allan Jackson, also known as Kyn "Action" Jackson, is a New Zealand paintball player, referee, field operator and tournament organiser whose involvement in the sport dates to approximately 1985. He is associated with Actions Paintball, the National Paintball League (NPL), the New Zealand Paintball Nationals and international tournament paintball.[1][2][3]

Jackson's playing history includes Auckland Killer Mercenaries, Warlocks, Dragons Claw, Saints, Black Dragon and the Australian team Jetts. He later participated in New Zealand's international paintball activities in Malaysia.[1][4][5][6][7]

He also worked as a referee, including at the 2004 PSP Chicago Open in the United States.[9][10][11]

Early paintball career

Auckland Killer Mercenaries, 1985

In personal correspondence with a WikiPaintball contributor in October 2026, Jackson recalled beginning paintball in 1985 through a group of friends known as AKM, or Auckland Killer Mercenaries.[1]

His recollection is consistent with a contemporary player profile archived on 4 February 1998. In that profile, he stated that he had been involved in paintball for approximately 12 to 13 years and had discovered the game through a social outing with friends.[2]

The exact date and location of the original AKM games have not been established.

World Challenge Tag and early refereeing

Jackson recalled beginning to referee shortly after taking up paintball. He identified World Challenge Tag (WCT) as a venue where he refereed around 1986.[1]

An Actions Paintball business description subsequently recalled that Jackson had played and refereed at the original Riverhead Forest location during its early operations. World Challenge Tag's own company history dates its activity at Riverhead to 1985.[15][21]

Tactics Paintball and Warlocks

Jackson recalled playing at Tactics Paintball at Bethells Beach from approximately 1987, associating his early playing experience with Dave Pellet.[1]

He subsequently played for a team known as Warlocks and recalled competing against Unit 13, Screaming Eagles and Renegades at Tactics.[1]

A New Zealand paintball field directory archived in February 1998 independently confirms Pellet's association with Tactics and describes the venue's woodland playing areas at Bethells Beach.[3]

The dates and results of the early Warlocks matches have not been independently recovered.

Dragons Claw

Jackson identified Dragons Claw among the teams for which he played.[1]

Dragons Claw was active in Auckland tournament paintball during the mid-1990s. Two associated entries, Hell Patrol and Sentinels, competed at the 1995 New Zealand Paintball Nationals at Tactics, Bethells Beach, on 21-22 October 1995.[4]

Jackson's individual participation in those two tournament entries has not been established.

Dragons Claw should be distinguished from Black Dragon, a separately named team with which Jackson was associated in a 2001 tournament announcement.[5]

Other early playing activities

Jackson also recalled playing stock-class paintball at Thunderbolt in Wellington, using a PGP pistol.[1]

He recalled organising a paintball party in 1991, before his later involvement in commercial field management and national tournament organisation.[1]

Tournament playing career

Saints

By February 1998, Jackson was a member of Saints.

His contemporary New Zealand Paintball player profile identified him as both a Saints player and an operator of Actions Paintball.[2]

In the same profile, Jackson named the Automag as his preferred paintball marker and expressed support for more international and inter-city competition in New Zealand.[2]

Black Dragon

A contemporary announcement for the 2001 New Zealand Paintball Nationals identified Jackson as the tournament organiser and listed his team as Black Dragon.[5]

The announcement was preserved in an August 2001 Internet Archive capture of Paintball.co.nz. It identified Jackson as a member of Black Dragon before the tournament and separately advertised the participation of Australia's Jetts.[5]

The available records do not establish an organisational relationship between Black Dragon and the earlier Dragons Claw team.

Jetts and the 2001 Volcanic Rotorua tournament

Jackson was involved with the Australian tournament team Jetts during its participation in New Zealand competitions in 2001.

A contemporary report by Rob Maddox on the 2001 Volcanic Rotorua Paintball Tournament specifically identified Jackson of Actions Paintball as assisting Jetts.[6]

The tournament took place on 2-3 June 2001 at Rotorua International Stadium.

Jetts won Division One with 290 final-round points, followed by Saints on 220 and Katipo A on 145.[6]

The report documents Jackson's involvement with the Australian team, although it does not provide an individual match roster identifying every game in which he played.

Jetts at the 2001 New Zealand Nationals

Jackson also played for Jetts at the 2001 New Zealand Paintball Nationals, held at Actions Paintball during Labour Weekend in October.[7]

Maddox's contemporary tournament report explicitly identified Jackson as both the event organiser and a Jetts player.

The Australian team supplemented its roster with Black Dragon players after the collapse of Ansett disrupted the travel arrangements of some of its members.[7]

Jetts reached the First Division final stage and finished third with 160 points, behind Saints on 225 and Katipo on 165.

An initial scoring error resulted in Jetts receiving the second-place trophy. The placings were corrected following a countback.[7]

Jackson's involvement with both Black Dragon and Jetts in 2001 should therefore be understood in the context of team affiliations and tournament-specific guest playing.

Team Kiwi and Malaysia

Jackson was subsequently involved with Team Kiwi, a name used by New Zealand tournament groups assembled for international competition.

Photographic evidence places him in Kuala Lumpur during the December 2004 Nation Cup. A photograph uploaded by Martin Dannefaerd on 5 January 2005 identifies Jackson in its caption alongside the tournament's airport banner.[8]

The photograph was taken on 8 December 2004 and forms part of Dannefaerd's Malaysia 2k4 album, which documents the 2004 Nation Cup organised by Xtion Paintball.[8]

Jackson was also associated with a later Team Kiwi delegation organised for competition in Malaysia. Complete event-specific rosters and results for the later trip have not been recovered.

Refereeing

Early New Zealand refereeing

Jackson's refereeing experience dates to the early period of his involvement in paintball.

He recalled refereeing games at World Challenge Tag around 1986, shortly after beginning to play.[1]

His subsequent experience as a tournament organiser also involved the recruitment and management of referees at competitive events.

2004 PSP Chicago Open

Jackson refereed at the 2004 PSP Chicago Open, held from 23 to 27 June 2004 at Badlandz Paintball Field in Crete, Illinois, United States.[9][10][11]

The tournament was part of the Paintball Sports Promotions series and included five-player, ten-player, divisional X-Ball and National X-Ball League competition.[9]

Photographs originally published by the paintball media website Force of Nature were subsequently reproduced in Jackson's personal Facebook photo album.

Jackson uploaded the photographs on 15 August 2009, identifying the event in his captions as X-Ball Chicago 2004 and describing it as part of his 2004 world tour.[11]

One photograph records an incident involving Chris Lasoya, which Jackson described in the caption as a knee injury sustained while hanging the flag. Another caption recalls seeing Bob Long watching the tournament.

The photographs include an on-field referee, identified as Jackson through firsthand information supplied to WikiPaintball by a contributor with access to the original album.[11]

The screenshots establish a documented refereeing appearance at a major American tournament, rather than merely attendance as a spectator.

Actions Paintball

Establishment

Jackson established Actions Paintball in Auckland during the 1990s.

A retrospective business description dates the start of Actions Paintball to 1994 at Te Atatū North.[15]

A New Zealand Paintball field directory archived in February 1998 listed Jackson and Amon Johnson as contacts for Actions Paintball Sports Arena. It also documented the involvement of Saints players in operating the field.[3]

Actions subsequently operated recreational and tournament venues at Swanson in west Auckland and Beachlands in east Auckland.

Company records

New Zealand Companies Register records identify Jackson as a director of Actions Paintball Limited, company number 1501339, incorporated on 2 April 2004.

The company changed its name to Ace Paintball Limited on 22 March 2006.[16]

A separate Actions Paintball Limited, company number 1793502, was incorporated on 31 March 2006, with Jackson appointed as its director.[17]

These incorporation dates postdate the documented establishment of the playing-field operation.

Swanson and Riverhead

Actions Paintball operated its Swanson venue until June 2013.

On 27 June 2013, the business announced that the site would close because of redevelopment of the land. It stated that the venue had been in operation for approximately fourteen years.[18]

From July 2013, west Auckland bookings moved to World Challenge Tag's Riverhead Forest venue, while Actions continued operating at Beachlands.

In June 2018, Actions announced the consolidation of its operations with World Challenge Tag, with the combined business operating solely from Riverhead Forest.[19]

Tournament organisation

National Paintball League

Actions Paintball Sports Arena was one of the three original commercial field operators involved in the National Paintball League, which began in 1997.

The league was established through an initiative by Ian Southern and Dave Pellet. Participating operators initially included Splatman, Strategy Tag and Actions Paintball Sports Arena.[12]

The NPL organised First and Second Division competitions.

After the original structure lost support from its participating operators in 1999, Jackson took responsibility for the remaining league administration.

According to the historical account preserved by Mercenaries Star, he discontinued Second Division while continuing the association of established tournaments under the First Division structure.[12]

New Zealand Paintball Nationals

Jackson organised multiple editions of the New Zealand Paintball Nationals at Actions Paintball.

The 2001 championship attracted eighteen teams and used three playing fields: Minefield, Symetrical and Sup'Air.[7]

At the tournament's prizegiving, Jackson received a NeoTech paintball harness in recognition of his contribution to the Nationals and the four preceding editions.

The contemporary report credited him with helping develop tournament paintball in New Zealand.[7]

Jackson continued organising the Nationals during the 2000s.

The 2007 New Zealand Paintball Nationals was held at Actions Paintball in Swanson on 20-21 October. Jackson published event information and updates through the NZ P8NT forum. Menace won the tournament ahead of Muppets Inc, with Fusion third and Intense fourth.[20]

Other tournaments

A tournament calendar preserved by Mercenaries Star credited Jackson with changing APSA Mayhem from five-player to seven-player competition as part of a move towards international tournament formats.[13]

Jackson was also involved in preparations for an early Rotorua Invitational. Russell Clement reported that Jackson had been asked to manage the tournament while members of the organising team competed.[14]

This proposed management role concerned the Rotorua Invitational programme and should not be confused with his documented involvement with Jetts at the 2001 Volcanic Rotorua tournament.

References

Kyn Jackson, personal correspondence with a WikiPaintball contributor, October 2026. Firsthand recollections covering AKM, early refereeing, Tactics Paintball, Warlocks, Dragons Claw, early tournament opponents, stock-class paintball and recreational event organisation. Unpublished communication.
Kyn Allan Jackson: Who's Who of New Zealand Paintball. Contemporary player profile, archived 4 February 1998.
Fields, Clubs and Stores. New Zealand Paintball field directory, archived 4 February 1998.
1995 New Zealand Paintball Nationals. WikiPaintball, citing Cameron McLeay, Australian Paintballer, December 1995-February 1996, p. 63. Contemporary results identifying Dragons Claw Hell Patrol and Sentinels.
Actions Paintball New Zealand Nationals, 2001 announcement. Paintball.co.nz, archived 13 August 2001. Identifies Kyn Jackson as organiser and his team as Black Dragon.
Volcanic Paintball Tournament, 2001. Rob Maddox, Paintball.co.nz. Contemporary report identifying Jackson's involvement with Jetts and the team's Division One victory.
The 2001 New Zealand Paintball Nationals. Rob Maddox, Paintball.co.nz. Contemporary tournament report identifying Jackson as organiser and Jetts player, the team's third-place finish and Jackson's prizegiving recognition.
DSC02369. Martin Dannefaerd, photograph from the Malaysia 2k4 collection, taken 8 December 2004 and uploaded 5 January 2005. Caption identifies Kyn Jackson at Kuala Lumpur airport.
PSP Chicago Open. Dawn Mills, WARPIG, June 2004. Contemporary event report documenting the competition at Badlandz.
PSP Events. PBLeagues, official historical event listing identifying the Chicago Open dates as 23-27 June 2004.
X-Ball Chicago 2004 photographs. Kyn Jackson, personal Facebook album, posted 15 August 2009. Photographs bearing Force of Nature branding; captions identify the Chicago tournament, Bob Long and Chris Lasoya. Screenshots supplied to WikiPaintball on 29 October 2026, together with firsthand confirmation of Jackson's refereeing role. Public access to the original album may require Facebook login.
The Rise and Fall of the New Zealand National Paintball League. Mercenaries Star, historical account of league establishment and administration.
Annual Tournament Events and New Zealand Paintball Series. Mercenaries Star, historical tournament calendar.
Rotorua Invitational Paintball Days. Russell Clement, Mercenaries Star, tournament planning account.
WCT Paintball business description. Retrospective Actions Paintball business history, reproduced by Infoisinfo. Records the stated 1994 establishment at Te Atatū North and Jackson's earlier involvement at World Challenge Tag.
Actions Paintball Limited, company number 1501339. New Zealand Companies Register.
Actions Paintball Limited, company number 1793502. New Zealand Companies Register.
Actions Paintball: Latest News and Blog. Swanson relocation announcement, 27 June 2013.
Actions Paintball: Our Fields. June 2018 announcement of consolidation with World Challenge Tag.
National Champs Labour Weekend 2007. NZ P8NT forum, tournament announcements and results, December 2006-October 2007.
About World Challenge Tag. Official operator history of its Riverhead Forest paintball facility.

External links