Editing Rotorua Invitational

'''Rotorua Invitational''', also called the '''Rotorua Invitational Paintball Days''', was a paintball competition organised by [[Tag n' Release]] and the Rotorua Paintball Club. Its inaugural event took place on '''3 December 2000''' at '''Blue Lake Reserve, Rotorua''', and was won by [[Katipo Paintball Team|Katipo]].[1]

== History ==

=== Inaugural event, 2000 ===

The Invitational brought together experienced and developing teams for competition and shared refereeing. Four teams attended the first event, playing each opponent twice on a temporary, symmetrical speedball field.[1]

Katipo and Dam Natives helped assemble the portable barriers. The Rotorua Paintball Club supplied the field and gas without charge.[1]

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Rotorua Invitational, 3 December 2000
! Team !! Recorded result
|-
| [[Katipo Paintball Team|Katipo]] || Winner
|-
| [[Tag n' Release]] || Participated
|-
| Havoc || Participated
|-
| Dam Natives || Participated
|}

Katipo accumulated the most points. The contemporary account does not give numerical scores, the remaining placings or individual playing rosters.[1]

=== Plans for further events ===

The organisers proposed invitation-only competitions every two or three months, expanding to six teams and introducing a trophy engraved with successive winners.[1]

Mercenaries Star's 2001 calendar also described a proposed Rotorua Invitational series associated with Tag n' Release and Paintball Rotorua.[2]

== Relationship with Volcanic Rotorua ==

The same organising community subsequently staged the separately named [[Volcanic Rotorua Paintball Tournament]] at Rotorua International Stadium on '''2–3 June 2001'''. That event used seven-player teams and included separate divisional finals.[3]

The stadium tournament's results and player records belong to Volcanic Rotorua rather than the December 2000 Invitational.

== See also ==

* [[Paintball in New Zealand]]
* [[Tag n' Release]]
* [[Katipo Paintball Team]]
* [[Volcanic Rotorua Paintball Tournament]]

== References ==

# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/Events/RIIndex.htm Russell “Dangermouse” Clement, ''Rotorua Invitational Paintball Days'', Mercenaries Star, inaugural event report and subsequent proposals; preserved by OoCities.]
# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/Events/EventsIndex.htm ''Annual Tournament Events'', Mercenaries Star, 2001; preserved by OoCities.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020811192709/http://www.paintball.co.nz/volcanic.htm Rob Maddox, ''The 2001 Rotorua Volcanic Paintball Tournament'', Paintball.co.nz; archived 11 August 2002.]

[[Category:Paintball tournaments in New Zealand]]
[[Category:New Zealand paintball history]]
[[Category:Paintball in the Bay of Plenty]]
[[Category:2000s in New Zealand paintball]]