Editing South Pacific Championships

'''South Pacific Championships''', also known as the '''New Zealand South Pacific Championship''' or '''South Pacs''', was a paintball tournament associated with the Wellington region of New Zealand. Its history includes an early account of ten-player competition, five-player tournaments in 2000–01 and seven-player competition in 2002.[1][6][8][9]

It was separate from the [[South Pacific Paintball Championships (Australia)|similarly named Australian competition]].

== History ==
=== Early history ===
In an account of [[House Steiner]]'s formation, Willy Aull recalled that John Sheldon and Lyall Norton of Thunderball Adventure Games were planning the first Wellington South Pacific Open during 1990. The proposed tournament used ten-player teams. This date comes from Aull's retrospective account.[1]

=== 1994 ===
The [[1994 South Pacific Championships|planned 1994 edition]] was cancelled because of insufficient entries. In contemporary correspondence, Tony Witheridge attributed the limited participation partly to players being unable to afford the entry fee.[2]

=== 1995 ===
The [[1995 South Pacific Championships|1995 championship]] took place in Wellington over Easter. [[Saints (New Zealand paintball team)|Saints]] won, with Australia's Sydney HEAT finishing second. It was Sydney HEAT's first tournament outside Australia.[3]

A later report also recorded Dragons Claw's participation in stock-class competition at the event.[4]

=== 1996 ===
The [[1996 South Pacific Championships|1996 championship]] was advertised for 5–7 April in Wellington. The published calendar named Wayne Hillman as the tournament contact.[5]

=== 2000 ===
The [[2000 South Pacific Championships|2000 championship]] took place at Thunderball Adventure Games on 22–23 April, followed by a recreational day on 24 April. Ten teams attended the five-player competition.[6]

[[Wellington Phoenix (paintball team)|Phoenix]] qualified for the finals alongside Saints, House Steiner and Paint Contractors, then finished fourth. The Phoenix account does not establish the finishing order of the other three finalists.[6]

=== 2001 ===
The [[2001 South Pacific Championships|2001 tournament]] took place on 14–15 April at Thunderball Paintball, Manor Park. The announcement specified open five-player centre-flag competition under Australian Paintball Players League rules, with John Clement as the contact.[8]

[[Tag n' Release]] won the tournament. Phoenix's team history records fourth place.[6][7]

=== 2002 ===
Eight teams competed in the [[2002 South Pacific Championships|2002 seven-player tournament]] on 30–31 March at Thunderball Adventure Games. Games took place on the venue's speedball field, which used tyre barricades and large cable reels. Wayne Hilliam served as ultimate referee.[9]

Saints, Tag n' Release, Damage and [[Tag and Training]] qualified for the finals. Saints won, while Tag and Training finished one point ahead of Tag n' Release.[9]

{| class="wikitable"
|+ 2002 finishing order
! Position !! Team
|-
| 1 || [[Saints (New Zealand paintball team)|Saints]]
|-
| 2 || [[Tag and Training]]
|-
| 3 || [[Tag n' Release]]
|-
| 4 || Damage
|-
| 5 || [[Wellington Phoenix (paintball team)|Phoenix]]
|-
| 6 || Rush
|-
| 7 || [[Flashpoint (New Zealand)|Flashpoint]]
|-
| 8 || Tag 'n' Boys
|}

The contemporary report gives the finishing order but does not publish points totals.[9]

== Editions ==
* [[1994 South Pacific Championships]] — cancelled
* [[1995 South Pacific Championships]]
* [[1996 South Pacific Championships]] — advertised
* [[2000 South Pacific Championships]]
* [[2001 South Pacific Championships]]
* [[2002 South Pacific Championships]]

== See also ==
* [[Paintball in New Zealand]]
* [[South Pacific Paintball Championships (Australia)]]
* [[Wellington Cup]]
* [[New Zealand Paintball Nationals]]

== References ==
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020222021443/http://www.paintball.co.nz/whwaull.htm Willy Aull, Paintball.co.nz player profile]. Archived 22 February 2002.
# Tony Witheridge, “Tony has a go at Lukas”, ''[[Australian Paintballer]]'', June–July 1995, p. 23.
# Peter Russell, “Sydney HEAT make friends in high places”, ''Australian Paintballer'', June–July 1995, p. 9.
# Cameron McLeay, “The New Zealand Nationals — Labour Weekend 1995”, ''Australian Paintballer'', December 1995–February 1996, p. 63.
# “New Zealand Tournament Calendar 1996”, ''Australian Paintballer'', April–June 1996, p. 70.
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20011020080141fw_/http://www.blacksun.co.nz/phoenix/news.htm Wellington Phoenix, News]. South Pacific Championship reports headed 27 April 2000 and 24 April 2001. Archived 20 October 2001.
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20011217030354fw_/http://www.blacksun.co.nz/phoenix/history.htm Wellington Phoenix, History]. Records 2000–01 tournament results. Archived 17 December 2001.
# [https://www.oocities.org/mercstar_nz/Events/SouthPac.htm South Pacific Championships]. Mercenaries Star, tournament announcement for 14–15 April 2001. Preserved by OoCities.
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020817064944/http://www.paintball.co.nz/sthpac02.htm SouthPacs 2002]. Paintball.co.nz. Includes Martin Dannefaerd's tournament report and “South Pacs 30–31 March 2002” by Ants, captain of Team T.N.T. Archived 17 August 2002.

[[Category:Paintball tournaments in New Zealand]]
[[Category:Paintball in Wellington]]
[[Category:New Zealand paintball history]]
[[Category:1990s in New Zealand paintball]]
[[Category:2000s in New Zealand paintball]]