Australian Hockey League
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| Sport | Field Hockey |
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| Inaugural season | 1991 |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Country | Australia |
| Most recent champion(s) | Queensland Blades (men) Queensland Scorchers (women) |
| Most titles | WA Thundersticks (9 times)(men) NSW Arrows (9 times)(women) |
| Official website | Official website |
The Australian Hockey League (AHL) [1] is Australia’s premier national domestic field hockey competition. Despite its non-professional nature, AHL is considered one of the strongest and most competitive national field hockey leagues in the world. The AHL consists of both men's and women's competition. It includes many players from the Kookaburras and the Hockeyroos, and participating in the AHL is a selection requirement for all Australian national squad members.
Contents
History
The first season of the Australian Men's National Hockey League (former AHL) took place in 1991, when the perpetual national championship was replaced by a new-look format. The competition, which was played over a two-month period, did not limit player eligibility to state of origin. Six teams competed in the first year - Brisbane Blades, Melbourne Redbacks, Adelaide Hotshots, Canberra Lakers, Sydney Stingrays and Tamworth Frogs. In 1991 and 1992, both the National Championship and the National Hockey League was played, placing a financial burden on the states. From 1993, the decision was made to play the National Hockey League as the sole competition in determining Australia's champion State.
The league has since evolved into an eight team competition played on a home and away basis before climaxing with a finals series. In 2000, 2004 and 2008 however, the league reverted to a two-week championship format. This format is designed to replicate the intense nature and heavy playing schedule of the Olympic Games. The league embraced some big changes leading into the 2001 season as the former Men's and Women's National Hockey League combined to form the Australian Hockey League (AHL). Both the men's and women's leagues shifted their seasons from mid-year to February–April and a unique format was adopted. The format devised allows a high level of hockey to be seen across Australia through four weeks of home-and-away competition. The league then climaxes with a full finals week that comprises three round matches, the semi-finals and finals.
Competition format
Alternate years
Each team plays a home & away series against 4 of the other teams, over 4 consecutive weekends, with 2 games in each series. Giving each team 8 home & away matches. The 8 teams then converge in one city for the finals week, where each team plays the other 3 teams once, for double points, and then plays the relevant cross-over game and classification game.
Olympic years
The 8 teams converge in one city for 2 weeks, where each team plays the other 7 teams once, for double points, and then plays the relevant cross-over game and classification game.
2010
The AHL will take on a new format in 2010.[2] The 2010 men’s tournament will be played over two rounds and a finals week, consisting of each team playing a total of eleven matches. Round 1 will involve two pools of four teams that are linked geographically. The four teams in each pool complete a round robin in one of the region’s designated locations.
Round 2 will be played in two different locations. It will again involve two pools (pools will be different from those in round 1).
Due to conflicts with the men’s international calendar, there is a several week break between the conclusion of Round 2 and the beginning of Finals Week.
Finals Week brings all of the teams together in one location. The first two days of this week will complete the rounds component of the tournament, with each team now having played each other once.
Points Formula Points: Win = 6 Draw = 3 Loss = 0
Additional point (s) for each goal scored to a max of 3 for either team. EG - WA defeats TAS 4-3, WA will get 6 points for win, 3 points for goals, a total of 9 points and TAS will get 3 points for goals scored.
After all the round games are complete (Round 1, Round 2 and the first two days of Finals Week) the teams are ranked 1-8 depending on the total number of points earned in all the round games. The teams ranked 1, 4, 6 & 8 will go into pool A and the teams ranked 2, 3, 5 & 7 will go into pool B.
At the beginning of the classification stage only the points earned against the other teams in each pool are carried forward. (EG – If you are ranked team number 1, only your results during the round matches against teams 4, 6 and 8 will be carried over to the classification stage). Note – no team can carry through to the classification stage more points than a team ranked above them. Should this occur, the lower ranked teams points will be reduced to the same amount as the higher ranked team.
Classification Stage Once the classification stage commences the carried over points are added to the points gained during the classification games.
EG - team 1 starts the classification stage with 26 points, team 4 starts with 16 points. 1V 4 result in classification stage is 3:2 which is 9 points for team 1 and 2 points for team 4. At the completion of this game team 1 will have 35 points and team 4 will have 18 points. After the completion of the classification games teams will finish in each pool ranked 1-4 depending on the number of points accumulated.
The finals are then 1v1 (gold/ silver), 2v2 (bronze/ 4th), 3v3 (5th/ 6th), 4v4 (7th/ 8th) from each pool with gold, silver & bronze medals awarded.
2015
The 2015 tournaments are hosted in Darwin (men's league) and Sydney (women's league) from 25 September to 2 October. The tournament is divided into two pools, Pool A and Pool B, consisting of four teams with each team playing the others in its pool in the first round (round robin). The top two teams in each of these pools then progress to Pool C, the pool from which they can progress to the grand final. Also, the bottom two teams in these pools go into Pool D. The teams then play the teams that they haven’t already played, carrying the points from their first round match against the other team that came through with them. The top two teams in Pool C go on to contest the grand final, while the bottom two teams in Pool C contest for the bronze medal. The top two teams in Pool D contest for 5th/6th place and the bottom two in Pool D contest for 7th/8th place.
For the first time ever, all 48 games of the AHL were streamed live on the TENplay website (Network Ten), produced by live streaming company Hockey Zone (owned by Brisbane Hockey). [3] International fans could also watch the games via the IHF or Livestream.
Competition rules
Points
| Result | Points |
|---|---|
| Win | 3 |
| Win (Extra Time or Penalty Strokes) | 2 |
| Loss (Extra Time or Penalty Strokes) | 1 |
| Loss | 0 |
Extra time
Teams play two 6 minute halves.
First Half is 9-a-side.
Second Half is 7-a-side.
Golden Goal.
Still No Result, then Penalty Strokes.
Finals
Cross-Over Games
1st v 4th
2nd v 3rd
5th v 8th
6th v 7th
Finals
Final = Winner of (1st v 4th) v Winner of (2nd v 3rd)
3rd Place = Loser of (1st v 4th) v Loser of (2nd v 3rd)
5th Place = Winner of (5th v 8th) v Winner of (6th v 7th)
7th Place = Loser of (5th v 8th) v Loser of (6th v 7th)
Men's
| Men's Team | State | Home Venue | Year Joined | AHL Titles | AKA or Incorporated Teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canberra Lakers |  ACT |
National Hockey Centre, Canberra | 1991 | Canberra Lakers, Vision City Canberra Lakers, RAMS Home Loans Canberra Lakers | |
| New South Wales Waratahs |  New South Wales |
Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre | 1991 | 1997, 2001, 2005 | Sydney Stingrays, Tamworth Frogs, Sydney Scorpions, NSW Warriors, NSW Panthers |
| NT Stingers |  Northern Territory |
Marrara Hockey Centre | 1998 | Gryphon/Atlas/Vodafone/Northpharm Territory Stingers | |
| Queensland Blades |  Queensland |
Queensland State Hockey Centre | 1991 | 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015 | Brisbane Blades, North Queensland Barras (1993-2000) |
| Southern Hotshots |  South Australia |
State Hockey Centre | 1991 | Adelaide Hotshots | |
| Tassie Tigers |  Tasmania |
Tasmanian Hockey Centre | 1992, (DNC 1993) | 2014 | Tassie Tigers, MIA Tassie Tigers |
| Victoria Vikings |  Victoria |
State Netball and Hockey Centre | 1991 | 1996, 1998 | Melbourne Redbacks, VIS Redbacks, Azuma Vikings |
| WA Thundersticks |  Western Australia |
Perth Hockey Stadium | 1992 | 1992, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2011 | Perth Thundersticks, WAIS Thundersticks |
Men's results
| Year | Winner | Runner-Up | Player of the League | Highest Goalscorer | Player of the Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Brisbane Blades | Melbourne Redbacks | Colin Batch (Redbacks) | David Shaw (Redbacks) 20 | |
| 1992 | Perth Thundersticks | Brisbane Blades | Jay Stacy (Redbacks) Todd Williams (Tigers) |
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| 1993 | WAIS Thundersticks | Sydney Scorpions | |||
| 1994 | Not Played | ||||
| 1995 | Perth Thundersticks | Brisbane Blades | Lachlan Elmer (Hotshots) | Bobby Crutchley (Lakers) 17 | |
| 1996 | Melbourne Redbacks | Brisbane Blades | Jay Stacy (Redbacks) | Jeremy Hiskins (Redbacks) 13 Greg Corbitt (Thundersticks) 13 |
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| 1997 | NSW Warriors | Perth Thundersticks | Jay Stacy (Redbacks) | Glen Kingston (Lakers) 14 | |
| 1998 | Melbourne Redbacks | Canberra Lakers | Daniel Sproule (Tigers) | Daniel Davison (Thundersticks) 12 | |
| 1999 | Perth Thundersticks | Queensland Blades | Michael York (Lakers) | Craig Keegan (Tigers) 15 | |
| 2000 | Perth Thundersticks | NSW Warriors | Brent Livermore (Warriors) | Craig Keegan (Tigers) 10 | |
| 2001 | NSW Panthers | Perth Thundersticks | Matthew Wells (Tigers) | Michael McCann (Panthers) | |
| 2002 | SmokeFree WA Thundersticks | Queensland Blades | Zain Wright (Tigers) | Andrew Smith (Vikings) 23 | |
| 2003 | Queensland Blades | SmokeFree WA Thundersticks | Matthew Wells (Tigers) | Andrew Smith (Vikings) 15 | |
| 2004 | Queensland Blades | SmokeFree WA Thundersticks | Stephen Mowlam (Vikings) | Troy Elder (Blades) 9 | Dean Butler (Blades) |
| 2005 | NSW Waratahs | Queensland Blades | Rob Hammond (Blades) | Taeke Taekema (Waratahs) 14 | Michael McCann (Waratahs) |
| 2006 | Queensland Blades | MIA Tassie Tigers | Mark Knowles (Blades) | Chris Ciriello (Vikings) 13 | Dean Butler (Blades) |
| 2007 | Queensland Blades | SmokeFree WA Thundersticks | Bevan George (Thundersticks) | Marcus Richardson (Tigers) 12 | Mark Knowles (Blades) |
| 2008 | SmokeFree WA Thundersticks | OAMPS Queensland Blades | Bevan George (Thundersticks) | Luke Doerner (Vikings) 9 | Aaron Hopkins (Thundersticks) |
| 2009 | SmokeFree WA Thundersticks | OAMPS Queensland Blades | Brent Livermore (Waratahs) | Jason Wilson (Blades) 13 | Graeme Begbie (Thundersticks) |
| 2010 | OAMPS Queensland Blades | NSW Waratahs | Des Abbott (Stingers)
Simon Orchard (Waratahs) |
Josh Miller (Waratahs) 14 | Jason Wilson (Blades) |
| 2011 | WA Thundersticks | ||||
| 2012 | Queensland Blades | WA Thundersticks | Simon Orchard (Waratahs) | Matthew Swann (Blades) | |
| 2013 | Queensland Blades | Victoria Vikings | Eddie Ockenden (Tigers) | Aaron Kershaw (Lakers), Mark Paterson (Waratahs) 5 goals | Andrew Charter (Lakers) |
| 2014 | Tassie Tigers | WA Thundersticks | Eddie Ockenden (Tigers) | Blake Govers (Waratahs) 9 | |
| 2015 | Queensland Blades | WA Thundersticks | Eddie Ockenden (Tigers) | Blake Govers (Waratahs) 10 | Cale Cramer (Blades) |
Women's
| Team | State | Home Venue | Year Joined | AHL Titles | AKA or Incorporated Teams |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canberra Labor Club Strikers | ACT |
National Hockey Centre | 1993 | Canberra Strikers, ACTAS Strikers | |
| New South Wales Arrows | New South Wales |
Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre | 1993 | 1993, 1996, 1998-2002, 2009, 2014 | NSW Balsam Arrows, NSWIS Arrows |
| NT Pearls | Northern Territory |
Marrara Hockey Centre | 1993, (DNC 1996-1999) | Darwin Blazez, Territory Pearls, Paspaley Territory Pearls | |
| Queensland Scorchers | Queensland |
Queensland State Hockey Centre | 1993 | 1997, 2005, 2013, 2015 | QAS/QLD Scorchers |
| SA Suns | South Australia |
State Hockey Centre | 1993 | 1995, 2011 | Diet Coke Adelaide Suns, Adelaide Suns, Adelaide Bank Suns, Southern Suns |
| Wrest Point Tassie Van Demons | Tasmania |
Tasmanian Hockey Centre | 1996 | Tasmanian Van Demons, Wrest Point Van Demons, Wrest Point Casino Van Demons | |
| Victorian Vipers | Victoria |
State Netball and Hockey Centre | 1993 | 2003, 2012 | VIS Viper, Azuma Vipers |
| WA Diamonds | Western Australia |
Perth Hockey Stadium | 1993 | 1994, 2004, 2006-2008, 2010 | WAIS Diamonds, WA Diamonds |
Women's results
See also
References
External links
 Sports leagues of Australia |
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| Football codes | |
| Other | |
| Women's | |
