American Football Wellington

American Football Wellington
Sport American Football
Founded 1996
No. of teams 3
Country New Zealand
Official website www.afwellington.com

American Football Wellington, abbreviated AFW, is the governing body for American Football (Gridiron) in Wellington, New Zealand. Formerly known as the American Football Southern Conference (AFSC), it was officially established in 1996 to govern the sport of American football in the Wellington and greater lower North Island region. The league generally runs from November through February ending with two teams competing for the Capital Bowl championship game. The AFW is an affiliate member of the New Zealand American Football Federation (NZAFF), which governs the sport of American Football in New Zealand.

American football in Wellington began in 1987 when local Wellingtonian Quentin Poulsen started up Wellington’s first American football team. Games were played against another team organised by former National Basketball League coach Jeff Green. The games were played without equipment. The following year, a committee was set up and named their team the Harbour City Hurricanes American Football Club and in 1989 the team finally obtained some equipment. By then Jeff's team had folded leaving the Hurricanes the only organised American football team in Wellington. Quentin went on to form two more clubs in Wellington. He established the Hutt Valley Chargers and Capital City Giants teams in 1990 and 1991 respectively.

By 1996 three more clubs had join the existing teams from Wellington. All three clubs were from outside the Wellington region. The Levin Tigers (folded in 1993), Wanganui Royals and the Manawatu Silverbacks. That year a regional governing organisation was formed by representatives of the current clubs and the Wellington representatives of the New Zealand Gridiron Officials Association. Horst Maczuga was voted the inaugural Commissioner of the newly formed American Football Southern Conference.

The league did not run any competition from 2013 to 2015, and has returned in 2016.

Club Members

Current Club Members

Established: 1990 (Left AFSC to join Gridiron New Zealand in 1999. Rejoined AFSC in 2003 as the Hutt Valley Spartans)
Former names: Hutt Valley Chargers
Founder: Michael Wilson
Location: Hutt Valley
Club colours: Orange and white (Spartans), Green and Gold (Chargers)
AFW Championships: Five
Southern Zone/Ambassadors Cup: Four
Established: 2003
Former names: Amalgamation of the Harbour City Sharks (formerly known as the Wellington Knights) and Capital Patriots (formerly known as the Wellington/Porirua/Harbour City Hurricanes)
Founder: Harbour City Sharks and Capital Patriots
Location: Wellington
Club colours: Green and Orange
AFW Championships: One
Southern Zone/Ambassadors Cup: Three

Clubs in Abeyance

Established: 2001
Former names: Knight City Knights, Porirua City Knights
Founder: John Kisiona
Location: Porirua
Club colours: Purple and Gold
AFW Championships: Four
Southern Zone/Ambassadors Cup: Four
Established: 2006
Former names: N/a
Founder: Bryn Morton and Justin Williams
Location: Linton Army Base
Club colours: Black and Red
AFW Championships: Nil
Southern Zone/Ambassadors Cup: Nil
Established: 1991
Former names: Capital City Giants, Wellington Giants
Founder: Quentin Poulsen
Location: Porirua (formerly Wellington)
Club colours: Black, Red and Gold
AFW Championships: Nine
Southern Zone/Ambassadors Cup: Three

Former Club Members

Established: 1990 (Amalgamated with the Harbour City Sharks to form Wellington City Wolves in 2003)
Former names: Harbour City/Porirua/Wellington Hurricanes
Founder: Quentin Poulsen
Club colours: Aqua blue and silver (Patriots), Gold and black (Hurricanes)
AFW Championships: Two
Southern Zone/Ambassadors Cup: Four
Established: 1992 (folded 1993), 2000 (folded 2001)
Former names: Levin Tigers
Founder: N/a
Location: Levin
Club colours: Black and Red
AFW Championships: One
Southern Zone/Ambassadors Cup: One
Established: 1994 (folded 1996)
Former names: N/a
Founder: N/a
Location: Wanganui
Club colours: Blue and White
AFW Championships: Nil
Southern Zone/Ambassadors Cup: Nil
Established: 1996 (Left AFSC to join Gridiron New Zealand in 1999. Rejoined AFSC 2001. Club folded 2004)
Former names: N/a
Founder: Paul Morris
Location: Palmerston North
Club colours: Silver and White
AFW Championships: Nil
Southern Zone/Ambassadors Cup: One
Established: 1997 (folded 1998)
Former names: N/a
Founder: N/a
Location: Linton Army Base
Club colours: Maroon
AFW Championships: Nil
Southern Zone/Ambassadors Cup: Nil
Established: 1998 (Amalgamated with the Capital Patriots to form Wellington City Wolves in 2003)
Former names: Wellington Knights
Founder: John Kisiona, Dominic Viles and Matt Hudson
Location: Wellington
Club colours: Orange and black (Sharks), Gold and black (Knights)
AFW Championships: Nil
Southern Zone/Ambassadors Cup: One
Established: 1999 (Folded 2001)
Former names: N/a
Founder: Mike Skinnon
Location: Petone
Club colours: Purple and blue
AFW Championships: Nil
Southern Zone/Ambassadors Cup: Nil

Capital Bowl winners

The Capital Bowl championship game is the Grand Final of the AFW senior season and is generally played in mid or late February. In 1990 two founding teams, the Harbour City Hurricanes and the Hutt Valley Chargers competed in organised games between each other during the season. Quentin Poulsen who founded both teams, personally donated a trophy for the inaugural Wellington championship game. The name given to the championship game was the Capital Bowl given the city’s status as New Zealand’s capital. The Hurricanes defeated the Chargers 20–16 in the inaugural championship game.

During the 2002–2003 season, the American Football Southern Conference gave a new name to the Capital Bowl trophy and called it the Horst Maczuga Trophy, in recognition of the league’s inaugural AFSC Commissioner, former Head Coach of the Harbour City Hurricanes and NZGOA Official, Horst Maczuga.

Year Game Team Runner-up Score
2012 Capital Bowl XXII Hutt Valley Spartans Wellington City Wolves 24–6
2011 Capital Bowl XXI Hutt Valley Spartans Wellington City Wolves 34–8
2010 Capital Bowl XX Porirua Knights Hutt Valley Spartans 28–8
2009 Capital Bowl XIX Wellington City Wolves Hutt Valley Spartans 20–13
2008 Capital Bowl XVIII Porirua Knights Wellington City Wolves 28–18
2007 Capital Bowl XVII Porirua Knights Wellington City Wolves 14–6
2006 Capital Bowl XVI Hutt Valley Spartans Knight City Knights 21–19 (4 OT)
2005 Capital Bowl XV Porirua Giants Knight City Knights 13–0
2004 Capital Bowl XIV Porirua Giants Knight City Knights 22–20
2003 Capital Bowl XIII Knight City Knights Manawatu Silverbacks 42–0
2002 Capital Bowl XII Porirua Giants Knight City Knights 12–3
2001 Capital Bowl XI Porirua Giants Harbour City Sharks 12–3
2000 Capital Bowl X Porirua Giants Wellington Knights 22–0
1999 Capital Bowl IX Porirua Giants Manawatu Silverbacks 46–21
1998 Capital Bowl VIII Porirua Giants Wellington Hurricanes 6–0
1997 Capital Bowl VII Porirua Hurricanes Manawatu Silverbacks 30–8
1996 Capital Bowl VI Capital City Giants Porirua Hurricanes 8–0
1995 Capital Bowl V Capital City Giants Porirua Hurricanes 24–6
1994 Capital Bowl IV Hutt Valley Chargers Levin Tigers WBD
1992 Capital Bowl III Levin Tigers Capital City Giants 21–7
1991 Capital Bowl II Hutt Valley Chargers Harbour City Hurricanes 12–6
1990 Capital Bowl I Harbour City Hurricanes Hutt Valley Chargers 20–16

Ambassadors Cup Competition

The Ambassadors Cup Competition is AFW's annual flagship American football senior competition, which generally takes place from early November through February. The competition was previously known as the Southern Zone competition and started in 1991 with three teams (Harbour City Hurricanes, Hutt Valley Chargers and Capital City Giants) competing in the inaugural season. The Hutt Valley Chargers won the inaugural Southern Zone competition and were awarded the Southern Zone Championship Cup, which was presented by former United States of America’s Ambassador, Dean Newman in 1992.

The competition name was changed to the Ambassadors Cup Competition to match the new name of the trophy, prior to the 2004–2005 season. The Ambassadors Cup competition format is a Round-Robin that generally runs for 10 weeks with every team facing each other twice. The AFW uses a Points System to decide who is awarded the Ambassadors Cup at the end of the regular season. The team with highest number of competition points, based on the points system wins the Ambassadors Cup.

The AFW Points System:

The number of teams competing in the Ambassadors Cup competition determines the number of teams that will qualify for post-season matches including the Capital Bowl championship game. The post season formula is as follows:

Season Winner
2011–2012 Hutt Valley Spartans
2010–2011 Hutt Valley Spartans
2010–2011 Wellington City Wolves
2009–2010 Hutt Valley Spartans
2008–2009 Wellington City Wolves
2007–2008 Porirua City Knights
2006–2007 Porirua City Knights
2005–2006 Wellington City Wolves
2004–2005 Knight City Knights
2003–2004 Porirua Giants
2002–2003 Knight City Knights
2001–2002 Manawatu Silverbacks
2000–2001 Harbour City Sharks
1999–2000 Porirua Giants
1998–1999 Porirua Giants
1997–1998 Porirua Hurricanes
1996–1997 Porirua Hurricanes
1995–1996 Porirua Hurricanes
1994–1995 Porirua Hurricanes
1993–1994 Hutt Valley Chargers
1992–1993 Levin Tigers
1991–1992 Hutt Valley Chargers

See also

External links

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