About AWIHL
The Australian Women’s Ice Hockey League (AWIHL) is a national league that provides the highest level of competition played regularly by our female competitors. The League consists of five competing teams: Adelaide Rush, Brisbane Lightning, Melbourne Ice, Perth Inferno and Sydney Sirens. The current League Champions are the Sirens who beat the Adelaide Rush in a thriller to win the Joan McKowen Memorial Trophy for season 2019-2020.
The AWIHL is conducted for the sole purpose of providing a consistent and continuous high level of competition for the advanced level female players in Australia and to support the aims of the National Women’s Program in their international endeavours.
The current regulations for the League can be found here:
AWIHL Regulations
IMPORTS
Each team in the AWIHL may have a maximum of four imports on their roster, however no more than two imports shall be permitted to play for a team in any one game. We have had many high calibre imports from all over the world play here in Australia and enjoy it so much they don’t want to go home. If you are interested in coming to Australia to experience the fantastic Aussie lifestyle and play hockey throughout our Summer, it is a wonderful and rewarding experience.
Please contact the clubs directly through their social pages to inquire about the club selection processes.
In order to support the National Women’s Team, the AWIHL does not allow import goaltenders. All goaltenders must hold an Australian citizenship in order to play in the League.
THE JOAN MCKOWEN MEMORIAL TROPHY
The Joan McKowen Memorial Trophy is the annually awarded championship trophy, of the Australian Women’s Ice Hockey League (AWIHL), to the winner of the AWIHL finals. Originally donated in 1995, the trophy is named after Joan McKowen who died September 15, 1992 [1] and her husband Maxwell McKowen died in 2010.[2]
This trophy originated from a women’s ice hockey championship tournament that started in 1994, which was a competition that was hosted in Queensland between a New South Wales team and a Queensland team competing. This invitational Women’s tournament was just the beginning and saw the New South Wales team winning the championship. From this competition, the Joan McKowen Memorial Trophy began, first being awarded in February 1995. This event was held annually and served as the Australian senior women’s national ice hockey championship.[3] The Joan McKowen Memorial Trophy began being annually awarded after the Queensland women’s invitational tournament in 1994 and was awarded to the winner of the Australian women’s national ice hockey tournament until 2010.[2]
REFERENCES 1. “Family Notices”. The Canberra Times. Canberra: National Library of Australia. 17 September 1992. p. 22. Retrieved 15 September 2015. 2. http://goannas.hockeysyte.com/xsyte/page/league_history 3. http://www.whockey.com/country/australia/nats/
