Sport in the Australian Capital Territory

Sport in the Australian Capital Territory refers to the sports played in the Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...

. Many sports are played in the territory. There are a number of teams in national leagues for several sports although the Rugby League

National Rugby League

The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...

and rugby union teams receive far more local coverage than any of the other teams. The Australian Institute of Sport

Australian Institute of Sport

The Australian Institute of Sport is a sports training institution in Australia with world class facilities and support services. The Institute's headquarters is situated in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The 66.0 hectare site campus is in the northern suburb of Bruce, but some of the...

was set up in 1981, where many Olympic and other athletes are trained.

Australian rules football

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

clubs have irregularly played matches at Manuka Oval

Manuka Oval

Manuka Oval is a 13,550 capacity ground located in the suburb of Griffith, adjacent to Manuka, a business district of Canberra, Australia's capital....

since 2001 although there is still no official Canberra-based AFL team. There is the local AFL Canberra

AFL Canberra

AFL Canberra is the governing body for Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory.In November 2010 the five AFL Canberra Premier Division clubs merged with the Premier Division clubs of the Queensland Australian Football League to form the North East Australian Football League...

league in which the Sydney Swans

Sydney Swans

The Sydney Swans Football Club is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Sydney, New South Wales. The club, founded in 1874, was known as the South Melbourne Football Club until it relocated to Sydney in 1982 to become the Sydney...

reserves team also compete and the Barassi International Australian Football Youth Tournament

Barassi International Australian Football Youth Tournament

The Barassi Youth Tournament is an international Australian rules football tournament for junior players who are no older than 16 years of age. In conjunction with the Australian Football International Cup senior competition, the youth cup is an important event for the development of Aussie Rules...

is also held in Canberra.

Basketball

The Canberra Capitals

Canberra Capitals

The Canberra TransACT Capitals are an Australian Women's Basketball League team based in Canberra, Australia. TransACT Communications is the current naming rights sponsor for the Canberra Capitals...

are the WNBL team for Canberra founded in 1984, they play at the AIS Arena

AIS Arena

AIS Arena is a multi-purpose arena located in Canberra, Australia. The capacity is 5,200 and was built in 1980. The arena was opened by the Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Fraser, on 26 January 1981 and was originally named the National Indoor Sports Centre and was the inaugural home of the...

. The Canberra Cannons

Canberra Cannons

The Canberra Cannons were a basketball team competing in the Australian National Basketball League. They went into financial administration in 2003 and were relocated to Newcastle, where they became the Hunter Pirates...

was a former NBL team, one of the founding clubs, which competed between 1979 and 2002. They won the championship three times in the 1980s. The Canberra Gunners

Canberra Gunners

The Canberra Gunners play in the East Conference of the South Eastern Australian Basketball League in the ABA. After the demise of the Canberra Cannons, they have become the premier men's basketball team in Canberra...

are the premier men's basketball team in Canberra currently, which play in the South East Australian Basketball League

South East Australian Basketball League

The South East Australian Basketball League, often abbreviated to the SEABL consists of two men's and one women's conferences in the Australian Basketball Association . The SEABL conferences are considered the strongest in the ABA, developing many emerging Australian Boomers players, as well as...

Cricket

The Prime Minister's XI

Prime Minister's XI

Prime Minister's XI or PM's XI is the name of an annual cricket match held at the Manuka Oval in Canberra, with the Australian team picked by the Prime Minister of Australia playing against an overseas team...

started by Robert Menzies

Robert Menzies

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....

in the 1950s, was revived by Bob Hawke

Bob Hawke

Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....

in 1984, and has since been played every year at Manuka Oval

Manuka Oval

Manuka Oval is a 13,550 capacity ground located in the suburb of Griffith, adjacent to Manuka, a business district of Canberra, Australia's capital....

. The Canberra Comets

Canberra Comets

The ACT Comets are a cricket team that represent the Australian Capital Territory. They were participants in the Australian domestic limited-overs Mercantile Mutual Cup competition. They did not, however, field a team in the four-day Sheffield Shield competition...

once represented Canberra in the Mercantile Mutual Cup, but are now in the lower level Futures League. The ACT women's team has also been granted entry into the Women's National Cricket League

Women's National Cricket League

The Women's National Cricket League is the national competition for women's cricket in Australia.The league competition involves the six member teams playing each other in two 50-over limited-over matches, with the side finishing at the top of the table after the preliminary rounds earning the...

and national Twenty20 competitions for the 2009/10 season.

Association football (soccer)

The Canberra Cosmos

Canberra Cosmos

Canberra Cosmos FC is a defunct Australian association football club based in Canberra in the ACT. It participated in the National Soccer League from the 1995/96 season until the end of the 2000/01 season, after which it folded, primarily due to financial difficulties...

represented Canberra between 1995 and 2001 in the National Soccer League

National Soccer League

The National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...

. There are official plans to have a team in the A-league

A-League

The A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company...

at the moment. Canberra United FC

Canberra United FC

Canberra United Football Club is an Australian football club that competes in the W-League, the national women's competition. Based in Canberra, the club was formed in 2008 for the league's inaugural season...

competes in the W-League

W-League

The USL W-League is a national women's soccer league in the United States on the 2nd level of women's soccer in the United States soccer pyramid, alongside the Women's Premier Soccer League and below Women's Professional Soccer....

.
As an addition to the 2009 sporting calendar an international Asian Cup qualifier was scheduled between Australia and Kuwait at Canberra Stadium. It is the first international soccer game in Canberra in many years.

Rugby league

The Canberra Raiders

Canberra Raiders

The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership since 1982...

are Canberra's National Rugby League

National Rugby League

team and play the most matches in the capital out of any single sport, having been admitted to the competition in 1982. They are Canberra's most successful sports team and have won the premiership on three occasions - in 1989, 1990 and 1994. The team's current home ground is Canberra Stadium

Canberra Stadium

Canberra Stadium is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia...

.

At a local level teams play for the Canberra Raiders Cup

Group 8 Rugby League

The Canberra Region Rugby League competition is more commonly known as the Canberra Raiders Cup, covering the Australian Capital Territory and surrounding New South Wales towns Queanbeyan, Goulburn and Yass. The competition is run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League and players are...

, covering the sports program of tens of thousands of local juniors. Players developed through the system are then eligible to play for the Country Origin team and the New South Wales Blues

New South Wales rugby league team

The New South Wales rugby league team has represented the Australian state of New South Wales in rugby league football since the sport's beginnings there in 1907. Administered by the New South Wales Rugby League, the team competes in the annual State of Origin series against arch-rivals, the...

at representative level.

Rugby union

The Brumbies are Canberra's Super Rugby team, founded in 1996. Their home ground is Canberra Stadium

Canberra Stadium

Canberra Stadium is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia...

. They have won the competition twice, first in 2001 and then 2004.

Rugby union at a junior level is very strong in the ACT. The sport is played in clubs and some schools also take part in the junior leagues. A major rivalry is between St Edmund's and Marist, in 2009 a brawl between the two teams occurred in the under 18s division one final which saw the game called off during the second half. Rugby union clubs include Easts, Gungahlin Eagles

Gungahlin Eagles

The Gungahlin Eagles are a rugby union club based in Gungahlin, Australian Capital Territory.-Club history:The club was founded as the Daramalan RUFC club in 1967, going on to win two premierships...

, Queanbeyan Whites

Queanbeyan Whites

The Queanbeyan Whites are a rugby union team based in Queanbeyan, New South Wales.-Club history:The Queanbeyan Whites were established in 1954, joining the ACTRU Competition in 1955...

, Canberra Royals

Canberra Royals

The Canberra Royals Rugby Football Club is an Australian rugby union club, based in Canberra.-Club history:Canberra Royals has a proud tradition and identifies closely with the Royals Foundation Team of 1949...

, Tuggeranong Vikings

Tuggeranong Vikings

The Tuggeranong Vikings are a rugby union club based in Tuggeranong, Australian Capital Territory. It is supported by 5 licensed clubs based in Wanniassa, Greenway, Conder, Chisholm and Narrabundah. The club has been successful in the local, and national competitions...

, Uni-Norths Owls

Uni-Norths Owls

The Uni-Norths Rugby Canberra Owls are a rugby union club located on the campus of the Australian National University in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The club was created by the merger of ANU and University of Canberra rugby clubs in 1998. Norths Rugby Club joined the newly formed club...

and Wests Lions

Wests Lions

The West Lions are a Rugby union club based in the Belconnen area of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.In 2005, Wests won grand finals across every grade.The team's colours are Maroon and Blue....

and school teams include St Edmund's, Marist

Marist College Canberra

Marist College Canberra is an all-boys independent Catholic school school founded in 1968. The college is situated on 15 hectares and located in the Australian Capital Territory, Canberra. The college provides boys from years 4-12 with a well-rounded education. Founded by Marist Brothers, it...

, Canberra Grammar School

Canberra Grammar School

Canberra Grammar School is an independent, day and boarding school for boys, located in Red Hill, a suburb of Canberra, the capital of Australia....

and Daramalan College

Daramalan College

Daramalan College is an ACT senior high school in Canberra, Australia, located in the suburb of Dickson, near the Dickson Shopping Centre. It provides education from year 7 to year 12 , in a co-educational environment. Run by the Roman Catholic Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, it has an emblem of...

Sporting venues

Bruce	McKellar McKellar, Australian Capital Territory McKellar is a residential suburb of Canberra, Australia in the Belconnen district. The suburb is named after Colin McKellar who was Minister for Repatriation from 1964-70. The suburb name was gazetted on 15 January 1974...	Bruce	Manuka Manuka, Australian Capital Territory Manuka is an area in the Inner South district of Canberra, Australia covering parts of the suburbs of Griffith and Forrest. Manuka Shops, Manuka Oval, Manuka Swimming Pool, and Manuka Circle take their name from the park in the area.- Origin of name :...	Narrabundah Narrabundah, Australian Capital Territory Narrabundah is a suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 'Narrabundah' is a Ngunnawal word meaning 'bird of prey', celebrated in the sculpture by Andy Townshend and Suzie Bleach, in the park opposite the main shops....	Wanniassa Wanniassa, Australian Capital Territory Wanniassa is a suburb in the Canberra, Australia district of Tuggeranong. It is located towards the north of the district. The suburb takes its name from a pastoral property granted to Thomas McQuoid in 1835, which he named after Wanajassa in West Java, Indonesia, where McQuoid had previously...
AIS Arena AIS Arena AIS Arena is a multi-purpose arena located in Canberra, Australia. The capacity is 5,200 and was built in 1980. The arena was opened by the Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Fraser, on 26 January 1981 and was originally named the National Indoor Sports Centre and was the inaugural home of the...	Belconnen Soccer Centre Belconnen Soccer Centre Belconnen Soccer Centre, also known as McKellar Soccer Centre and McKellar Park, is a stadium in the Canberra suburb of McKellar, in Australia. The playing surface is rectangular in shape and is used almost exclusively for football matches...	Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia...	Manuka Oval Manuka Oval Manuka Oval is a 13,550 capacity ground located in the suburb of Griffith, adjacent to Manuka, a business district of Canberra, Australia's capital....	Narrabundah Ballpark Narrabundah Ballpark Narrabundah Ballpark is an 1,500 capacity ground in Canberra, Australia. It was redeveloped in 2010 for use by the Canberra Cavalry for the Australian Baseball League, the Australian Capital Territory Government funded the $1,000,000 upgrade....	Viking Park Viking Park Viking Park is an 8,000 capacity stadium in Canberra, Australia. It has a rectangular playing surface which is used to host rugby union matches. It is home to the Tuggeranong Vikings and all matches in the ACT rugby finals are played here. The Canberra Vikings also played there in 2004 & 2005 when...
Capacity: 5,050	Capacity: 2,000	Capacity: 25,011	Capacity: 15,000	Capacity: 1,500	Capacity: 8,000

Basketball Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...	Soccer	Rugby league Rugby league Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players... , Rugby union Rugby union Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...	Cricket Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the... , Australian rules football Australian rules football Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...	Baseball Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...	Rugby union Rugby union Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...