The Botany Swarm is a

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consid ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

team based in

East Auckland East Auckland is an area of Auckland, New Zealand, characterised in the popular mind as a socio-economically mixed urban area with a relatively large multi-cultural population. The name "East Auckland" is not an official placename, but is in popul ...

, New Zealand. The team is a member of the

New Zealand Ice Hockey League The NZIHL is New Zealand’s national ice hockey league. It is an amateur league that was formed in 2005 to develop the sport in New Zealand and to give the top players regular competition against each other to improve the skill level of the game ...

(NZIHL). The team was founded in 2005 as the South Auckland Swarm. Their name was changed prior to the 2007 season due to it being similar to one of the other teams and to better reflect the area in Auckland where their home rink is located (in the suburb of

Botany Downs Botany Downs is an eastern suburb of the city of Auckland, New Zealand. This residential area previously formed part of the East Tāmaki area. In terms of local-body administration, the suburb lies in the Howick ward, one of the thirteen adm ...

). They play their home games out of the Paradice Ice Skating Botany Rink known as ''The Hive''.

History

2017 season

7 May 2017, the Swarm announced that after 11 seasons, head coach Andreas Kaißer has stepped down, and will be replaced by former Swarm alumnus Brandon Contratto. However due to personal reasons Brandon was unable to commit to the role. Former assistant coach Jeff Boehme took the role of head coach for the 2017 season. The Botany Swarm welcomed four new imports for the 2017 season: Petr Zítka from the Czech Republic, Ryan Widmar from Illinois, Maximilian Hadraschek from Germany and Alex Mitsionis from Ohio.

2018 season

10 December 2017, the Swarm announced that Ian Wannamaker was appointed as the new head coach. Ian Wannamaker played for the Botany Swarm from 2007-2015 and represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

from 2010-2013, 2015. 23 December 2017, the Swarm announced that assistant coach of the

Kelowna Rockets The Kelowna Rockets are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. The Rockets play in the Western Hockey League (WHL), out of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). They play their home games at Prospera Place. The Roc ...

Travis Crickard was appointed as the new assistant coach. The Botany Swarm welcomed four new imports for the 2018 season: Declan Weir an Irish Canadian, Harry Ferguson from Scotland, Colin Langham from Georgia and Lucas Bombardier from Vermont. 26 May 2018, Alexandr Polozov played his 100th game for the Botany Swarm against the

Canterbury Red Devils The Canterbury Red Devils is an ice hockey team based in Christchurch, New Zealand and are members of the New Zealand Ice Hockey League. The club plays their home games at the Alpine Ice Centre. Since their foundation in 2005 the team have won ...

. 9 June 2018, Jordan Challis played his 150th game for the Botany Swarm against the

Dunedin Thunder The Dunedin Thunder, currently the Phoenix Thunder for sponsorship reasons, is an ice hockey team based in Dunedin, New Zealand and are members of the New Zealand Ice Hockey League. The club plays their home games at the Dunedin Ice Stadium. The T ...

. 21 July 2018, Logan Fraser played his 50th game for the Botany Swarm against the

. 5 August 2018, The Botany Swarm had their 200th NZIHL game.

2019 season

22 February 2019, Travis Crickard appointed Botany Swarm General Manager/CEO. 24 February 2019, Joel Rindelaub appointed Botany Swarm Interim Assistant General Manager. The Botany Swarm welcomed four new imports for the 2019 season: Andrea Ricca from Italy, Corey McEwen born in Cardiff and now living in Toronto, Corey Morgan from New Jersey and Daniel Iasenza from Montreal. 11 May 2019, Michelle Cox appointed Botany Swarm Head Coach. 9 June 2019, Andrew Hay played his 200th game for the Botany Swarm against the

West Auckland Admirals The West Auckland Admirals is an ice hockey team based in Auckland, New Zealand and are members of the New Zealand Ice Hockey League. The Team has always been based out of the Paradice Ice in Avondale, Auckland which in itself has a proud 41-year ...

2021 season

The roster included goaltender Grace Harrison, one of only two women competing in the league.

Season by season results

Players

Current roster

''Team roster for the 2018 NZIHL Season''

Franchise scoring leaders

There are the top ten point scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NZIHL regular season.

Franchise all-time most appearances

There are the top ten player who have made the most appearances in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NZIHL regular season.

Technical staff

''Current as of 24 June 2019''

Leaders

Team captains

Head coaches

References

External links

* {{Sport in Auckland New Zealand Ice Hockey League teams Sport in Auckland Trans-Tasman Champions League