Sport in the Australian Capital Territory refers to the various

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

played in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. I ...

. Teams represent the ACT in the national leagues of several sports, although the

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

teams receive far more local coverage than any of the other teams and are considered the main sports of the territory. The Australian Institute of Sport was set up in 1981, where many Olympic and other athletes are trained.

Rugby Union

Rugby Union is a popular sport in the ACT with Canberra boasting two fully professional teams, the

ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inh ...

and the

Canberra Vikings The Canberra Vikings, formerly the Canberra Kookaburras, is an Australian rugby union football team that competes in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). The team is based at Viking Park in Wanniassa, and is backed by the Tuggeranong Vikin ...

. The

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

, founded in 1996 and based at

Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium (GIO Stadium for commercial reasons) 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. It is the largest sports ven ...

, are the local Super Rugby team. They are Australia's most successful Super Rugby franchise having won the competition three times, and reaching the playoffs on several occasions. The Brumbies hold the current crowd record at Canberra Stadium of 28,753 for the grand final match on 22 May 2004 against the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

which the Brumbies won 47–38. The

are based at

Viking Park Viking Park is an 7,000 capacity (1,000 seated) multi-sport stadium located in the Tuggeranong Valley suburb Wanniassa, Canberra, Australia. It has a rectangular playing surface which is used primarily to host rugby union matches but additional ...

in south Canberra and have competed in the Australian Rugby Shield (2000-2006),

Australian Rugby Championship The Australian Rugby Championship, often abbreviated to the ARC and also known as the Mazda Australian Rugby Championship for sponsorship purposes, is a now-defunct domestic professional men's rugby union football competition in Australia, which ...

(2007) and

National Rugby Championship The National Rugby Championship, known as NRC, was an Australian rugby union competition. It was contested by eight teams, seven from Australia and one from Fiji. The tournament ran from 2014 until 2019 before being disbanded in 2020 following t ...

(2014–present), finishing runners-up in 2015 and

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

. Rugby Union is played by several clubs at all levels and numerous schools at junior levels. The John Dent Cup is the premier local Rugby Union tournament while the ACTJRU is the local Rugby Union tournament for juniors. Both tournaments and other senior grades are administered by the

ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union The ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in the Australian Capital Territory and southern regions of New South Wales. The union is represented by one team in the Super Rugby competition, the Brumbies. The ACT ...

, the local governing body for Rugby Union.

Soccer

The Canberra Cosmos represented Canberra between 1995 and 2001 in the National Soccer League. There are official plans to have a team in the A-League Men at the moment. Canberra United FC competes in the A-League Women (formerly known as the W-League), and have won a championship (2011–12) and two minor premierships (2011–12 and 2013–14). 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 football game in Canberra in many years.

Rugby League

Rugby League is one of the main sports in the A.C.T in terms of attendances and media coverage. The Canberra Raiders are Canberra's 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. At a local level teams play for the Canberra Raiders Cup, 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 at representative level.

Australian Rules

Main article: Australian Rules in the Australian Capital Territory Australian Football League clubs have irregularly played matches at

Manuka Oval Manuka Oval is a sporting venue in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is located in Griffith, in the area of that suburb known as Manuka. Manuka Oval has a seating capacity of 13,550 people and an overall capacity of 16,000 people, althoug ...

since 2001 although there is still no official Canberra-based AFL team. From 2012 onwards the new Greater Western Sydney Giants AFL team will play three regular season matches a year and one pre-season match in Canberra at Manuka Oval. There is the local AFL Canberra competition and the new

North East Australian Football League The North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) was an Australian rules football league in New South Wales, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. The league was formed in November 2010, and its inaugural co ...

(NEAFL) competition in which both the Sydney Swans and Greater Western Sydney Giants reserves teams compete against clubs from Canberra, Sydney and South East Queensland. The

Barassi International Australian Football Youth Tournament The Barassi Youth Tournament is an international Australian rules football tournament for junior players who are up to 16 years of age. In conjunction with the Australian Football International Cup senior competition, the youth cup is an importan ...

is also held in Canberra.

Basketball

The earliest record of basketball in Canberra was March 1942 when the Turner Drill Hall became the venue for physical fitness classes including basketball and for which two moveable backboards were installed. The first recorded game was between Army and YMCA in April 1942 and 6 teams formed a competition in May 1942. The ACT Men's Amateur Basketball Association was formed on the initiative of Kel McGrath, the first Life member, the then director-general of the Australian Forestry School in the early 1950s with RMC Duntroon, the YMCA and the Australian Forestry School forming the nucleus of the embryo competition. The Ladies International Rules Basketball Association was formed in 1960 with both organisation coming together to form the ACT Amateur Basketball Association in 1961, the predecessor of today's Basketball ACT (BACT) which conducts it operation across some 10 courts with a registered senior & junior, male and female membership exceeding 6,500, it is one of the most integrated sports in the ACT. At the National Level, Canberra competed in Australian Championships as a State from 1965 until the changing face of the sport led to the development of more favoured club championships, conferences and leagues. The first interstate league in which Canberra (ACT) participated was the South Eastern Conference formed in 1967 until 1972. Its succession continues as the

South East Australian Basketball League The South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) was an Australian semi-professional basketball league. The league comprised both a men's and women's competition and was run by the country's governing body, Basketball Australia. The league wa ...

(SEABL) in which the premier men's basketball team in Canberra, the Canberra Gunners, currently participate. 1979 saw the creation of the

Canberra Cannons The Canberra Cannons are a defunct basketball team that competed in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL). They went into financial administration in 2003 and were relocated to Newcastle, where they became the Hunter Pirates. After t ...

was a National Basketball League team, one of the 10 founding clubs it competed between 1979 and 2002 when recurrent financial and management woes finally saw the teams demise, to be later resurrected as the Hunter Pirates and later still as the Singapore Slingers before finally disappearing from sight. Their brief but proud history records their fortunes as League runners-up in 1979 and 1989 and as League Champions three times in 1983, 84 and 88. The

Canberra Capitals The University of Canberra Capitals are an Australian professional women's basketball team competing in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). The team is based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. In 2014 the University of Canberr ...

are the Canberra-based Women's National Basketball League team. Founded in 1984 and previously the Canberra Nationals, they play at the

AIS Arena AIS Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Canberra, Australia. Its capacity is 5,200 and it 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 ...

. The Capitals gained entry to the WNBL in 1985, the year in which they won the NSW Club Championship and the Australian Women's Basketball Conference premiership defeating Dandenong 61–59. Ownership of the BACT flagship Canberra Capitals program was transferred under controversial circumstances to the University of Canberra in 2014. BACT retains the Canberra Capitals Academy, its elite female basketball team, which competes in the

(SEABL).

Motor racing

From 2000 to 2002,

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

raced in Canberra on a temporary street circuit inside the

Parliamentary Triangle The National Triangle, which is referred to as the Parliamentary Triangle, is the ceremonial precinct of Canberra, containing some of Australia's most significant buildings. The National Triangle is formed by Commonwealth, Kings and Constitutio ...

, the Canberra Street Circuit. The event was held on the

Queen's Birthday The King's Official Birthday (alternatively the Queen's Official Birthday when the monarch is female) is the selected day in the United Kingdom and most Commonwealth realms on which the birthday of the monarch is officially celebrated in those ...

long weekend each June.

Sporting venues

National Competitions

Several Canberra sporting teams have won national championships and leagues. These teams include:

Sports Awards

ACTSPORT established ACT Sports Star of the Year Awards in 1984. in 2015, these were renamed the

Canberra Sport Awards Canberra Sport Awards or CBR Sport Awards were originally established in 1984 by the Board of ACT Sports House. From 1984 to 2014 they were referred to as ACT Sportstar of the Year Awards and organised by ACTSPORT. The ACT Government took over the A ...

when taken over by

ACT Government The Government of the Australian Capital Territory, also referred to as the Australian Capital Territory Government or ACT Government, is the executive authority of the Australian Capital Territory, one of the territories of Australia. The lea ...

after ACTSPORT ceased operations. In 1985, ACTSPORT established the

ACT Sport Hall of Fame ACT Sport Hall of Fame was established by ACTSPORT in 1995. It was taken over by the Australian Capital Territory Government after ACTSPORT ceased operations in 2015. Inductees are announced as part of the annual CBR Sport Awards. ACT Sport Hall of ...

External links

Canberra & Capital Region A-League Bid websiteCanberra's A-League Bid website

References

{{Australian Capital Territory