The Sultana Bran Hockey One is a

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

competition organised by

Hockey Australia Hockey Australia is an organisation that formed from the merger of the Australian Hockey Association and Women's Hockey Australia in 2000. It is the national body responsible for the promotion, development and administration of field hockey in A ...

, which replaced the Australian Hockey League. The competition serves as Australia's premier domestic hockey league, helping unearth future talent for selection to the Australian national teams; the

Kookaburras Kookaburras are terrestrial tree kingfishers of the genus ''Dacelo'' native to Australia and New Guinea, which grow to between in length and weigh around . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri ''guuguubarra'', onomatopoeic of its call. The ...

and

Hockeyroos The Australia women's national field hockey team (nicknamed the Hockeyroos) are, as of January 2019, ranked third in the world. Having played their first game in 1914, and their first Olympic game in 1984, they are one of Australia's most succes ...

NSW Pride NSW Pride is an Australian field hockey club based in Sydney. The club was established in 2019, and is one of 7 established to compete in Hockey Australia's new premier domestic competition, Hockey One. The club unifies both men and women under ...

are currently the most successful team with three out of four titles, with both the men's and women's sides winning the 2022 titles.

History

The Sultana Bran Hockey One was founded on 17 April 2019. The tournament was formed following an overhaul of the Australian Hockey League, and replaced the tournament to serve as

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's premier hockey competition. Following a series of rule innovations during the 2018 men's and

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

AHL tournaments, Hockey Australia made the decision to disband the premier competition, making way for the new domestic league. On 23 September 2019, Hockey Australia confirmed that the new league had secured a major partnership with

Kellogg's The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toaste ...

, with naming rights also afforded to the company, forming the ''Sultana Bran Hockey One''. The following day it was confirmed that Westfund Health Insurance had been named as a supporting partner.

COVID-19 pandemic

Following a successful first season of the Sultana Bran Hockey One in 2019, the second edition was anticipated for commencement in late 2020. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the league's second season was postponed until 2021. The decision was made by the Hockey One board on 24 March 2020 following consultations with

and the seven member associations in the league, all of which being unable to financially support the program later in the year. The postponement was not only made to benefit associations financially, but also on account of restrictions put into place by the

Government of Australia The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federalism, federal parliamentary system, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster system, Westminster-sty ...

, which prohibited mass-gatherings and sporting events. The league went on to postpone the second season to October 2022, owing to divergent state border restrictions in place across the country in late 2021.

Format

Seven teams will compete in a

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero ...

with home and away matches, played from late September to mid November, with the top four teams advancing to the finals round at a pre-determined location.

Teams

The seven teams to compete in the Sultana Bran Hockey One come from

Australia's Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by a ...

states and territories, with the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

being the only team absent. *

Canberra Chill Canberra Chill is an Australian professional hockey club based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The club was established in 2019, and is one of 7 established to compete in Hockey Australia's new premier domestic competition, Hockey One. ...

Brisbane Blaze Brisbane Blaze is an Australian hockey club based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was established in 2019, and is one of 7 established to compete in Hockey Australia's new premier domestic competition, Hockey One. The club unifies both men ...

Adelaide Fire Adelaide Fire is an Australian professional field hockey club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club was established in 2019, and is one of 7 established to compete in Hockey Australia's new premier domestic competition, Hockey One. The c ...

Tassie Tigers Tassie Tigers is an Australia, Australian field hockey club based in Hobart, Tasmania. The club joined the Australian Hockey League in 1992 as a men's team. In 2019, the Tassie Tigers expanded to encompass both Tasmanian men's and women's teams, ...

* HC Melbourne *

Perth Thundersticks The Perth Thundersticks are an Australian professional hockey club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was established in 2019, and is one of 7 established to compete in Hockey Australia's new premier domestic competition, Hockey One. Th ...

Men's tournament

Summaries

Statistics

Team Appearances

Women's tournament

Summaries

Statistics

Team Appearances

Media coverage

To promote the sport and engage fans, every match of the 2022 Hockey One League will be broadcast live across Australia. All matches will be broadcast live on

Kayo Sports Kayo Sports is an over-the-top video streaming subscription service available in Australia, owned by Streamotion ( a wholly owned subsidiary of Foxtel). The service offers sports live and on demand from Fox Sports, ESPN, beIN Sports, and Racin ...

and in addition, all Thursday night double headers will be lives streamed on

FOX Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

. Both Kayo and FOX Sports will broadcast the finals series, held over a weekend in Bendigo on the 19th and 20th of November, 2022.

References

{{Sports leagues of Australia Field hockey leagues in Australia Professional sports leagues in Australia 2019 establishments in Australia Sports leagues established in 2019

History

COVID-19 pandemic

Format

Teams

Men's tournament

Summaries

Statistics

Team Appearances

Women's tournament

Summaries

Statistics

Team Appearances

Media coverage

See also

References