Under 18 Australian Championships
The Under 18 Australian Championships are Field Hockey tournaments held annually in Australia. The tournament hosts ten teams from around Australia, one (or two) from each of the eight states. The event is split into men's and women's tournaments, played usually in the middle of the year.
| Sport | Field Hockey |
|---|---|
| No. of teams | 10 |
| Country | Australia |
| Most recent champion(s) | Tasmania (men) Queensland (women) |
| Most titles | Western Australia (3 titles) (men) Queensland (7 titles) (women) |
| Official website | Official website |
In the 2017 edition, Pakistan U18 won the men's tournament for the first time by defeating New South Wales 3–2 in the final. Western Australia won the bronze medal by defeating Tasmania 4–2 in the third and fourth place playoff.[1] In the women's tournament, Queensland won the tournament for the fourth time, by defeating New South Wales 2–0 in the final. Western Australia won the bronze medal by defeating Victoria 4–1 in the third and fourth playoff.[2]
In the most recent National U18 men's Championships (2023) Tasmania defeated Queensland 5-2 in front of 2600 supporters.[3] The win marked the first U18 national title in the state’s history. In the U18 Women’s championship, Queensland defeated Victoria in the final seconds of the to win the national title 1-0.[4]
Competition format
The tournament is divided into two pools, Pool A and Pool B, consisting of five teams in a round robin format, with a crossover match taking place between one team from each pool at some stage in the pool stage. Teams then progress into either Pool C, the medal round, or Pool D, the classification round. Teams carry over points from their previous match ups, and contest teams they are yet to play.
The top two teams in each of pools A and B then progress to Pool C. The top two teams in Pool C continue to contest the Final, while the bottom two teams of Pool C play in the Third and Fourth place match.
The remaining bottom placing teams make up Pool D. The team play the remainder of teams they are yet to face, and final placing in pool D determines final placing overall.
Competition rules
The tournament has not adapted FIH rules of four 15–minute quarters, but rather plays matches in two 35–minute halves.
Points System
| Result | Points |
|---|---|
| Win | 3 |
| Draw | 1 |
| Loss | 0 |
Finals Matches
During finals if games end in a tie, no overtime will be played and the match will go straight to a penalty shoot-out.
Men's tournament
Results
- Note: The following summaries comprise results from 2014 onwards, while the tournament was founded earlier.
| Year | Host | Final | Third place match | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Score | Runner-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | ||||
| 2014 Details | Canberra, ACT |  Queensland |
8 – 2 |  New South Wales |
 Western Australia |
5 – 1 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Victoria | ||
| 2015 Details | Melbourne, VIC | Western Australia |
3 – 2 |  Tasmania |
Victoria |
6 – 3 | Queensland | ||
| 2016 Details | Launceston, TAS | Western Australia |
3 – 3 (2 – 1) (penalties) |
New South Wales |
Victoria |
3 – 2 | Tasmania | ||
| 2017 Details | Hobart, TAS |  Pakistan U18 |
3 – 2 | New South Wales |
Western Australia |
4 – 2 | Tasmania | ||
| 2023 Details | Hobart, TAS | Tasmania |
5 – 2 | Queensland |
 South Australia |
1 – 0 | Western Australia | ||
Team Performances
| Team | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 ACT |
7th | 6th | 9th | 9th | 10th |
| NSW 1 |
2nd | 5th | 2nd | 2nd | 5th |
| NSW 2 |
5th | 7th | 5th | 8th | 9th |
 NT |
9th | 10th | 10th | 10th | 12th |
| PAK U18 |
– | – | – | 1st | – |
| QLD 1 |
1st | 4th | 7th | 6th | 2nd |
| QLD 2 |
– | – | 8th | – | 8th |
| SA |
8th | 8th | 6th | 7th | 3rd |
| TAS |
6th | 2nd | 4th | 4th | 1st |
| VIC 1 |
4th | 3rd | 3rd | 5th | 6th |
| VIC 2 |
10th | 9th | 11th | – | 11th |
| WA 1 |
3rd | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 4th |
| WA 2 |
– | – | – | – | 7th |
| Total | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 12 |
Women's tournament
Results
- Note: The following summaries comprise results from 2014 onwards, while the tournament was founded earlier.
| Year | Hosts | Gold Medal Match | Third and Fourth | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runners-up | 3rd place | Score | 4th place | ||||
| 2014 | Melbourne, VIC | QLD |
5–2 | NSW State |
VIC Blue |
3–2 | ACT | ||
| 2015 | Adelaide, SA | QLD |
4–0 | VIC Blue |
WA |
2–0 | NSW State | ||
| 2016 | Launceston, TAS | QLD 1 |
2–1 | NSW State |
WA |
3–0 | VIC Blue | ||
| 2017 | Hobart, TAS | QLD 1 |
2–0 | NSW State |
WA |
4–1 | VIC Blue | ||
| 2018 | Launceston, TAS | NSW State |
3–2 | WA |
QLD Maroon |
6–1 | VIC | ||
| 2019 | Hobart, TAS | QLD |
3–2 | NSW Blue |
NSW State |
5–0 | VIC | ||
References
- "2017 Under 18 Boys Outdoor Championship". Hockey Australia. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
- "2017 Under 18 Girls Outdoor Championship". Hockey Australia. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
- {{cite Clifford, A. (10AD). 2600 strong crowd turn up to support Tasmania’s under-18 hockey side before win. [online] Mercury. Available at: https://www.themercury.com.au/news/2600-strong-crowd-turn-up-to-support-tasmanias-under18-hockey-side-before-win/news-story/7c3f722a49a3bb9982b2be9670915879 [Accessed 14 Oct. 2023]}}
- hockeyaustralia.altiusrt.com. (n.d.). Hockey Australia: Altiusrt. [online] Available at: https://hockeyaustralia.altiusrt.com/competitions/324 [Accessed 14 Oct. 2023].}}
- https://"hockeyaustralia.altiusrt.com. (n.d.). Hockey Australia: Altiusrt. [online] Available at: https://hockeyaustralia.altiusrt.com/competitions/372 [Accessed 14 Oct. 2023].