Dual competitions are conducted for both men's and women's teams, with parallel fixtures for both competitions throughout the regular season. The league serves as Australia's premier domestic hockey league, helping unearth future talent for selection to the Australian national teams; the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos.[5]
The NSW Pride and the Brisbane Blaze are currently the most successful teams, winning three out of six titles each. The Pride won both the men's and women's competitions in 2022, whereas the Blaze won both competitions in 2023.
History
The Hockey One League 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's premier hockey competition.[5]
Following a series of rule innovations during the 2018 men's and women's AHL tournaments, Hockey Australia made the decision to disband the premier competition, making way for the new domestic league.[6]
On 23 September 2019, Hockey Australia confirmed that the new league had secured a major partnership with Kellogg's, with naming rights also afforded to the company, forming the Sultana Bran Hockey One League.[7] The sponsorship was for the first two seasons, which due to the COVID-19 pandemic extended through to the 2022 (second) season. The following day it was confirmed that Westfund Health Insurance had been named as a supporting partner.[8]
On 11 September 2023, the league announced Jamie Dwyer Hockey (JDH) as the new official naming rights partner, with the 2023 (third) season named the JDH Hockey One League.[9]
On 24 September 2024, Liberty was announced as naming rights partner, officially renaming the league to the Liberty Hockey One League for season four (2024).[10]
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 league's second season was postponed until 2021.[11] The decision was made by the Hockey One board on 24 March 2020 following consultations with Hockey Australia and the seven member associations in the league, all of which being unable to financially support the program later in the year.[12]
The postponement was not only made to benefit associations financially, but also on account of restrictions put into place by the Government of Australia, which prohibited mass-gatherings and sporting events.[13] 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.[14]
Format
Seven teams will compete in a round-robin tournament 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.[15]
Teams
The seven teams to compete in the Sultana Bran Hockey One come from Australia's states and territories, with the Northern Territory being the only team absent.[16]
The One Hockey Cup, presents an opportunity to celebrate the combined performances of Men’s and Women’s teams from the 7 Hockey One League Franchises. The One Hockey Cup will be awarded to the Club that ranks highest based on the aggregate scores of their Women’s and Men’s teams at the end of the Regular Season (Rounds 1 – 7).
The One Hockey Cup table stands as a separate competition to the League, and as such, the following points system is applied only to the One Hockey Cup table, and not applied to the League Table/general team standings. The One Hockey Cup results will have no impact on the outcome of the Hockey One League.
1. Clubs will be ranked on the One Hockey Cup table, based on the aggregate scores of the Women’s and Men’s matches on each matchday during the Regular Season (Rounds 1 – 7).
1.1. matchday results will be awarded as wins, draws, or losses, based on the aggregate score achieved by one Club against another on a single matchday.
1.1.1. if a single match results in a draw, the Club that wins the shoot-out competition will receive one extra goal on their aggregate matchday goal total.
2. Points on the One Hockey Cup table will be awarded as follows, based on the aggregate score of both matches on a single matchday
2.1. five points to the winning Club;
2.2. two points to each Club, in the event of a draw;
2.3. Zero points to the loser.
2.4. In circumstances where a match is abandoned, such as under “12. Interruptions to a Match” and the result is deemed to be a draw, two points will be awarded to each team towards their Club’s total for that matchday.
3. At the end of the Regular Season (Rounds 1 – 7) Clubs will be ranked on the One Hockey Cup table according to the number of points each club has accumulated in the regular rounds of the Hockey One Competition.
3.1. If two or more clubs have the same number of points, these clubs will be ranked according to their respective number of matchdays won.
3.2. If there remains equality between two or more clubs, then these clubs will be ranked according to their respective goal difference (which means “goals for” less “goals against”).
3.3. If there remains equality among two or more clubs, then these teams will be ranked according to their respective number of “goals for”.
3.4. Should there remain equality among two clubs, then the results of the matches played between those clubs will determine the ranking of the tied clubs.
3.5. If more than two clubs are involved, then a ranking based upon the results of the matches (only) then shall determine their respective position, based on the points awarded in accordance with aforementioned Club Cup 2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, & 2.4
3.6 If there remains equality among two or more clubs, then these clubs will be ranked according to the number of Field Goals scored during the regular rounds.
3.7 If there remains equality among two or more clubs, then these clubs will share the relevant placing on the One Hockey Cup table.
To promote the sport and engage fans, every match of the 2022 Hockey One League was broadcast live across Australia. All matches were broadcast live on Kayo Sports and in addition, all Thursday night double headers were broadcast on FOX Sports.[20] Both Kayo and FOX Sports broadcast the finals series, held over a weekend in Bendigo on the 19th and 20th of November, 2022.[21]
Prior to the 2023 season, Hockey Australia announced a new broadcast deal with the Seven Network, bringing the competition to their free streaming service 7plus in a multi-year deal.[22]
