Gridiron NSW, originally known as NSW Gridiron Football League until 2007, is the governing body for American football in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Arguably the longest tenured American football league in Australia, Gridiron NSW took over from the Australian American Football Conference after its inaugural 1984 season and ultimately survived a threat from the breakaway NSW Premier State Gridiron League between 1993 and 1996. The teams from the NSW Premier State Gridiron League returned to the NSW Gridiron Football League prior to the commencement of the 1997 season and since that time, Gridiron NSW has continued to expand as the sport has enjoyed increasing popularity both in New South Wales and Australia generally. Gridiron NSW currently consists of four divisions: Division 1, Women, Colts and Juniors. The two top teams in each division participate in the Waratah Bowl, Opal Bowl and the Kookaburra Bowl respectively. These games and also known as the State Finals. The team with the most Waratah Bowl championships is the Sydney University Lions, who have won 20 in total, including 16 straight championships between 2003 and 2018 inclusive. This streak was broken when the UNSW Raiders were defeated by the Northern Sydney Rebels 38-32 in the 2019 Waratah Bowl. Each season the best players across the league are selected to represent New South Wales at the Australian Gridiron LeagueNational Championships in representative teams known as the NSW Wolfpack, the Coyotes and the Wolverines respectively.
The NSW Premier State Gridiron League was formed by disgruntled members of the NSWGFL, which was the only American Football league in NSW at the time. It operated between 1993 and 1996. The affiliated NSW Premier State Youth Gridiron League, which was the first junior gridiron competition in Australia, was also conducted under its administration. In its inaugural 1993 season, the league consisted of 6 teams – Bondi Raiders, Liverpool Pirates, L.U.S.C. Argonauts, Mascot Jets, Newcastle Cobras and Wollongong Mustangs. Prior to the commencement of the 1997 season, and after only four seasons, the league was disbanded and its teams rejoined what was then the NSW Gridiron Football League.
NSW Premier State Youth Gridiron League
The origins of the NSW Premier State Youth Gridiron League may be traced to the establishment in 1991 of the first two junior teams in New South Wales: Blacktown Starrs and Penrith Wolverines. The teams played two exhibition games at Penrith Park and Parramatta Stadium in June and July 1991 before games between touring US Down Under Bowl high school teams from North Dakota and Colorado. In its inaugural 1993 season, the Penrith City Chiefs defeated the North Shore Falcons 32-0 in the State Championship Game. In 1994, the NSWPSYGL consisted of 5 teams: Caringbah Chargers, Eastside Colts, Lansvale Trojans, North Shore Falcons and Penrith City Chiefs. The 1994 season ended with the Penrith City Chiefs being crowned State Champions following an amazing 13-12 comeback victory against the North Shore Falcons in the State Championship Game on 29 May 1994. The Penrith City Chiefs completed a three-peat in the 1995 season and in the NSWPSYGL’s final season in 1996, the newly formed Casula Bears won the State Championship.
