Gridiron Australia

Gridiron Australia is the governing body of American football (gridiron) in Australia. It is an approved sporting association under federal government regulations and is a member of the International Federation of American Football (IFAF). The organisation was formed in 1996.

Gridiron Australia oversees the country's national team, which has competed in the IFAF World Cup. It is a governing body of the state-level leagues and does not manage a national-level league itself. Six out of the eight Australian states and territories run leagues; a total of 70 teams consisting of approximately 2500 players. Leagues also provide state-level teams to the Gridiron Australia National Championships. In 2012, the Australian Gridiron League was established by Gridiron Australia.

Organised gridiron has been played in Australia since 1983 and is always referred to as gridiron rather than football to distinguish it from the other football codes such as rugby league, rugby union, Australian rules football or soccer. There is no uniform gridiron season in Australia, with the leagues playing at different times of the year.

ACT Gridiron

ACT Gridiron or ACTG is the governing body for gridiron (American football) in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. ACT Gridiron currently has six teams. The season culminates with the grand final, known as the Capital Bowl.

Gridiron in the ACT began in 1990 with the formation of the Canberra Sabretooths Gridiron Club. In that year the Sabretooths played a number of full contact games against NSW gridiron teams before entering the NSW competition in 1991. The club played three seasons as members of the NSW League, winning the championship in 1994, their last year in the competition. The ACT Gridiron League was formed in 1993 with five teams competing for the Capital Bowl trophy.

The original senior teams were: the Belconnen Thunderbolts, the Tuggeranong Tornadoes, the University of Canberra Firebirds, the Tidbinbilla Space Cadets and the Queanbeyan Wolverines.

The Tuggeranong Tornadoes and the University of Canberra Firebirds are the only two original teams still in the competition, although the Firebirds did not enter a team in the 1996 competition.