Victorian Ice Hockey Association

The Victorian Ice Hockey Association, currently trading as Ice Hockey Victoria is the governing body of ice hockey in Victoria, Australia. The Victorian Ice Hockey Association is a branch of Ice Hockey Australia.
==History==
===1908 VAIHA: Club Hockey Begins===
12 September 1908 is the date of the formation of the first ice hockey association in Australia. The meeting at the Melbourne Glaciarium occurred directly after an evening ice hockey game between the Brighton Ice Hockey Club and the Melburnians, which resulted in a 2-2 tie. The meeting was for the purpose of organising a club for the following season and the following committee was appointed: Lorimer, Ward, Errol F. Woods, W. Purbrick and Andrew Lambert Reid. 
Mr. Purbrick was nominated as honorable Treasurer and Mr. Reid was nominated as the Secretary.
The name of the association was the Victorian Amateur Ice Hockey Association (VAIHA). The association consisted of 4 ice hockey clubs: 
* Beavers 
* Brighton
* Glaciarium
* Melburnians
The Glaciarium Ice Hockey Club were the first ice hockey club to form in Australia, in 1907 and they are named for the Melbourne Glaciarium as the in house representative team. The remainder of the original 3 teams were formed in 1908. The Melburnians IHC consisted of the Melbourne Grammar School field hockey team and the team was named the Melburnians after the school. The Brighton IHC team were also named after a school, Brighton Grammar School.
The first state championship series in Australia was held in the Melbourne Glaciarium between 14 September 1909 - 27 September 1909. The final game was held on the evening of 27 September 1909 and was between the Glaciarium and Melburnians. The Glaciarium won the championship final by a score of 3-0 and were awarded gold medals.
=== 1910 VAIHSA: Victorian Amateur Ice Hockey and Sports Association ===
Matches played during intervals between ice skating sessions were played under the auspices Victorian Amateur Ice Hockey and Sports Association and from the local competition, players would be selected to represent Victoria in the annual Inter-State Series.
In 1911 the Melbourne Glaciarium was leased from 30 September that year, cutting the season shorter than usual.
=== The Great War ===
As the Great War began, plans for the abandonment of ice hockey until the end of the war were considered. The rink management would go on to organise speed contests in the absence of a hockey season. No cup was to be contested in the 1915 season
===1921: A Local Goodall Cup===
A cup was donated by John Edwin Goodall in 1921, not to be confused with the Goodall Cup used for the inter-state competition, this Goodall Cup was used as the premiership trophy for the Victorian ice hockey league.
===1925: The Presidents Cup===
In the year Essendon won its first Premiership, earning the right to hold the Goodall Cup, they also held the first Presidents Cup donated by the Victorian Ice Hockey Association president Mr. P Sutherland.
===1946: League Reorganization===
In 1946, the four previously-existing Suburbs teams (Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western) were disbanded and six brand new clubs were formed: Wildcats, Blackhawks, Demons, Monarchs, Tigers and Red Arrows. The Wildcats and the Blackhawks used the Melbourne Glaciarium as their headquarters and the Demons, Monarchs, Tigers and Red Arrows were based at the newer St. Moritz rink based in St. Kilda.
==National Competition==
===1909: The Goodall Cup===
The first inter-state ice hockey championship was held between a state representative team from Victoria and from New South Wales. This tournament was a best-of-3 format and saw Victoria win the series 2 games to 1. New South Wales was represented by a newly formed team in 1909 and traveled to Melbourne on 29 August 1909 which marked the first national interstate competition for senior men's hockey in Australia. 
This was the year that 16-year-old John Edwin Goodall donated the J. E. Goodall Cup to the interstate series, the Victoria state team won the inaugural tournament to become the first Goodall Cup Champions, with Robert Jackson as the captain, who scored 3 goals in the second half of the final game.
The first game of the series had a final score of 2-1 with New South Wales defeating Victoria. Friday 3 September 1909 the Victorian team defeated the New South Wales team 1-0, giving Victorian goaltender Charles Watt the first recorded shutout in Goodall Cup history. In the third game of the series both teams had won a game each. Victoria defeated New South Wales 6-1 and became the first team to win the interstate championship in Australia and the first to be awarded the Goodall Cup.
Before World War I, which interrupted the Goodall Cup series in 1914, Victoria won 3 out of 5 Goodall Cup championships held between 1909 and 1913.
When the Goodall Cup tournament resumed in 1921, New South Wales would win but Victoria would win the following year in 1922, captained by John Edwin Goodall. This was Victoria's last Goodall Cup win until 1947.
In 1952 the tournament expanded with the introduction of a team from Tasmania. The first time Tasmania competed in the inter-state tournament was 1 July 1952 against Victoria at the Hobart Glaciarium. Victoria would go on to win the Goodall Cup that year.
The Goodall Cup continued to be awarded to the winners of the inter-state ice hockey champions until 2001. In 2002 the Goodall Cup was used as an award to the playoff champions in the Australian Ice Hockey League, which is the most elite national ice hockey league in Australia. For its centenary, the Goodall Cup was used again as an award for an inter-state ice hockey competition but was returned to be used the AIHL immediately after.
===1921: A Second Goodall Cup===
A second cup was donated by John Edwin Goodall in 1921, not to be confused with the Goodall Cup used for the inter-state competition, this second Goodall Cup was used as the premiership trophy for the Victorian ice hockey league.
===1922: The Gower Cup===
The first inter-state women's ice hockey championship tournament was held in the first week in August 1922 between New South Wales and Victoria, New South Wales won the first game of the series 3-0.
==About the Organization==
The Victorian Ice Hockey Association (VIHA) was formed as the Victorian state branch for Ice Hockey Australia. It is responsible for organising six leagues covering three different age groups during the normal season as well as a summer hockey program that operates five leagues. It is also responsible for selecting the state teams to compete in the national tournaments.
VIHA operates its leagues out of two venues of the Olympic Ice Skating Centre based in Oakleigh South and the Icehouse based in Docklands. Teams are fielded in the leagues by six clubs – the Blackhawks Ice Hockey Club, the Braves Ice Hockey Club, the Demons Ice Hockey Club, the Melbourne Jets Ice Hockey Club, the Saints Monarchs Ice Hockey Club, and the Sharks Ice Hockey Club. The associations current president is Warren Porter.
==Leagues==
=== Winter Competition ===
*Premier A – the top senior league in Victoria
*Premier Reserve – the second tier senior league
*Premier C Division I (C1) – the third tier senior league that employs a non-checking rule. Is open to both men and women
*Premier C Division II (C2)– the fourth tier senior league. Also open to both men and women and employs the non-checking rule
=== Under 21 ===
A junior league open to players 21 and under
The league consists of 3 teams and operates in 2 tiers based on skill level:
Tier 1
* Bombers
* Pirates
* Flyers
Tier 2
* Bombers
* Pirates
* Flyers
=== Under 15 ===
A junior league open to players 15 and under. 
The league consists of 4 teams:
* Bears
* Bombers
* Pirates
* Flyers
=== Under 12 ===
A junior league open to players 12 and under
=== Summer Competition ===
*Recreational C Division I
*Recreational C Division II
*Recreational C Division III
*Recreational C Division IV
==Awards and Trophies==
===H. H. Kleiner Memorial Trophy===
The H.H. Kleiner trophy is awarded to the winners of the playoffs in the Victorian Premier A league.
===Basil Hansen Memorial Trophy===
The Basil Hansen Memorial Trophy is currently awarded to the playoff champions in the Premier Reserve league. The trophy namesake is Basil Hansen, an Australian ice hockey champion.
===Don Reddish Trophy===
The Don Reddish trophy is currently awarded to the playoff champions in the Premier C division I
===Clive Connelly Trophy===
The Clive Connelly Trophy is currently awarded to the playoff champions in the Premier C division II
==Presidents==
* 1911 - Phillip John Rupert Steele Sr.
* 1912 - Phillip John Rupert Steele Sr.
* 1913 - Phillip John Rupert Steele Sr.
* 1914 - Phillip John Rupert Steele Sr.
* 1925 - P. Sutherland
* 1926 - P. Sutherland
* 1927 - P. Sutherland
* 1930 - John Edwin Goodall
* 1936 - A. de Long
* 1937 - A. de Long
* 1938 - A. de Long
* 1940 - Wallace Sharland
* 1952 - S. Hiort
==References==
==External links==
*Ice Hockey Victoria
Category:Ice hockey governing bodies in Australia