The Ambassadors Cup Competition is AFW's annual flagship American football senior competition, which generally takes place from early November through February. The competition was previously known as the Southern Zone competition and started in 1991 with three teams (Harbour City Hurricanes, Hutt Valley Chargers and Capital City Giants) competing in the inaugural season. The Hutt Valley Chargers won the inaugural Southern Zone competition and were awarded the Southern Zone Championship Cup, which was presented by former United States of America’s Ambassador, Dean Newman in 1992.
The competition name was changed to the Ambassadors Cup Competition alongside with the name of the trophy to that of the same name, prior to the 2004-2005 season. The Ambassadors Cup competition format is a Round-Robin that generally runs for 10 weeks with every team facing each other twice. The AFW uses a Points System to decide who is awarded the Ambassadors Cup at the end of the regular season. The team with highest number of competition points, based on the points system wins the Ambassadors Cup.
The AFW Points System:
- Four (4) points are awarded for a win
- Two (2) point for a draw
- One (1) point for a loss by seven (7) or fewer points
The number of teams competing in the Ambassadors Cup competition determines the number of teams that will qualify for post-season matches including the Capital Bowl championship game. The post season formula is as follows:
- 3 Team Competition – (2 teams maximum qualify) - 1st and 2nd – Capital Bowl
- 4 Team Competition – (2 teams maximum qualify) - 1st and 2nd – Capital Bowl
- 5 Team Competition – (3 teams maximum qualify) - 3rd v 2nd (Elimination) - Winner v 1st in Capital Bowl
- 6 Team (or more) Competition – (4 teams maximum qualify) - 1st v 4th & 2nd v 3rd (Semi) – Winners in Capital Bowl OR 1st v 2nd (Game 1) & 3rd v 4th (Game 2), Game 1 loser v Game 2 winner (Game 3) – Game 3 winner v Game 1 winner in Capital Bowl.
| Season | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2011-2012 | Hutt Valley Spartans |
| 2010-2011 | Hutt Valley Spartans |
| 2010-2011 | Wellington City Wolves |
| 2009-2010 | Hutt Valley Spartans |
| 2008-2009 | Wellington City Wolves |
| 2007-2008 | Porirua City Knights |
| 2006-2007 | Porirua City Knights |
| 2005-2006 | Wellington City Wolves |
| 2004-2005 | Knight City Knights |
| 2003-2004 | Porirua Giants |
| 2002-2003 | Knight City Knights |
| 2001-2002 | Manawatu Silverbacks |
| 2000-2001 | Harbour City Sharks |
| 1999-2000 | Porirua Giants |
| 1998-1999 | Porirua Giants |
| 1997-1998 | Porirua Hurricanes |
| 1996-1997 | Porirua Hurricanes |
| 1995-1996 | Porirua Hurricanes |
| 1994-1995 | Porirua Hurricanes |
| 1993-1994 | Hutt Valley Chargers |
| 1992-1993 | Levin Tigers |
| 1991-1992 | Hutt Valley Chargers |
Read more about this topic: American Football Wellington
Famous quotes containing the words ambassadors, cup and/or competition:
“So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us...”
—Bible: New Testament, 2 Corinthians 5:20.
“Sisters define their rivalry in terms of competition for the gold cup of parental love. It is never perceived as a cup which runneth over, rather a finite vessel from which the more one sister drinks, the less is left for the others.”
—Elizabeth Fishel (20th century)
“Never before has a generation of parents faced such awesome competition with the mass media for their children’s attention. While parents tout the virtues of premarital virginity, drug-free living, nonviolent resolution of social conflict, or character over physical appearance, their values are daily challenged by television soaps, rock music lyrics, tabloid headlines, and movie scenes extolling the importance of physical appearance and conformity.”
—Marianne E. Neifert (20th century)