45-659: The Newcastle Northstars (formally Newcastle North Stars ) is an Australian semi-professional ice hockey team from Newcastle, New South Wales . The Northstars are a member of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL), joining as an expansion team in 2002. The team is based at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Warners Bay , a suburb of Lake Macquarie , 15 kilometres south-west of Newcastle. The Northstars are affiliated with
90-658: A finalist in 2008. North Stars goalie Matt Ezzy was voted "Sportsperson of the Year" by the Lake Macquarie City Council for his 2005 season in February 2006, and was a finalist for the same award in 2007. North Stars defenceman and assistant captain Rob Starke was also a finalist for Senior Sportsperson of the year, 2007. North Stars coach Don Champagne was voted "Sports Official of the Year 2010" at
135-414: A full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a considerably lower rate than a full-time professional athlete . As a result, semi-professional players frequently have (or seek) full-time employment elsewhere. A semi-pro player or team could also be one that represents a place of employment that only
180-527: A healthy competitive rivalry with Adelaide franchises, the Adelaide Avalanche and Adelaide Adrenaline . The Northstars and Adelaide have a knack of facing off in big finals matches with both teams sharing in the winning spoils at different times. The Northstars and Avalanche met in the Goodall Cup deciders in 2005 and 2006 . In 2005, the two teams fought for the regular season title with
225-547: A player's career ended. Both sets of fans have a history of banter with walk out music, placards and clothing being used to ramp up the rivalry. In the 2015 AIHL semi-finals the two teams met in Melbourne . The Brave took a 3–0 lead thanks to two short-handed goals deep into the second period. The Northstars then kicked into life and fought back to win the match 4-3 thanks to a third period hat trick to league MVP Geordie Wudrick. The Brave then ‘poached’ Wudrick and Jan Safar for
270-459: A shift in fortunes for the team. After only missing out on finals twice in the previous fifteen years, the Northstars not only failed to qualify for finals but finished their lowest ever position in the league, seventh. Ten wins from twenty eight matches with a negative twenty seven goal difference did not make for good reading. Head coach, Andrew Petrie, decided to step down from his position at
315-478: A team ready for the Australian Ice Hockey League . Canadian expatriate Don Champagne was recruited to be coach, and local hockey enthusiast Peter Lambert was recruited as Team Manager. The Newcastle Northstars entered the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) as the North Stars in 2002. They were a part of the league's expansion that saw the league double in size from three teams to six. The Northstars joined
360-447: Is prohibitive, semi-pro football is common at the adult levels, in the outdoor or indoor variety , providing an outlet for players who have used up their NCAA eligibility and have no further use for maintaining amateur status. As a sport that normally plays only one game per week, American football is especially suited for semi-pro play and commonly known as "working man's" football; meaning the players have regular jobs and play football on
405-538: The 2005 AIHL season . He won the award in 2003 while playing for rivals Adelaide Avalanche . Throughout the history of the Newcastle Northstars, three jersey numbers have been retired in honour of former club legends. The retired jersey number banners hang on the player's bench side of the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium . Since 2003, each season the Northstars hold an annual awards night to present that season's team awards. There are six awards given out at
450-593: The Scottish Premiership , with most teams below the second-level Scottish Championship being semi-professional. Historically, English rugby league and rugby union have had one full-time professional division, with semi-professional divisions at the next level down. The second tier of union, the RFU Championship , became fully professional beginning with the 2009–10 season. Goodall Cup Too Many Requests If you report this error to
495-542: The 2011 Newcastle City Sports Awards. The Hudson Trophy is awarded by Ice Hockey Australia for sportsman of the year. It was first awarded in 1964 and is open for nominations by Australian ice hockey organisations and teams. Glenn Foll, who captained the Australian national team between 1990 and 2006, is the only player who has played for the Northstars and won the Hudson Trophy. Foll played for Newcastle during
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#1732783076989540-496: The 2016 season, causing a massive stir around the league. Northstar's head coach, Andrew Petrie, took the issue up with the local media and labelled the Brave disrespectful and a team trying to buy the league title. He also went on to label the city of Canberra a place ‘in the middle of nowhere’. The four 2016 regular season matches saw the two teams rack up 178 penalty minutes and end Brave import Art Bidlevskii's career. The defenceman
585-531: The Avalanche finishing first but the Northstars used their home crowd advantage in the final to secure a 3–1 victory. In 2006, the Northstars only snuck into the finals by finishing fourth but in the finals the dominated the Melbourne Ice in the semi's before meeting the Avalanche in the final. The Northstars played the perfect match, shutting out Adelaide and securing the cup with a 4–0 victory. In 2009
630-491: The H Newman Reid trophy for finishing premiers on top of the regular season table. The Northstars and Brave were one and two for much of the season but in the end the Brave claimed the trophy and the Northstars finished second. The Newcastle Northstars have been recognised by the Newcastle City Council as Newcastle's most outstanding senior sports team on three occasions in 2003, 2004 and 2006. They were also
675-656: The Hunter Ice Skating Stadium (a.k.a. HISS) opened at 230 Macquarie Road, Warners Bay. The Lake Macquarie suburb, only 15 km from the city, proved an ideal location for the new rink. The rink opened with former North Stars player/coach Garry Doré as general manager. A local committee was established and the Newcastle Northstars Ice Hockey Club was registered in 2001. The team mostly consisted of Canadian expatriates along with four talented local-born players contested
720-623: The Ice Dogs 4–1 in the AIHL final to claim the Goodall Cup . The Northstars backed up this success in 2004 by finishing top of the league table having only lost one match all season and claimed the team's first premiership and V.I.P. Cup . Success continued in 2005 and 2006 with the Northstars claiming back-to-back Goodall Cups with victories over rivals Adelaide Avalanche in the final in both seasons. The decade between 2007 and 2016 saw
765-519: The New South Wales Senior B championship. The Senior B North Stars went on to win the state Senior B Championship for 2001. Later in 2001 the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium hosted the Goodall Cup tournament. The Goodall Cup is Australia's senior men's national tournament, contested since 1909. Utilising the experience from running the tournament and gaining assistance from existing AIHL teams, rink general manager Garry Doré began building
810-522: The North Stars in 1978 and were leading the national 'Super League' at the time when the Newcastle ice rink went into liquidation in late 1982. Some players then retired, while others went on to play for teams in Sydney or join inline hockey teams that started in the 1990s in Newcastle. A Newcastle North Stars in-line hockey team was formed including former members of the defunct Wharf Road team. In 2000
855-640: The North Stars were defeated by the Adrenaline in overtime in the Goodall Cup final, 3–2 in overtime. In 2010 the Adrenaline knocked out the Northstars in the semi-final, holding off a third period comeback by the Northstars to win 7–6. Since the induction of the CBR Brave into the AIHL in 2014, the Northstars have built a heated rivalry with the team from Canberra . The two sides have fought each other for league titles, faced-off in hotly contested finals matches, seen players and coaches switch teams and seen
900-531: The North Stars. The two teams have a rich history in the AIHL Finals of facing off in big matches in pursuit of the Goodall Cup . The North Stars defeated the Ice Dogs in the 2003 and 2008 finals to win the Goodall Cup (both by a margin of 4–1). The North Stars lost the Cup to the Ice Dogs in the 2004 final, while also defeating the Ice Dogs in the semi-final in 2005 . Over the years the Northstars developed
945-446: The Northstars continue their strong position within the league, establishing a winning tradition within the team culture. Newcastle throughout this period of time, claimed league premiers and the H Newman Reid Trophy , four times by finishing top of the league standings in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2015. The team reached the Goodall Cup final eight times, claiming three Goodall Cups in 2008, 2015 and 2016. The Northstars also found success for
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#1732783076989990-507: The Northstars hired a new head coach in former Northstars player, John Kennedy Jnr. This was the American Aussie's first head coaching positioning since retiring as a player. The team recruited well with a number of quality imports joining from overseas. Leading the way for the team in 2019 was Canadian import Sammy Banga who finished third top points scorer in the league with sixty-six points. The Northstars saw great improvement over
1035-632: The Novocastrians. Newcastle's first ever match in the AIHL was at home at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium on 4 May 2002 against the Western Sydney Ice Dogs . The Northstars lost the match 3–7. Newcastle's first AIHL victory and shutout came on 19 May 2002 when they defeated the Canberra Knights 4–0. The Northstars finished the season in fourth place with six wins and ten losses. Canadian forward, Brett Hillier, finished
1080-727: The Olympic Club was accused by a rival club of enticing athletes to jump to its ranks with offers of jobs. An investigation by the Amateur Athletic Union ruled that the Olympics' practice was not actually professionalism but only a "semi" form of it, inventing the term "semi-pro". Although the Amateur Athletic Union did not like the idea very much, it decided that clubs could indeed offer employment without losing their amateur status or compromising
1125-464: The United States, where college ice hockey dominates at that age group; the junior leagues in the United States generally operate as fully amateur teams to maintain the players' eligibility to play in college. Lower-end minor leagues and more obscure sports often operate at a semi-professional level due to cost concerns. Because the cost of running a fully professional American football team
1170-404: The athlete. In North America, semi-professional athletes and teams were far more common in the early and mid-20th century than they are today. Large blue-collar employers such as factories and shipyards often fielded baseball and basketball teams, with players receiving full-time salaries comparable to other employees. In theory, such players split their work week between athletic training and
1215-603: The attendant scholarships , in maintaining amateur status (unlike the Amateur Athletic Union, the NCAA forbade any sort of compensation outside of scholarships, including job offers tied to their playing, until 2020). Eligibility for participation in the Olympics in some sports is still dependent upon maintaining a purely amateur status (although far less so than was previously the case), and such athletes may be supported by government money, business sponsorships, and other systems. At
1260-427: The awards nights including most valuable player, best defensive player, most improved player, most dedicated player, Tony Huntley Award for best Australian player and the coach's award. References: The Northstars have had five different captains in the team's known history. References: The Northstars have had five different head coaches in the team's history. In 2018, the Northstars had no head coach, instead
1305-494: The conclusion of the 2016 season, for the time, the team had become the most successful franchise in AIHL history. April 2017, prior to the start of the 2017 season, the team announced a minor change to their name. They changed their name from the North Stars to the Northstars. The re-brand was completed to align to the team with the New South Wales registered club, the Newcastle Northstars Ice Hockey Club. 2017 marked
1350-481: The conclusion of the season. 2018 saw an improvement in the Northstars with thirteen wins in the season and a fifth-place finish under the leadership of stand-in coaching trio, Joey Theriault, Ray Sheffield and Garry Doré. However, it was still not good enough to see them qualify for the finals weekend in Melbourne and for the first time in the team's history they failed to qualify for finals back-to-back. 2019 ,
1395-435: The employees are allowed to play on. In this case, it is considered semi-pro because their employer pays them, but for their regular job, not for playing on the company's team. The semi-professional status is not universal throughout the world and depends on each country's labour code and each sports organization's specific regulations. The San Francisco Olympic Club fielded an American football team in 1890. That year,
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1440-476: The first time in the NSW Wilson Cup , lifting the trophy in 2015. The Northstars set a few team records in 2015 with their highest ever points total in a season (63), highest goals scored in a season (152) and highest goals difference (+69). Canadian import, Geordie Wudrick also set league records for highest points in a season, 91 points at a rate of 3.25 per game and most goals in a season, 44 goals. At
1485-585: The ice hockey club of the same name. The team have won six Goodall Cups and five H Newman Reid Trophies , making them the most successful team in AIHL history. Ice hockey started in the city of Newcastle in 1960 at the old boxing stadium where Marketown is now situated. Originally the Newcastle Red Wings, the Red Wings were part of national leagues of the time. Due to instability there were several variations of these leagues. The Red Wings became
1530-552: The league along with the Melbourne Ice and Western Sydney Ice Dogs . Don Champagne was appointed the inaugural Northstars AIHL head coach while Bill Jones was named foundation captain. Due to a lack of local talent in the first season, the league allowed the Northstars to find players in Sydney and evenly split their roster between locals and imports. Newcastle assembled a roster for 2002 with nine Canadians expats and eight locals. The 2002 season produced highs and lows for
1575-590: The normal duties of the company's employees, though highly competitive teams often evolved into "sponsored" squads which trained for sports full-time and only nominally worked in the factory. The National Industrial Basketball League evolved out of these company-branded basketball teams. By the 1940s, baseball split off into separate truly amateur softball teams, sometimes sponsored by employers, and an expanded system of fully professionalized minor leagues whose lower ranks included many former industrial players. There are many benefits, such as collegiate eligibility and
1620-726: The previous two seasons under the guidance of John Kennedy. They finished the season runners-up in the league standings and qualified for the finals which were played in Newcastle for the first time in seven years. Unfortunately for the Northstars, they were defeated 2-3 by the Perth Thunder in the semi-finals in front of a boisterous home crowd. Team roster for the 2024 AIHL season . Defencemen Coaches Legend (C) Captain (A) Alternate Captain (I) Import player Statistics Average age: 28.1 Average height: 181.3 cm Average weight: 82.9 kg Locals: 22 Imports: 5 The following are
1665-407: The same time, professional sports have become such a massive and remunerative business that even many low-level feeder teams can afford to have fully professional athletes. In Canada, semi-professionalism is prevalent in junior ice hockey , in which the top level players (most of whom are teenagers still in, or just out of, high school) are paid at a semi-professional level. This is not the case in
1710-451: The season as the Northstars top points scorers with 34 points. In 2003, Newcastle appointed their first coaching director. Former Denmark and Canadian national team coach, Rob Barnes was appointed to the position by the Northstars. Barnes made an immediate impact in Newcastle with the Northstars finishing second in the league table in the 2003 season. The Northstars then won their very first AIHL era trophy in 2003. The Novocastrians defeated
1755-594: The short summer seasons and low salaries require players to hold jobs in the offseason to make ends meet. There are several hundred semi-professional football teams at non-League level. The bottom division of the English Football League (the fourth tier of the English football league system ) has traditionally been the cut-off point between professional ("full-time") and semi-professional ("part-time") in English football . However, many teams in
1800-490: The team chose a new coaching structure of three associate coaches to share the coaching responsibilities. Joey Theriault, Ray Sheffield and Garry Doré took up these roles in 2018. References: The Northstars have had one general manager (GM) in the team's history. References: The Northstars have had seven different team managers in the team's history. References: Semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on
1845-539: The top five all-time leaders in five different statistical categories: matches played; goals; assists; points; penalty minutes Staff roster for the 2024 AIHL season The Proski Newcastle North Stars' primary rivals are the Sydney Ice Dogs (Formally West Sydney Ice Dogs). The first ever AIHL game for the Proski North Stars was a loss to the Ice Dogs, who joined the league in 2002 along with
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1890-422: The top levels, as finances depend on promotion and relegation both of parent male teams and of the female teams themselves. Full professionalism for women is still in the planning stages; top female players often depend on other sources of income (such as coaching and physical training), and many attend university or college while playing. In Scottish football , semi-professional teams compete at all levels below
1935-538: The top non-League competition, the National League , have become "full-time" professional clubs in an effort to achieve League status. Many former League clubs also remain as fully professional teams following relegation to the lower leagues at least for as long as they retain a large enough average attendance to generate the income needed to pay the players. Women's football in England is semi-professional at
1980-538: The weekends. In the 20th century the term "semi-pro football league" refer to higher level amateur leagues, though the players do not get paid, the leagues and the games are run in a somewhat professional manner. The National Lacrosse League , whose teams also typically play only one game per week, pays a salary that is enough to be considered fully professional, but players also are able to pursue outside employment to supplement their income. The lowest levels of organized baseball are also effectively semi-professional, as
2025-401: Was accidentally struck in the throat. The two teams met in the AIHL final with the Northstars triumphing over the Brave 2–1 to clinch their sixth Goodall Cup . In 2017, Newcastle legend, Rob Starke switched to the Brave to take up the head coaching position following his playing retirement. He took with him another long-time Northstars favourite, Brian Bales. In 2019, the two teams fought for
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