Down Under Bowl
Encyclopedia
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
competition, which started in 1988. Held on the Gold Coast
Gold Coast, Queensland
Gold Coast is a coastal city of Australia located in South East Queensland, 94km south of the state capital Brisbane. With a population approximately 540,000 in 2010, it is the second most populous city in the state, the sixth most populous city in the country, and also the most populous...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, hundreds of high school American football players, coaches, cheerleaders and officials come to participate in the event, making it the largest American Football Championship Tournament held outside the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Australia
Gridiron Australia
Gridiron Australia is the governing body of American football in Australia. It is an approved sporting association under federal government regulations and is a member of the International Federation of American Football . The organisation was formed in 1996.Gridiron Australia oversees the...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
also send teams to compete in the competition.
The event is held annually with games held towards the end of June. Championships are usually held on 3 July with the athletes street parade and closing ceremony 4 July, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Independence Day
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
.
Teams are divided into brackets of four teams, with each team playing two games. The outcome of the first game determines whether a team's second game is a consolation or championship game. Games are played according to high school federation rules, officiated with one referee flown from the United States and the other officials supplied by Queensland Gridiron Officials Association.