The Sydney Sirens (commonly referred to as the Sirens) are an ice hockey team based in Sydney, Australia.[1] The Sirens compete in the Australian Women's Ice Hockey League (AWIHL). The AWIHL is the top tier national league in the country for women and they were one of the founding members. The Sirens have been affiliated with several different hockey rinks in the state throughout their existence and have won 3 titles since the league's inception.
History
Formed in 2007, they were one of the four founding teams in the AWIHL. The Sirens would change their name from 2011 to 2013 to the North Star Sirens but reverted to their original name Sydney Sirens, which they presently use.[2] In 2015 the team announced that they would be moving from their former home rink Sydney Ice Arena to the Canterbury Olympic Ice Rink and were hoping to expand their fan base in the inner western suburbs of Sydney.[3]
Sydney Sirens have expanded their reach in NSW with players from Newcastle, Central Coast travelling for approximately 2 hours to get to the rink. This team is also unique because they are one of the only teams which are allowed to take in players from neighbouring territory, ACT. These players drive over 3 hours to get to practice and games.
Early years (2005-2016)
In 2005,discussion began around establishing a national league for women. 2006 would see Sydney enter a team in to a mini-series competing against 3 other teams from different states. Sydney would formally enter the AWIHL as the Sydney Sirens and become one of the four founding members in 2007.
The Sirens finished short and felt like they had a score to settle losing in the previous year's Grand Final in 2016.
In the 2017 AWIHL season, the League would announce that import goalies were no longer allowed. 4 imports were also now allowed on the team but only 2 were able to be played per game.
Sharna Godfrey was coming off a great season prior as Scoring Leader, closely followed by Kath McOnie. The Sirens would end up minor premiers and dominate their first semi-final 10–0 to face the Brisbane Goannas in a tightly contested Grand Final. Notable imports were CIS Raven graduate Erin Beaver and Ontario native Steph Cochrane who would later go on to represent the National Women's team (NWT) the following year.
Netminder Sera Dogramaci was clutch in the 4-3 OT Shootout win at Sydney's home rink for the Sirens to win their first National Championship.
2019-2020 Championship
The 2020 AWIHL Finals would see an intense battle against a formidable Adelaide Rush team, the Sydney Sirens emerging as the champions of the 2020 AWIHL National Championship. Under the guidance of their new coach, Jayden Ryan, the Sirens showcased a powerful lineup of National players, as well as the key D1 NCAA imports sisters Sarah Edney, Dini Edney, and their mutual friend Kayla Nielsen. It was a goaltender battle with newly selected Tina Girdler and former Siren Michelle Coonan in net for Rush. With the stellar performance of goaltender Tina, the team managed to keep a clean sheet while securing three crucial goals to clinch the title.
2020-2022 Championship
Unfortunately, the following two years saw the cancellation of the AWIHL forced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the league made a triumphant return at the end of 2022, along with the Brisbane Goannas undergoing a rebranding to become the Brisbane Lightning and aligning themselves with their local AIHL team.
2022-2023 Season
For the 2022–2023 season, the Sirens relocated to the Macquarie Ice Rink, and the management team remaining mostly intact, Jayden Ryan would return to serve as Head Coach with Gabe Robledo joining team staff as Assistant Coach.
Through a rigorous try-out process, Coach Ryan was able to assemble a talented squad of players alongside the main team, who could gain valuable experience from team practice and prepare to compete at a national level.
With such a promising group of newcomers, the Sirens were sure to be a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming season.
2022-2023 Championship
All teams this season had won and lost against each other so there were no clear favourites to come out on top. The Sirens would face off against the Lightning who were a fast and physical team.
Georgia Clarke would score an important first goal to swing momentum the Sirens' way. Her first goal in her rookie season to boot. Sarah Edney would make Brisbane pay breaking through and scoring some beautiful goals from tight angles. Sharna Godfrey finishing a nice tick tack toe pass on the powerplay.
Sirens would face off against Melbourne Ice for a grudge match. Siren's speed and chemistry would prove too much for a usually well disciplined and dangerous Melbourne squad. Former NWU18T Captain Ebony Brunt would score top shelf to force a change of goalie. Final score 5–2 to become back to back National Champions
Logo and Uniform
The uniform is coloured black, with red stars and a logo that adds yellow. The logo depicts a Siren, characters of Greek mythology.
The Away uniform is coloured white, with red stars, yellow and red stripes. 2023 included a minor update to the Away set to include pink fill in to the siren logo to make it more prominent on the jersey.
