Newcastle, 14 July 2026 – Tickets to the travelling Kerry Goulet ice hockey promotion in Canberra this week will set punters back between $89-$900 per seat depending on the package they buy.
Yes, as much as a $900 per seat.
No doubt there’s a significant front-end cost involved in all of this, but the price to see the local Canberra Brave play some Canadian/American imports (some from the AIHL, and one import currently banned for failing a previous drug test conducted by Sport Integrity Australia officials) compares with AIHL tickets costing as little as $20-$25 for a game throughout the 10-team league covering Brisbane, Erina, Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.
So, it might be a surprise that the admission price for the entire Australian national championships being staged at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Newcastle is only $30 (or $7.50 for a day pass). And the event – encompassing Ginsberg, De Fris, Tange, and Boxall championship tourneys — offers a total of 125 hours’ game time of which 66 are being livestreamed at no charge, with full commentary.
Some parents have been surprised by the admission charges, and understandably paying to watch their offspring in action – after having already spent thousands of dollars on their child’s (or multiple children’s) ice hockey journey/ies – might seem harsh.
However, it’s important to remember the many volunteers from Ice Hockey New South Wales who have spent countless weeks preparing for this four-tourney extravaganza of ice hockey, and are continuing to put in 12-15 hour days starting often well before sunrise to stage this epic event in Newcastle.
The volunteer roles cover such duties as merchandise stall, penalty box, timekeeping, scoring, commentating, ticket check and even first aid (if appropriately trained/certified) among many opportunities to serve. And as an incentive, every parent is thanked, if not rewarded with free tournament entry as well as a meal and a drink in return for volunteering in one of the 600 slots organisers had to fill across the slate of games.
One official told me: “We heard from 70 parents who are helping in return for free entry.” That means a lot of parents haven’t stepped up and there may be valid reasons for this, especially for interstate families whose sole transport might be the team bus. Many of the players will one day become possible AIHL participants and even national team selections so seeing them live and in action is a real treat – parent or otherwise.
One of the key Ice Hockey Australia officials involved in the event is Suzanne Garas who stepped down as a board member (i.e. director) earlier this year but offered to continue as the national championship lead to see through the 2026 season. Ice Hockey NSW president and national para women’s team coach Dawn Watt has joined her as local tournament director, both women taking leave from their daytime jobs and regularly logging 15 hour days during the series.
The only other IHA director present as a volunteer is Deon Shearer (all the way from Perth, WA), also putting in the hours along with other local and interstate volunteers.
Interestingly, there has been no sign of any other IHA directors just yet but that’s likely a budget-driven decision of the new president Tim Kitching who has attended the event already. Incidentally, Kitching also made it to Canberra for the recent weekend Goulet promotion (joined by Melbourne-based IHA vice-president Veronica Ryan) which included canapes and drinks at the Canadian High Commissioner’s residence, attended by the acting deputy head of mission from the US Embassy and the deputy head of mission from the Mexican Embassy.
With Australia in the IIHF’s Americas region, it pays to press the right flesh.
The national championships run through to 19 July.
(Picture/artwork credit: IHNSW)
Sandi Logan 