University of Canberra Firebirds

The University of Canberra Firebirds, since re-branded as the University of Canberra Stars, are an American Football club established to compete in the ACT Gridiron competition in 1993.

Based in the Belconnen area in the northern part of Canberra, the Firebirds were one of five clubs originally formed for the seniors competition.

Funding and support by the University of Canberra Union resulted in the club adopting the organisation's colours – yellow, red and blue. The original playing strip consisted of yellow jerseys and yellow helmets.

The Firebirds re-branded as the University of Canberra Stars as part of a university-wide re-brand of sports teams. The primary colours are white, blue and black.

The Firebirds have won the most championships in ACT Gridiron history with 10 Capital Bowl victories from 17 appearances. The club has also won 11 minor premierships by having the best regular season win-loss record (1994, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2018).

The Firebirds are nine-time winners of the Charity Bowl (2001, 2006–08, 2011–12, 2016–18), which is annually held in the first week of the season between the previous season's winners of the Capital Bowl and Charity Bowl. If one team holds both trophies, the opponent is the Capital Bowl runner-up.

During this period, the Firebirds Junior team won 13 ACT championships in 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2020. The 1999 championship was as the University Rockets – a joint venture with the ACT Astros side then competing in the NSW Gridiron League.

The Firebirds only fielded a junior team in 2020 – citing reduced player numbers caused by COVID-19 disruptions and increased league fees as the reason for no men's team. The club has yet to re-enter a team in ACT Gridiron competition, but fielded a women's team in the 2022 Gridiron NSW competition. The team qualified for the playoffs, but lost in the semi-final to the eventual-champion Northern Sydney Rebels.