The Capital Bowl championship game is the Grand Final of the American Football Wellington (AFW) senior season in Wellington, New Zealand. The game is generally played in mid or late February. In 1990, two founding teams, the Harbour City Hurricanes and the Hutt Valley Chargers competed in organised games between each other during the season. Quentin Poulsen, who founded both teams, personally donated a trophy for the inaugural Wellington championship game. The name given to the championship game was the Capital Bowl given the city’s status as New Zealand’s capital. The Hurricanes defeated the Chargers 20-16 in the inaugural championship game.
During the 2002-2003 season, the American Football Southern Conference gave a new name to the Capital Bowl trophy and called it the Horst Maczuga Trophy, in recognition of the league’s inaugural AFSC Commissioner, former Head Coach of the Harbour City Hurricanes and NZGOA Official, Horst Maczuga.