There’s no denying it. Australia and sport go hand in hand. It’s near on impossible to think of Australian culture without thinking of Olympic gold medals, Grand Slams, World Titles and of course, the one they take particular pleasure in beating us Brits at, The Ashes. Winning is a source of national pride and with an estimated six-and-a-half million registered sport participants (pretty amazing from a population of just over 21 million) we think it’s fair to say, Australians are mad about sports.
the ashes trophy
And while most of the sports Australians excel in are pretty recognisable -rugby, tennis, swimming – there are few sports that, to the outside eye (and lack of knowledge of the rules) can be, well, slightly different to what we’re used to. In a good way of course.
playing by the aussie rules
Yep, you guessed it, Aussie rules football (footy if you’re a local). The most watched sport in Australia seems to have most of us fully intrigued and always asking, ‘are there any rules at all in this game?’ Well, of course there are, and once you’ve seen a few games and started to get your head round it you may well become as passionate as the Aussies themselves.
aussie rules football
Oval-shaped pitches, teams of eighteen, no offside rule, kicking, handballing and more than its fair share of physical contact, ‘footy’ has to be one of the most unique and exciting mainstream sports in the world. We’ll watch it all day long; just don’t ask us to get involved in the playing…
gnarly barrels and board busting breaks
When Hawaiian legend Duke Kahanamoku landed on Freshwater Beach in New South Wales in the summer of 1915 armed only with his newly carved timber surfboard few would have imagined the impact he would have.
After witnessing ‘The Duke’s’ stunning exhibition of wave riding the people of Australia were hooked. There really are precious few other countries that have embraced surfing quite like the Australians but when you consider nearly 85% of the population lives within 50km of the coast it’s easy to see why.
surfing in byron bay
But with surfing, it’s so much about the lifestyle which makes it so appealing. Days spent in glorious sunshine, clear blue oceans going hand in hand with a totally laid back approach. It’s almost impossible to avoid the chance to jump on a board when visiting Australia, but be warned, you might not be carving up those 10ft waves for a while, for most, it is definitely harder than it looks.
my boomerang won’t come back
Ok, probably not the first thing that pops into your mind when you think about Australian sport and although many games were lost after colonisation, traditional Aboriginal societies had, and still have to some extent, a rich diversity of sports.
Games such as Buroinjin played by the the Kabi Kabi people of southern Queensland is similar to basketball, but played with a ball made from kangaroo skin (called a buroijin) then stuffed with grass. And the iconic Boomerang (a tool traditionally used for hunting) makes an appearance in the ancient game of Bubberah. Much is being done to try to preserve these old games and pastimes and many have slightly modern adaptations, all part of the rich tapestry of Australian sporting culture.
For an adventurous sporting trip through Australia, take a look at our Adventure through Tasmania experience.
Take me back for more Australian culture
