Australian rules football

Australian rules football (also known as Aussie rules or footy) is a game played between two teams. Each team has 18 players on the field of play at any one time. There are 22 players per side in the premier league, AFL, who are interchanged without limitation by the coaches as required. Teams use an ellipsoidal ball on cricket ovals, or similar-sized areas, with four goal posts at each end. The aim for each team is to kick the ball between the two inner posts of one set, for a goal, worth six points. If the ball travels between one outer and one inner post (which includes striking an inner post), it scores a behind, worth just one point. The game is distinguished from other kinds of football by the fast, relatively free movement of the ball.

Australian rules, which originated in Melbourne, is the predominant winter sport in its traditional areas of popularity, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania. Its popularity is increasing in Queensland and New South Wales, due to the recent success of the local teams in Brisbane and Sydney. In these areas, much of the citizenry takes an obsessive interest in the competition and attend many of the games. Footy tipping is a mainstay of many workplaces’ social interaction.

The Australian Football League is the national league competition, which consists of a single division of 16 teams. The AFL was renamed from the Victorian Football League in 1990. Each state has its own local league, and there are amateur recreational, children’s and women’s competitions.
See also: List of Australian rules footballers, List of Australian Football League premiers, Brownlow Medal, Coleman Medal, 2005 AFL Finals Series, Footy tipping, AFL Premiership 2005, and Category:Australian Rules footballers

Basketball

NBL logo

The National Basketball League was formed in 1978 and is Australia’s top professional basketball competition. It has eleven teams. Some players have gone on to play in the NBA such as Andrew Gaze and Luc Longley. The premier women’s basketball league is the Women’s National Basketball League, with player Lauren Jackson going on to win the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player award in 2003. In recent years, many young Australians have chosen to play college basketball in the United States, the most notable of whom is 2005 NBA Draft top pick Andrew Bogut.

Cricket

Cricket has a long history in Australia, and is played on local, national and international levels. The Australian cricket team is today regarded as one of the leading international teams in world cricket, having been the unquestionably dominant team for much of the 1990s. The first Australian cricket team which played overseas was the 1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England. The Australian team which toured England in 1948 was nicknamed The Invincibles and was captained by Donald Bradman. In recent years the Australia team has been captained by Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist and currently Ricky Ponting.

Domestic competitions between the states include the Pura Cup first-class competition (previously known as Sheffield Shield) and the ING Cup limited overs competition.

Cycling

Cycling is a popular recreational sport in Australia, as the weather is suitable most of the year. It is gaining a higher profile at a competitive level due to the success of Australians competing overseas (such as in Olympic Games and the Tour de France), and the Tour Down Under race in Australia attracting top cyclists from around the world.

Soccer (association football)

Australia has a new national league for soccer called the A-League. Australia’s national team, nicknamed the Socceroos, are active in international games including World Cup Qualification games, and have qualified for the 2006 World Cup. Australia has just completed a move to the Asian Football Confederation from the Oceania Football Confederation.

The name ‘football’ can sometimes be ambiguous in Australia. Historically, the sport has been known as soccer, but many official organisations and clubs are now using the term ‘football’ in line with common international usage of the word.

Golf

The Australian Open was first played in 1904 and is one of the main annual golf tournaments in the PGA Tour of Australasia. The Royal Park Golf Club was one of the earliest golf clubs in Melbourne. One of the best known Australian golfers is Greg Norman, the worlds number one ranked golfer for much of the 1980s and 1990s. Also well known are Stuart Appleby, Steve Elkington, Ian Baker-Finch, Nick O’Hern and Karrie Webb.

Hockey

Hockey is a popular amateur sport throughout Australia, but tends to have limited appeal at higher levels, at least, when compared to Cricket, AFL and Rugby. Traditional field hockey, played during winter, is the most common form of the game, but indoor hockey is growing in popularity, and smaller, generally fairly isolated competitions for roller hockey and ice hockey.

At the highest levels, Australian hockey teams have been extremely successful in the recent past. The Hockeyroos, Australia’s women’s hockey team, have won three olympic gold medals, in 1988, 1996 and 2000. The Australian Men’s team, the Kookaburras are the reigning Olympic and Commonwealth champions.

Horse racing

Horse racing in Australia is administered by The Australian Racing Board, with each State’s Principal Racing Authority agreeing to abide by, and to enforce the Australian Rules of Racing.

Thoroughbred horse racing is the third most attended spectator sport in Australia, behind Australian Rules football and rugby league, with almost 2 million admissions to the 379 racecourses throughout Australia in 2002-2003. Besides being a spectator sport, horse racing is also an industry, which provides full or part time employment for almost 250,000 people, the equivalent of 77,000 jobs. About 300,000 people have a direct interest as owners, or members of syndicates in the 31,000 horses in training in Australia.

Public interest in thoroughbred racing, especially during the main Spring and Autumn racing carnivals, has been growing in recent years with over 100,000 attracted to the running of both the Melbourne Cup and VRC Oaks. The Caulfield Cup and W S Cox Plate are also major attractions.

Throughout its history, horse racing has become part of the Australian culture and has developed a rich and colourful language as well as providing some of Australia’s great sporting icons such as Phar Lap, Tulloch, Bernborough, Kingston Town and Makybe Diva.