Boys' Sport Uniforms: Country Trends--Australia


Figure 1.--One of the most popular sports in Austrlia is Australian rules football or "footy". As far as weknow the sport is only played in Australia.

Australians see themselves as a sortuing nation. Popular sports includes basketball, baseball, cricket, footy, gridiron (meaning American football, but only occasionally with protective gear), rounders, table tennis (ping pong), tennis, and volleyball. One sport evolving from football/rugby which is destinctive to Austrralia is Australian Rules Football--affectionally called "footy". An Australian reader tells us, "I played soccer and I love the game. I also played-mini league Aussie rules footy. I also enjoyed tenpin bowling and kanga cricket (a softer ball and easier rules apply in this version of the game)." I'm unsure about the relative popularity of the various sports, but suspect that football and rugby, perhaps footy, are the two popular. Hopefully our Australian readers will provide some details. Cricket is both popular at the private schools. Tennis is very popular.

Cricket

Cricket began to develop in England (17th century). It was at first enjoyed by aristocrativc people, but gradually developed a wide-spread following at the village level. Unlike rugby it was not asport developed at the public schools, but rather an already popular sportwhich the schools adopted. Cricket was introduced to Australia by English colonists (19th century). The game began to be played regularly in Sydney. Melbourne formed its first cricket team (1838). The first international cricket game was between the United States and Canada (1844). At the time, baseball was stiil evolving. English crickateers put together a team of professionals and toured America and Canada (1859). Another English team toured Australia (1862). Australia formed it's first international cricket team which toured England (1868). It was composed of Aboriginal players. The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It has the destinction of being the joint oldest team in Test cricket. They played in the first Test match (1877). They defeated England by 45 runs. This began the criket rivalry which began between Australia and England. The first national cricket association in Australia was the Australian Cricket Council (1842-1900). Thiswas replaced by the Australian board of Control for International Cricket. I is npow known as the International Cricket Council. The Australian Cricket Board was dounded (1973). One source estimates thsat cricket is played by more than 0.5 million Australians, inmcluding some women. In England, cricket is not general seen as a girl's sport. The sport is a major sport at private schools in Australia as well as many state secondary schools.

Football (Austrlian Rules)

One sport evolving from football/rugby which is destinctive to Austrralia is Australian Rules Football--affectionally called "footy". Only Australians play Australian rules football or "footy". HBC at this time knows very little about Australian football, except that the Australians call it "Footy". It is rarely seen in America. Australian football seems similar im many ways to Rugby. Hopefully our Australian readers will tell us a bit about the sport.

Football (Rugby)

We know that both football (soccer) and rugby are popular in Australia.

Football (Soccer)


Hockey


Tennis

Another popular sport is tennis.

Track and Field

An Australian reader writes, "I once came 2nd in in a 1500 metres race at my primary school in year 5 but I raced against the year 6's and it is a beaut memory."







HBC





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Created: October 12, 2003
Last updated: 8:13 PM 12/18/2009