Sport in Australia

Prof Peter Brown

Dept of Tourism, Leisure, Hotel & Sport Management

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What are we covering today?

1. Australian sport – preliminary impressions

2. What is sport?

3. Overview of the Australian Sport System

4. Socio-historical influences on sport in Australia

5. The role and place of women in Australian sport

6. Comparisons with the Norwegian sport system

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Spot the stars

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Australian sport – some preliminary impressions

1.List three words or phrases that reflect your impressions of sport in Australia

2.Can you name one Australian sportsman and one Australian sportswoman?

3.It has been argued that sport has a special place in Australian culture. What factors do you feel may have influenced the development of sport in Australia?

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Australian – A sporting paradise?Social commentators from within Australia and outside have

declared that Australian’s are obsessed with sport

WHY?

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What is sport?

• ‘Amusement, diversion, fun’; ‘pastime, game’ (Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary)

• ‘A range of activities which generally involve rules, physical exertion and/or coordination and competition between participants’ (Lynch & Veal, 1996)

• ‘An institutionalised game demanding the demonstration of physical prowess’ (Loy 1979).

• Covers activities on a continuum from play, through games to highly competitive sport

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One view of Australian sport

‘Sport plays a vital role in the Australian community

and touches almost every part of Australian life. It

has helped to define our national identity and is one

of the things that unifies our country. It also brings

us a range of social and economic benefits:

participants gain better health, social contacts and

a better quality of life; our economy gains reduced

health costs, higher productivity, increased

employment and increases tourism. Australia’s

success in a wide range of sports has enhanced

our international reputation.’

Paul Keating - CAS Patron (February, 1996)

Another view of Australian Sport

Nationally 9.1 million persons (62.4% of the pop.) participated in physical

activities for recreation, and 7 million (48.2% of the pop.) attended at least one sports event in 2002.

The most popular organised sport for boys is soccer (22.2% of pop) and for girls is netball (18.1% of pop)

6.5 million registered sport participants 30,000 clubs and associations 1.4 million volunteers Approx 140,000 employees $1 billion annual expenditure by government at all levels Accounts for 8% of the economy (Gross Domestic Product)

Service delivery by Public sector - all levels of government Private / for-profit sector Not for profit / community sector

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Some sporting stars

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The Australian sport system

PARTICIPANTS(players, officials,

spectators)

PROVIDERS

Economicinfluences

PoliticalInfluences

LegalInfluences

Socio-historicalinfluences

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Elite

Level

Sport

Intermediate Level Sport

Mass Participation Sport

PYRAMID BASED SPORT SYSTEM

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The Australian sport system

• Three sector model:– Government– Community – Commercial/private

• Important web site – peak government agency - Australian Sports Commission

www.ausport.gov.au

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Government sector – support of sport

• Commonwealth/Federal – policy “Participation vs. Elite”, activity programs, National Sport Organisation (NSO) funding, elite athlete support

• State – major event support, State Sport Organisation (SSO) funding, venue development

• Local (75% of all funding) – facility provision, club support, volunteer training

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Why should governments involve themselves in sport?

?

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Community sector – support of sport

Volunteers at club levelOfficials, coaches, administrators, playersFacility managementFundraisingPlayer developmentSustains the “system”

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Commercial/private sector – support of sport

Equipment suppliesEvent managementVenue managementAthlete managementMediaSponsorship (eg Greg Norman Australia’s

first golfing millionaire)Professional sport leagues

Contemporary Sport Structure

International Sport Federations

National Sporting Organisations

Australian Sports Commission

Local Government

Australian Institute of Sport

District/RegionalAssociations/Clubs

State Depts of Sport & Recreation

State Sport Institutes/Academies

State SportingOrganisations

Elite Sport Sport Organisation Funding/Facilities

Regional Sport Institutes/Academies

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‘Time out’ - interlude

The history of women in Australian sport

Video – Women and sport

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Key themes surrounding the history of women in Australian sport

History of exclusionBiological mythsSocial conventionsPatriarchal nature of

sports organisations Media representations of

gender relations

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Hegemonic processes associated with sports media

The relative ‘visibility’ of women in sports news

The ‘containment’ of women in sports news.

‘Stereotypical’ representations of gender in sports news.

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How visible are women in sports news?

TV - 2% of total sports broadcasting

Radio - 1.4% of total sports broadcasts

Sports magazines - 6.8% of sports coverage

Newspapers - 10.7% of coverage

(Source ASC 1997)

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Volume of coverage for female sport (NH & SMH), 1890-1990

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

1890 1914 1940 1965 1990

Sample year

Pri

nt

are

a (

cm2

)

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Proportional volume of coverage for female and male sport, NH & SMH, 1890-1990

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

1890 1914 1940 1965 1990

Sample year

Per

cen

t (%

)

Male

Female

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To what extent are women contained in sports reports?

Positioning of articles

Timing of coverage

Sports covered

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Gender stereotyping in sports news

TextImages

Comparisons with the Norwegian sport system

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Workshop time

Groups of 4 15 minutes to create a list of differences and

similarities between the Australian and Norwegian sport systems in 4 areas:– Government policy and programs– Community sport– Professional sport– Historical and cultural influences

AND list any questions you may have about Australian sport?

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The end… enjoy your time in Australia!