Sports Participation in Australia

Participating in sports and physical recreation are important features of the Australian lifestyle. Australia does a great job educating the community about the benefits for participants. These can include making social connection, improving one’s health, and having a better overall well-being. I have observed that Australians hold their well-being and health at high importance. People fill the parks, beaches, and walking trails in Australia to partake in leisurely sports with friends or to do their daily exercise. Along many of the trails you can find stations set up for pushups, chin-ups, and other circuit training exercises. Around Australia there are a number of tennis courts, golf courses, and sports clubs that are open to the public. This makes it very accessible for anyone who wants to participate in the sport of their interest to have a go!

Sports participation is different in Australia than in the United States because it is more accessible, highly encouraged, and incorporated into everyday life. Also, there are more elderly participants in Australia than in the United States. According to the article we read for today, only 31% of older Americans report that they do the recommended 30 minutes of physical activity most days compared to 54% of older Australians.

People of all ages can be seen participating in sports in Australia. Today we went to the Clovelly Bowling Club to participate in lawn bowling. There were young adult participants as well as elderly participants. This illustrated the range of ages that participate in Australian sports. It also showed that the elderly are more active than the sedentary life we stereotype them to live. The more physically challenging sports, such as rugby, surfing, football, soccer, etc., attract younger participants. The more leisurely sports, such as lawn bowling, golf, and tennis, attract older participants.

One change that I would like to see in American sports is the accessibility for kids who want to join club sports.  In America clubs can be extremely expensive, competitive, and hard to get into. In Australia clubs are really cheap which allows kids to get involved in the sports they are interested in. Below are some pictures of my lawn bowling experience. Enjoy!