Cricket
is maybe the second most
popular practiced sport, with long and endless
departures being transmitted by television on the
weekends. The Australian youths in the school practice
it in the breaks, and it is also very common to see
whole families playing at parks and beaches.
Golf
is the third sport more
practiced, and the number of fields of Golf in each
Australian city is of crooking the stick. They are
several clubs to be associated with, and they also
accept paying players. Those clubs are true companies,
with inside stores offering all gear and materials for
players, besides specific areas for training or game.
Golf in Australia is practiced by people of all social
classes.
Soccer
it is a secondary sport
in Australia, maybe for the fact of never to have
earnings championships it to elevate the sport to a
category of larger popularity, as it is the case of
Rugby. However, several clubs as Italian Club, Spanish
Club, and many others, he/she came on Saturdays
trainings with promising young players creating
conditions for a larger popularity of the sport. Several
technicians (with Australian license) teach in those
Clubs. The Socceroos, as the selection of Australia is
called, has been presenting better results in
international tournaments, and the television channel
SBS shows exclusive programming for international
Soccer. Those factors together, with certainty will
increase the popularity of Soccer in Australia.
Rowing
is very popular and is
practiced involving different types of modern fiber of
carbon boats with different styles and sizes. On the
Gold Coast canals and in some other Australian cities
with this kind of canals, is possible to see rowing been
practiced in all age groups and gender.
Sailing
is a sport little
practiced being compared with other nautical sports. The
financial situation allows most of the population to
practice that sport, but motor boats have absolute
popular preference. Even so, there are some cities that
sailing is quite significant such as it is the case of
Sydney, Melbourne and in the Whitsunday's Islands.
Cycling
is another sport that
captures the attention of the Australians and it is
practiced in any city. The amount of people practicing
is quite big, and it is difficult one morning that
doesn't see the cyclists, individually or in groups of
up to 200 at the same time. It is practiced in the
streets and for both sexes and ages. There are so many
Bike stores only losing in quantity for Surfing and
Fishing shops.
Martial
Arts are quite
practiced and there are several academies with all
styles of fights including the Capoeira of Brazil. The
popularity of those academies has increased lately in
response of the search for professionals able to perform
personal defense in day by day work such as in
government departments, Immigration, police, and private
security of commercial establishments. However, it is
not very published nor in TV nor in the newspapers, and
to say the truth, I never saw a calendar of
competitions. One
of the most affordable courses for international
students is exactly one of martial arts called Wing
Chun.
Bowls
is a game whose
objective is to position a ball as close as possible of
a white smaller ball from some meters of distance.
Bowling is practiced by an enormous amount of people in
dispersed clubs for all and any city size. This game is
one of the favorite pastimes of the retired people, and
everyday they are in the clubs in the period of the
morning for practicing.
Volley
Ball and Basket Ball,
are other games very a little practiced by the
Australians and in the schools they prefer to practice
Netball( specially the girls). In Sydney, there are
volleyball nets on the Beaches of Bondi & Manly;
even so the game doesn't attract a lot of attention,
except during international championships.
Swimming
in compensation is
largely practiced and very popular. It is generally
organizes and in Clubs (life saving and sports clubs),
and the main important fact of increasing popularity is
in the last years, is the world championships which
Australians have beating and maintained several world
records. City halls of several cities still maintain
public swimming pools for the practice of the sport, and
the swimming pools of colder cities in the winter, like
Melbourne and Sydney, are heated.
Spear
Fishing, many
people doesn't consider as a sport, and in Australia it
is also practiced for few people. Mainly by the fact
that where the climate is hot and favorable (as it is
the case of Queensland), most of the coast is protected
by shark nets. Even with many other favorable places, it
is not very popular among the Australians.
Motoring- Australians love car racing and the country already won 4 F-1 with Jack Brabham and Alan Jones. The Australians are
enthusiastic of competitions and host international events
such as Formula One F-1 in Melbourne, Champcar and Formula Indy (Gold Coast). Currently Australia has great idol in the F-1, Mark Webber. Beyond all these international championships, all states have professional
competitions, with passenger cars brand Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon, the V8
Supercars.
Tennis with an
excellent climate, favourable to all outdoor activities, tennis is very popular and the sport is practised in many private and public courts
available in all Australian cities. The Tennis is taught in schools, and private academies. Most international games are shown by TV attracting great public. In January 2003 Lleyton Hewitt was the player number 1 of the world. The Australian Open in Melbourne is one of the most important International championships.
The
two more popular sports
in Australia are Surf and the amateur Fishing. The
impression you may have is that the whole Australian
population is already born knowing how to speak the two
words, Fish & Surfboard. Maybe one of the factors is
that those sports’ gear doesn't cost a lot. The
Australians seem to have longs for salty in the blood,
and all the nautical and linked sports are quite
popular. For many bridge fishermen, the first thing that
do when having a financial rest, it is to buy a
powerboat. The result is that, maybe in nowhere in the
world, you could see so many motorized boats as in
Australia. Each area may differ in preference mainly in
relation to the climate. Other sports as Water Skiing,
Snow Ski, Jet Ski, Parasailing, Mountaineering, also has
space in the sun depending on the time and season.
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