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As a country, Australia has an amazing history. Over millions of years, this country was formed by various events and the arrival of people from different parts of the world. No wonder many cultural products from this country are a combination or acculturation of the cultures of other countries that have visited them.
Apart from being famous for its natural beauty, Australia is also well known for its people’s love for sports. Various indoor and outdoor sports activities are quite popular in Australia. Some of them even have their competition events. What are the list of most popular sports in Australia? Here are some of them.
Cricket
Based on historical records, cricket has existed in Australia since 200 years ago. It said that cricket was first played in Australia in 1803. This sport was also said to have been brought by the British colonizers. As one of the pioneers of cricket, Australia has dominated all games for years, decades and centuries.
Cricket is one of the list of most popular sports in Australia. They also stated that cricket is Australia’s national sport. Moreover, Australia has national-level competitions for this sport, namely the Big Bash League (BBL), which they held for the first time in 2011, and the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), which was first held in 2015.
Australian Football
Australian Football or Aussie Rules is a popular sport in Australia. This sport is a combination of rugby, football, and basketball. The game is also full of physical contact, similar to rugby or American Football. However, Australian Football is different from the two sports and has its professional competition, namely the Australian Football League (AFL).
In Australian Football, a player must dribble every 10 feet, much like basketball. To pass the ball, players can throw and kick the ball. In addition, players may use the opponent or teammates’ bodies to pick up the ball that bounces. In a way, this game looks like a combination of wrestling and rugby.
Rugby
Rugby is not only famous in its home country, England, but also a favorite sport in Australia. The country also has its competition for rugby, namely the National Rugby League (NRL), a premier rugby competition in Australia and New Zealand, formed in 1998. The competition contains several clubs from the original Sydney club rugby league competition, which has existed since 1908.
Rugby is a football match that uses oval balls. In a rugby union match, the number of players reaches 15 players. Meanwhile, in a rugby league match, each team has 13 players. Apart from Australia, this sport is also popular in various countries, such as the United States, Japan, Ivory Coast, Georgia, Uruguay, and Spain.
Soccer
Soccer is also a sport that originated in England and is popular in Australia. Unfortunately, there is no clear record of how soccer came into this country. However, most people say that soccer came to Australia after World War II when people migrated from Europe.
Australia also has a national-level professional competition for soccer, namely the A-League. The teams that are members of the A-League are not only from Australia but also from New Zealand. This competition was first held in 2005/2006 and involved 8 teams.
Basketball
As a sport originating from Canada, Basketball is also quite popular in Australia. This game involves two teams of five people each. They will then snatch the ball from each other. The team that manages to get the ball into the opponent’s ring is the one that gets the score.
Basketball is also known as one of the most competitive sports because it has a fast tempo of play. In Australia, the basketball competition is called the National Basketball League (for men’s basketball competitions) and Netball Australia (for women’s basketball competitions).
Horse Race
Horse racing is a sport that is inherited from the ancient Greeks. At that time, the Romans turned the custom of horse riding into the most popular mass entertainment spectacle in ancient Rome. Its popularity was finally worldwide. It is now a favorite sport and source of entertainment in various countries, including Australia.
Australia also has a national-level horse racing competition, the Melbourne Cup. This competition was first held in 1861 and now is held once a year. This race involves horses aged three years and over to run as far as 3200 meters.
Tennis
The next British sport that is also a favorite in Australia is tennis. This sport involves two single or double players. The players then have to hit the tennis ball using a racket until the opposing player cannot return the ball to get a score.
Australia also has an international tennis competition called Australian Open. This championship is one of the four Grand Slam championships in the world of tennis, the other three include the French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. The Australia Open was held in Melbourne, Australia in January every year and was first held in 1905.
Swimming
Swimming is also very popular in Australia. The country also has an organization that manages all swimming competitions and events, named Swimming Australia. It has around 100,000 members registered nationally in 1100 clubs.
Swimming Australia members include swimmers, coaches, officials, administrators, and volunteers. This organization is tasked with overseeing sports management and development of the national team at the elite level, as well as the implementation of national and international competitions.
Cycling
The last sport on this list is Cycling. Australia even has an organization that accommodates a cycling community named Aus Cycling that has represented more than 52,000 BMX members, BMX Freestyle, Cyclo-Cross, E-Sport, Mountain-Bike, Para-Cycling, Road, and Track And Lifestyle throughout Australia.
The organization has a vision of making Australia a friendly country for cylinders, as well as advocating for the safety of cyclists and building communities. Everyone can join as a member of this organization.
That’s the top nine list of most popular sports in Australia. From some of the sports above, is there also your favorite? Besides some of the sports above, Australia also has many unique sports that are no less interesting for you to know.
Related: Australia’s Greatest Athletes: Here’s What You Need to Know!
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