Over the past four months that I have spent in Australia, I have learned a lot about sport and learning in Australian culture. On only my second day in this country – coming off of twenty-five hours of traveling – my orientation program took us surfing, boogie boarding and paddle boarding to get a taste of what life is like in Australia. I was therefore exposed to the value of sport in Australian culture from the very beginning, as it was one of the first things I experienced in this country. Over the course of the semester, I continued to try different sports and to attend different sporting events whenever I had the chance, which further revealed to me how integral sports are in the lives of all Australians. I learned about the influence and nature of sport in the lives of Australians from a professional to a youth level through my adventures, adventures that helped me learn about a culture unlike any other.
Watching professional sports in Australia not only allowed me to see how incredibly talented Australian athletes are but also showed me how important the games are to both the spectators and to the players. At the Rugby League game, the AFL game and the cricket games I watched on television I noticed that all of the fans were incredibly into the matches and showed clear signs of excitement when their team played well. When their team made an error, the fans also displayed visible disappointment and anger, which began to uncover for me the obsession with winning that infiltrates Australian sport. From class lectures, tutorials and readings I had learned about the excessive desire to win particularly evident in Australian sport but I did not expect to see it so clearly during my sport experiences. The athletes, along with the spectators at the professional level also displayed an extreme desire to win, which could be seen in their unyielding effort and their reactions to the way in which they performed. By observing both the spectators and the players, I realized that almost everyone valued winning above all else, thereby supporting the obsession I learned about in class.
While the youth programs modified sport to make it more accessible to children, the professional level of competition and desire to win that defines Australian sport was evident even at a very young age. Out of all of the junior sporting events I watched over the past four months, I noticed that the eight-year-old boys playing in the junior rugby league were especially focused on winning and displayed this focus through aggression. Coaches perpetuated this aggression by screaming at the children when they made an error; thereby instilling within them the belief that winning is the most important factor in sports participation. While the nippers, life guarding and junior netball were more relaxed than the junior rugby league, all of the children still played their hardest and the coaches continuously encouraged them to aim for victory. Although it is important to teach children to set their aspirations high, my experience with sport in Australia has shown me that the obsession with winning can prevent youth from getting the invaluable experience participating in a sport has to offer.
Playing sports beginning at a very young age allows children to learn personal and social skills essential to child development, skills that I have had the chance to observe first-hand in youth sport in Australia. By playing a sport, children learn how to challenge themselves and how to give something their all, both of which are crucial personal developments that will help children succeed in all domains of their lives. Learning how to try one’s hardest was evident in all of the youth sporting events I attended this semester because I did not see one child who appeared to be giving the sport less than his or her all. Playing a sport also forces children to develop physically, and helps children understand their body’s strengths and weaknesses. On top of growing on a personal and a physical level, children playing sports must also learn how to interact with others in a socially appropriate manner as both an individual and as a team player. More specifically, children must talk to people of various different backgrounds and learn to play as part of a community in order to participate in a sport. From the nippers to the junior rugby league, all of the youth sports I observed in Australia had an incredibly strong sense of community. In order to play, children were therefore forced to learn how to socialize within a team and a community setting, talking not only to diverse children of their own age but also learning how to interact with adults. These interactions teach children to be respectful and to value diversity at a very young age, social skills which are crucial to positive child development. Because sports are so central to Australian culture, all of the parents that I spoke to during my youth sport field trips told me that they would never consider not enrolling their child in sport. Children all over Australia therefore have the opportunity to grow and develop personally, physically and socially by participating in sport.
While I am an advent Boston sports fan, my exploration of sport in Australia has been unique in comparison to my experiences with sport in America. Never before have I experienced a place where sport played such an integral role in a universal manner. Although sports are certainly valued in American culture, it is likely for children to grow up participating in extracurricular activities other than sport, a path very rarely taken by Australian youth. Because sports largely define Australian culture, taking this course has been a great way for me to learn about Australia and to truly immerse myself in this country as an abroad student. I am studying to become an elementary school teacher and my experiences with sport in Australia have also therefore been incredibly applicable to my future profession by opening my eyes to the value of sport in child learning and development. My adventures with Australian sport have not only been important learning experiences but have also been incredibly fun experiences that I will never forget!
