Melbourne Sports Experience

This past weekend I visited Melbourne! My friends and I took a free sightseeing shuttle around the city and to our surprise we made many stops to see various sports arenas. The tour guide said that Melbourne is one of the most well known cities for their sports areans. One of our stops, the Etihad Stadium is home of up to 85 different sporting events a year but their main sport is AFL (Australian Football League). Although I have never seen an AFL game, my friend plays for Sydney Uni and explained some of the rules to me. She said that it is very fast paced and hard to follow but essentially it is kind of like soccer and football mixed together... only different. So I am hoping to see an AFL game soon!

Also on my trip, I walked through the flagstaff gardens and saw a lot of people playing different sports in the gardens. I saw some girls playing netball and another couple playing American Soccer. It became clear to me once again that sport is central in Australia and the people throughout Australia enjoy and engage in sports everyday. I definitely wish that I could get more involved in sport here but this class is opening my eyes to the importance of sport!

Maroubra Nippers

Sunday, 18 March 2012: 8:45am at Maroubra Beach

Maroubra Nippers is an education, activity-based program that teaches children about surf safety and life saving awareness and skills. When I arrived at the beach I did not know what to expect. There were people of all ages, some wearing bathing suits and swim caps (the participants/Nippers) and people wearing regular clothes (parents, family, etc.). The participants did a run/swim exercise in which they ran as a team and swam in the water against a rip. I was amazed at the athleticism of the participants no matter the age. I also noticed the support and encouragement that was displayed by not only the people watching them, but among the participants themselves. They were concerned with their teammates and rooted each other on throughout the whole event.

 

I was quite surprised at the dedication displayed by the children. They did not seem competitive between one another and most importantly, it looked like they were having fun and enjoying themselves! This made me happy because in the end, sport should be about learning life lessons and enjoying oneself… not about who is the best! I am excited to see more Australian events. It definitely makes me realize how different it is from American sport!