User:Robbyz

'''AUSTRALIAN RULES FOOTBALL Australian rules football is played in all Australian states and territories. It is the most popular football code in Australia, and its premier league, the AFL has the second highest average attendance in the world (36,792). Forecast figures for 2007 say Australian football has 615,549 participants an addition of nearly 34,000 participants since 2006. 6.7 per cent of all participants are from non-English speaking origin. The Australian Sports Commission statistics show a 42% increase in the total number of participants over the 4 year period between 2001 2005.

Football is the predominant winter sport in Victoria, Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania. It is also popular, along with other codes of football, in the Australian Capital Territory, the Riverina and Broken Hill regions of New South Wales and in the Cape York region of Queensland.

In other parts of the country, such as southern Queensland and, northern and coastal New South Wales, football has historically had a low profile. The establishment of professional teams in Sydney and Brisbane in the 1980’s increased its presence and its popularity is growing. Footy tipping is a mainstay of many workplaces' social interaction. Each state has its own local league, and there are amateur recreational, children's, junior, masters and women's competitions. Most towns and cities in football’s areas of popularity have at least one team competing in a local league.

CRICKET Cricket has a long history in Australia and is the most popular, and is played on local, national and international levels. It is Australia's national summer sport and unlike the various football codes, enjoys consistent support from people in all parts of Australia. The Australia national cricket team was the winner of the first Test match, and is today regarded as the leading international team in world cricket, having been the unquestionably dominant team for most of the 2000s. The first Australian cricket team which played overseas was the 1868 Aboriginal cricket tour of England. The Australian team which toured England in 1948 was nicknamed The Invincibles and was captained by Donald Bradman. In recent years the Australia team has been captained by Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, and currently Ricky Ponting. Through 2007, Australia has won the Cricket World Cup four out of the nine times it has been held, including the last three. Australia has dominated world cricket since the mid-90's, it has appeared in every world cup final since 1996, and has been undefeated in a world cup match since 1999 where they have gone on to win every single match in the world cup.

CYCLING Cycling is one of the most popular recreational activities in Australia, as the weather is suitable most of the year. In 2004, almost 1.5 million Australians aged 15 years and over participated in cycling for exercise, recreation and sport at least once.

Road Cycling is gaining a higher profile at a competitive level in the Tour de France and other international cycling competitions, most notably Cadel Evans' second placing in the 2007 Tour de France and overall win of the 2007 UCI ProTour. From 2008, Australia's only major international cycling race, the Tour Down Under centred on Adelaide, will become the first UCI ProTour cycling race to be held outside of Europe.

NETBALL Netball has the highest level of participation of any sport amongst women in Australia. It rivals cricket, soccer and Australian football for the highest number of participants of any team sport in the country. The game is governed by Netball Australia at the national level, which is responsible for the national team and national competition.

The Australian national netball team has, along with traditional rivals New Zealand's Silver Ferns, dominated the game at international level. The main competitions at international level are the Netball World Championships and Commonwealth Games, where Australia recently won the World Crown off New Zealand in 2007.

RUGBY LEAUGE The beginning of Rugby league football in Australia can be traced back to a meeting between Test cricketer Victor Trumper, entreprenuer James J. Giltinan and star rugby union player Dally Messenger in Sydney's Bateman's Hotel on the 8 August 1907.[15] The first game was played in Sydney in 1908 and it has been the most popular sport in the states of New South Wales and Queensland ever since.

The Australian Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of Rugby League in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League.

The National Rugby League is the premier professional competition in Australia and is made up of sixteen teams based in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL also runs a National Youth Competition for 17-19 year olds. Second tier leagues also exist and run according to state lines.

State of Origin, a three game series between New South Wales and Queensland is one of the biggest annual sports events in Australia. First played in 1980, the annual series is renowned for the evenness of the competition and the passion of the players and fans. Neither state has ever achieved a long term dominance which is noteworthy when considering the population differences.

SOCCER(Association football) Soccer is a popular participation sport in Australia and is becoming increasingly popular at national and international levels.

Australia's national team, nicknamed the Socceroos, are active in international games including World Cup Qualification games. The governing body, Football Federation Australia, is a member of the Asian Football Confederation, having moved from the Oceania Football Confederation on January 1, 2006. The popularity of the sport as a spectator sport has increased notably in recent years[citation needed], due to reforms made to the sport's national governing body and the participation of the national team in the 2006 FIFA World Cup reaching the round of 16.[16] The Australia National Football Team has also achieved a vast array of success on an international level, holding the world record for largest win (31-0 Vs American Samoa) and have consistently been ranked inside the top fifty in The FIFA Word Ranking

The year 2004 marked the last season for the National Soccer League, Australia's first club based national league of any sport and in 2005 the A-League was launched. The A-League plays during summer, the traditional off-season, to avoid conflict with the more established football codes in publicity and facilities as well as being in line with European competition. Unlike Australian rules football, Rugby league and Rugby union there are no 'traditional' regional biases for the sport allowing for a common 'football' identity[citation needed].

The A-League has proved successful, with the 2006-07 regular season recording an average attendance of 12,927 people. Most notably, Melbourne Victory averaged 27,728 people to their home matches throughout the season with a season record home-and-away crowd of 50,333 against Sydney FC at Telstra Dome on Dec 8th, and a crowd of 55,436 watched the Victory beat Adelaide United 6-0 in the Grand Final, a record for a domestic club football (soccer) game in Australia.

TENNIS One of the four tennis Grand Slams is played in Australia, the Australian Open held in Melbourne. The tournament has been held for 100 years since 1905 when the Australasian Tennis Championship was first held at a Cricket Ground in St Kilda Road, Melbourne. Like the other three Grand Slam events, it was contested by top-ranked amateur players. It was known as the Australian championships until the advent of open tennis in 1968. There are men's and women's singles competitions, men's, women's, and mixed doubles, as well as junior and master's competitions.

SWIMMING Swimming is a very common and popular sport in Australia as a recreational activity as well as in competitive racing events. Many Australians learn to swim from a young age out of necessity due to Australia's love of the beach and the abundance of backyard pools. Many swimmers go on to continue to swim competitively by training through squads and attending weekend competitions. Successful Australian swimmers such as Samantha Riley began their swimming careers through a learn to swim program.

Other links: http://www.ausport.gov.au/ http://www.afl.com.au/ http://www.nrl.com.au/'''