Publisher Description

Australia is only a small player in the world’s political and economic landscapes, yet, for many decades, it has been considered to be a global powerhouse in terms of its sporting successes. In conjunction with this notion, the nation has long been portrayed as having a preoccupation with sport. This labelling has been seen as both a blessing and a curse. Those who value a Bourdieuian view of culture bemoan sport’s centrality to the national imagination and the consequent lack of media coverage, funding and prestige accorded to the arts. Other scholars question whether the popular stereotype of the Australian sportsperson is, in fact, a myth and that instead Australians are predominantly passive sport consumers rather than active sport participants. Australian sport, through its successes on the field of play and in advancing sport coaching and management, has undergone a revolution, as both an enabler of global processes and as subject to its influences (economic, political, migratory etc.). This book will examine the shifting place of Australian sports in current global and local environs, from the perspective of spectators, players and administrators. This book was previously published as a special issue of Sport in Society.

Publisher Description

The Indigenous peoples of Australia have a proud history of participation and the achievement of excellence in Australian sports. Historically, Australian sports have provided a rare and important social context in which Indigenous Australians could engage with and participate in non-Indigenous society. Today, Indigenous Australian people in sports continue to provide important points of reference around which national public dialogue about racial and cultural relations in Australia takes place. Yet much media coverage surrounding these issues and almost all academic interest concerning Indigenous people and Australian sports is constructed from non-Indigenous perspectives. With a few notable exceptions, the racial and cultural implications of Australian sports as viewed from an Indigenous Australian Studies perspective remains understudied. The media coverage and academic discussion of Indigenous people and Australian sports is largely constructed within the context of Anglo-Australian nationalist discourse, and becomes most emphasised when reporting on aspects of ‘racial and cultural’ explanations of Indigenous sporting excellence and failures associated anomalous behaviour. This book investigates the many ways that Indigenous Australians have engaged with Australian sports and the racial and cultural readings that have been associated with these engagements. Questions concerning the importance that sports play in constructions of Australian indigeneities and the extent to which these have been maintained as marginal to Australian national identity are the central critical themes of this book. This book was published as a special issue of Sport in Society.

This book presents journeys of sixteen Indigenous Australian athletes from their first touch of a‘footy’ to the highest levels of Australian football and rugby league, conceptualized as a processof learning. The authors challenge simplistic explanations of Indigenous success in Australianfootball and rugby league, centered on the notion of the ‘natural athlete’. The book tracesthe development of Indigenous sporting expertise as a lifelong process of learning situated inlocal culture and shaped by the challenges of transitioning into professional sport. Individually,the life stories told by the participants provide fascinating insights into experience, cultureand learning. Collectively, they provide deep understanding of the powerful influence thatAboriginal culture exerted on the participants’ journeys to the top of their sports while locatingindividual experience and agency within larger economic, cultural and social considerations.Stories of Indigenous Success in Australian Sport will be of interest to students and scholarsacross a range of disciplines including Indigenous studies, physical education, education, sportmanagement and sociology

For many Australians, there are two great passions: sport and ‘taking the piss’. This book is about national identity – and especially about Australia’s image as a sporting country. Whether reverent or not, any successful national image has to reflect something about the reality of the country. But it is also influenced by the reasons that people have for encouraging particular images – and by the conflicts between differing views of national identity, and of sport. Buffeted by these elements, both the extent of Australian sports madness and the level of stirring have varied considerably over time. While many refer to long-lasting factors, such as the amount of sunshine, this book argues that the ebb and flow of sporting images are strongly linked to current views of national identity. Starting from Archer’s win in the first Melbourne Cup in 1861, it traces the importance of trade unions in the formation of Australian Rules, the success of a small rural town in holding one of the world’s foremost running races, and the win-from-behind of a fat arsed wombat knocking off the official mascots of Sydney 2000. This book was based on a special issue of Soccer and Society.

The extraordinary performances of Australian athletes, and the awareness of the system that fostered them, came to the world's attention during the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. Bloomfield traces the development of Australian sport from the early 19th century to the modern day institutions that drive our sporting success.