Rugby Union is a sport that has been a key part of Australian culture for hundreds of years. It began as a modest competition between a few clubs but slowly went through many changes over the last century. In this paper, I will discuss the history and outcomes of the gradual commercialization of Rugby Union and relate it to my experience at a Super Rugby game. By the turn of the 20th century, Rugby Union was already undergoing a significant change. Popular clubs were being disbanded in favor of creating ‘district clubs’. Although it was met with criticism 100 years ago, I believe this was a step in the right direction, as we learned the importance of linking a club to its community in our studies of Rugby League. After a brief period of a …show more content…
Rugby Union has continued to grow in popularity on an international scale. This past year two new teams, from Japan and Argentina, were added to the roster of teams competing. While the rise of Super Rugby undoubtedly forced the decline of clubs, its increase in popularity and television broadcast deals have helped establish a new audience for the sport. Additionally, although the local youth development in clubs slowed down, there are likely far more young people who are enamored with Rugby Union than would have been possible if the sport did not become commercialized. If these kids choose to play the sport, they can even earn scholarships to tertiary schools and gain a free education while also honing their rugby skills. Lastly, the sport may have fallen apart altogether had it not gone professional, as Rugby League was flourishing while ARU clubs were struggling to …show more content…
First and foremost, a game that was once played and viewed for fun now requires fans to purchase tickets to enter. Also, they were playing in a stadium sponsored by the insurance company Allianz, and that was only the beginning of the advertisements I saw. All over the stadium were billboards advertising various companies. The jerseys that the players wore even had advertisements on them, as did the ones being sold to adoring fans. Furthermore, concession stands sold average food and beverages at relatively high prices. This certainly does not mean I did not enjoy my experience at the game—far from it, in fact. The matchup and game itself was a far more exciting experience than I had at the Rugby League game, and the blatant commercialization did not take away from the event. Nonetheless, it was quite obvious that the franchises try to nickel and dime the fans at every turn, but this is something I have come to expect after years of attending sporting events. All in all, it is easy to see how and why Rugby Union has become commercialized over the years. The sport had to make changes to survive, and it ended up working out well for the sport and its fans. Even if it now costs money to attend an event that was somewhat recently free to watch, I am happy to pay money to the cause if it means keeping these teams
Australia’s sporting identity was built upon the back of colonial differentiation, sensationalist media coverage and some early Olympic success at a time when sport at the global level was still the domain of the rich and idle. The prevailing cultural identity suggests Australia still perceives itself as a ‘sports mad’ society, however, a deeper look at the statistics surrounding Australian sport would suggest this identity is not reality and that cultural identity is now drawn from a much broader field including multiculturalism, politics, academic, scientific and artistic endeavour.
Williamson’s play, ‘The Club’, accurately reflects many Australian attitudes of today, even though the play was written many years ago. Some of the attitudes expressed, such as tradition, are still equally relevant in todays society. Tradition plays a very important part in ‘The Club’. The characters have their own ideas thinking that tradition must be changed to achieve success in todays society. For example, Laurie, the coach, blames an old Club tradition for his failure to win a premiership. He states, ‘You and your cronies wouldn’t let me buy players.’ Jock, the vice-president, replies, ‘We were upholding old tradition. It was wrong, but we believed in it.’ They should have believed in their club as tradition often gives us insight into what outcomes
This case study will to examine wheelchair rugby, and how Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby Limited organises play, qualifications, the specialist equipment used in the sport, as well as the development of the sport with in the UK. This is due to the author’s ability to rugby and interest in how rugby has been developed into a disability sport.
Rugby is a team sport played on a field. There are three main forms of rugby rugby league, rugby union and sevens. This paper will focus primarily on elements that they have in common. For the first two forms, there are thirteen players on the field for each team. A game is eighty minutes long and is divided into two halves of continuous action.
As the nation’s gender inequality continues to diminish, things like sports stereotypes, and labour force conflict cannot be understood without understanding the term of identity. Identity work is explained by Schwalbe and Mason-Schrock in 1996 as “anything people do, individually or collectively, to give meaning to themselves or others” (as cited in Ezzell, 2009, p. 1). I propose to examine inequality based on gender identity and in depth the process of stereotype issues, - how people construct stereotypes in gender inequality in the context of sport- among women Rugby. The academic literatures are based on gender identity/ inequality, where it provides many examples of individuals deflecting the norms “by ... creat[ing] a unique identity as heterosexy-fit— simultaneously tough, heterosexual, and conventionally attractive” (Ezzell, 2009, p. 14). With the intention of deflecting/ creating an exception to these norms, it only creates greater issues as not only does society view them in a certain way, but also the player themselves. The overarching goal of the proposal is to address the social issue and understand why society to this date gives harsh views towards women’s rugby with a common stereotypical view. As an illustration the views were described by Ezzell (2009) who conducted a personal communication with some female rugby players who stated that other views them as: “scary, butch lesbians,” “she-males,” “he-shes,” “lesbian man-beasts,” and “butch,
As told from interviews with the players and coaches in the documentary, the West Magpies style of football brought on by the new coach Roy Masters has made the Magpies one of the most feared upon teams to play against. The community believed it was much more entertaining to watch the Magpies “play to hurt the opposition without getting sent off”, then seeing the real skills of rugby league win games. Magpies players kicked, punched, stomped, eye gouging and even hair pulling was used to win games as well as support within their community. The Fibros verse the Silvertails become some of the most violent yet favourite games to be watched from the everyday rugby league lover.
Upon analysing equity and access in sport, it is important that I am aware of what levels of the framework have influenced my sport participation. In Queensland especially, the sport of AFL comes with primarily negative connotations. These preconceived notions about the sport and the cultural have had a negative effect on my participation and approach towards the sport. Gender stereotypes have also been a deterrent in my participation. Sports, such as AFL, require participants to be competitive, courageous, powerful and strong. These qualities are largely associated with male gender stereotypes. Sport reinforces hegemonic masculinity by celebrating stereotypically masculine and activities and attributes, and restricting the behaviour of women.
Yet in the frame of Australian culture and identity, the site embodies Australian sporting heritage, and has facilitated in promoting the ideals represented in sport, a considerable lot of which were developed from the eighteenth Century British social and cultural values. The study of the Sydney Cricket Ground will concentrate on showing the degree to which the stadium both exemplifies and adds to Australia’s cultural heritage, and undoubtedly the wider national identity.
Rugby is a sport that emphasises on athleticism, endurance, strength, confidence and respect. You see players take a hit, jump up and keep pushing through. You will never see a player turn to the referee and argue or question his decisions. This is something I learnt when I joined my university’s Women’s Rugby Football Union soon after enrolment.
Having originally emerged in the late 1850s as means of keeping cricketers fit during winter (AFL 2017), Australian Football, or simply football, has grown to become the most popular spectated sport in Australia (Topend Sports 2013), with an average national attendance per game that places it as the fourth largest league in the world (Mitchell 2017). As of 2017, the Australian Football League (AFL), was comprised of 18 teams with 847 active players (AFL 2017). Although football was traditionally seen as a very working-class sport, the AFL’s rapid commercialization of the game in the mid to late 90s dramatically shifted its focus towards garnering commercial sponsors in order to financially support the transcendent reputation the organization
Australian Rules Football is the heart of Victorian sport that is slowly expanding over Australia with teams in both Queensland and New South Wales (National Rugby League dominated states). Loy (cited in Shilbury & Killett, 2011, p12), defines four key characteristics that are key to defining sport:
The sport of Rugby has been played by the British and it has been around for almost 200 years. It started in 1823 and was founded by William Web Ellis. There have been many versions of the game from the early fifth century to the 16th century. These versions of the game all exist in small towns like Atherstone in Warwickshire and Alnwick in Northumberland. (Origins of Rugby). Some early versions had players move animal parts across the field, this was later outlawed by the local authorizes. The main objective of this game is that players must score more goals than opposing teams in an 80-minute period. (Rugby Rules) The teams are set up in groups of 15 players and the field or “pitch” is set up in three sections. Players usually wear jersey with matching color shorts and socks, protective gear. The points can be score in four different ways: try, conversion, penalty
Professional careers in sports such as rugby have characteristics unlike other vocation (Price, 2007). Rugby union is a high contact sport that requires players to possess a diverse range of attributes (Smart 2011). Each playing position has role responsibilities that are both unique and common to other positions in the team (Greenwood, 1997). Numerous studies have highlighted differences in physical between playing levels and positions. In a study by Parsons and Hughes (2001), the skill demands for each playing position were analysed with reference to on- and off-the-ball supporting activities, with the total number of behaviours found to differ between playing positions, emphasising the different requirements of each playing role (Hughes, Hughes, Williams, James, Vuckovic & Locke, 2012). This paper will focus on identifying important characteristics and developing a performance profile for a Loose Forward postion at club level.
Studying sports management and development of football in the UK will equip me with the tools to make an impact on Liberian Football. Essentially, the education will enable me research and understand how business and management principles can be applied to the football industry, and how football also represents a unique market with its own economic and cultural makeup. I will also work with the Liberian Football Association and its partners to examine the challenges associated with football business professionals, organisations, agencies and governing bodies, while developing a critical understanding of the political and economic climate in which football clubs operate, and the correlation between football and politics, policy and
Sport in Ireland is increasingly being influenced by research leading to policy development on a national and local level. The Irish Sports Council prepared and released its main strategic goals in its three-year strategic statement for the period of 2012-2014 during December 2011. This paper will outline the key features of the Irish Sports Councils strategy statement. Specifically, it will describe what a strategy is, outline and discuss the key features of the strategic statement and assess strengths, weaknesses and difficulties of implementing the strategic objectives which the Irish Sports Council intends to