Sports Culture Down Under

Throughout my time in Sydney I have been fortunate enough to strike up multiple conversations with strangers I have encountered throughout the city.  Most of the time we talk about how their day is going and how I’m obviously from the states due to my “thick” accent. The next thing they often remark about is my incredible height and ask if I play any sports.  I often quietly reply, “Yes, I’m 6 foot 9, or slightly over 2 meters, and yes I play football, American football.”  I would then sometimes use my participation in athletics to pivot to asking what they thought about Australian sports.  More specifically I wanted to know what some of the hot topics in Aussie sports were, as well as what they thought about the big debates going on in sports right now in the states, such as player health and safety and pay for college athletes. The following is a recap of a series of interviews with 3 different Australians. 

            The first topic I brought up was player safety and specifically what they thought about concussions.  I was interested to learn if certain leagues had a particular policy to deal with concussions or other sports injuries.  I first asked each person what their favorite sports where.  Mel, who was a retired watchmaker, enjoyed what I would call the stereotypical Australian sports rugby, soccer, and cricket. Peter, who was originally from Slovakia but had been living in Australia for 8.5 years now, only watched hockey and basketball. John liked almost all sports including American football except cricket, he hated cricket. I wanted to pose a question that would make them think and question their ideas on player’s health and concussions.  So I asked, “If you were the coach of your favorite team and your star player just got a mild concussion during a regular season game would you let him back in?” All three responded no to this situation.  I then upped the stakes and asked if it was the championship game would you do the same thing.  This situation caused a bit more pause, Mel replied, “No it’s not worth the risk”, Peter said “If it’s the championship he has got to suck it up and keep playing”, and John took more of a middle ground “If the player said he was ok then I would, but I don’t think they would be allowed to because of the rules in place now”.  Peter then described the rules Australian rugby league and the national team have in place to prevent concussed players from reentering the game.  I found most reactions for player’s safety to be in line with those back in the states, most want to protect the players, some think it should be the players decision, and there are still some that have the close minded view that they need to suck it up and play on.  I was also pleased to learn that there are some leagues with concussion protocols that prevent players from returning to play

            Another topic that hits home with me is should college athletes get paid.  I received a mixed response to the concept of pay for athletes and it often depended on how the question was framed.  All three of my interviewees had been to college at some point in their lives, however Mel was much older than the other ones but still had an interesting view on the subject.  I started by asking if any college athletes get scholarship or paid to play sports while at university.  Only one, John, had actually played a sport, rugby, in college and said he and most other athletes he knew were given very little scholarship money, anywhere from 2,000 AUD to 4,000 AUD plus maybe some travel compensation. So originally I simply posed the question “Do you think college athletes should be given more than just scholarship money?”  Mel quickly responded “well of course not. They go to uni to learn first, not play sports.” Peter’s response was also similar that a university is for students first but he also alluded to the benefits athletics bring to your life, “athletes are healthier and more driven in life”.  John would have liked to be paid more scholarship money while he was in college however he doesn't know where it would come from.  He also didn't feel as if it was entirely fair to be helping out athletes more than other students.  After getting their initial responses, I then explained to them some quick facts about college sports in the United States. How the average revenue for college athletics departments is close to $50 million a year and that the average student athlete works/practices for 37 hours a week in season on top of school work.  The first reaction I got from all three interviewees is how do they have time to do school work. Then they said it sounds like I was talking about a professional team.  I think this exemplifies the biggest difference between Australian and American college athletics is that college athletics are often run like professional teams that need to win or else and generate massive amounts of income for the school, while in Australia its almost looked as another class you can take that will add to your overall learning experience at university.

            Australians love their sports, almost just as much as we do, and they love to participate and watch them. Many of the values and concerns for player health and well-being are the same as in the US. The biggest difference I could see between Australian sports culture and American is the college athletics environment and the amount of money that is generated by some schools in the US is more than many professional teams in Australia.