Australian Sports Essay, Research Paper

Australia Sports

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, adjudicator, and fellow debaters. There are a few discrepancies in the affirmative teams argument. (Then rebut)

With a generally temperate climate, relatively low cost access to tennis courts, golf courses and other sporting facilities, and the presence of beaches and waterways, open spaces and bushland, no wonder Australians are encouraged to take up sporting activities as part of their lifestyle. As a whole Australia does not place too much emphasis on sport in fact the attention given is justified and correct.

With over 120 national sporting organisations and thousands of state, regional and club bodies throughout the country it is estimated that over 8 million people of a third of the population participate in sport or physical activities. Throughout the country we as Australians participate in many sports ranging from Netball, which is one of the top participated sport for Women. To golf which is the most participated sport by men. But not only are we avid competitors we also enjoy watching sports, whether it be by attending a game or watching a sporting event on TV. You don t have to believe me, why not look at the statistics. Crowds of up to or more than 100,000 have been seen recently at the AFL grand final, at recent NRL games, and also at the Bledisloe Cup match last weekend. Last year it is estimated that 47.1% of Australian s aged over 15 attended sporting events. Sporting programmes were the most commonly watched on television after news and current affairs programmes, and were viewed regularly by over half of all Australians. This shows how much sport is a part of Australia s lifestyle. These programmes are not on all week; the programmes are basically on just Saturdays and Sundays. This shows how enthusiastic we as Australians are about our sport. This is one of the main reason there is such a great emphasis on sport, not only is this emphasis correct but it is justified by the amount of Australians involved in sport and excited by sport.

Today s topic states that Australia places too much emphasis on sport. Now how can this be! When no one forces us to attend these sporting events, to idolise players or to tune into a game on TV. We all do it by choice. That s the important word choice, now if no one attended these sporting events, if no one idolised these players, if no one watched the games on TV and if only a minority of Australians liked sport, do you think their would be any emphasis on sport in Australia? Maybe, only when something big occurs. But overall there would not be a great deal of emphasis on sport. It would be exactly like a scientifical breakthrough occurring, it would be emphasised a great deal when it happens but due to the lack of continuous interest by the majority of Australians, it would be forgotten. That s where sport is different in Australia it has that continuous interest.

What the affirmative team has to realise is that we are a country that is growing and expanding and as sport is a big part of our country of course it will expand with us. In less than 60 days Australia will be the host nation to the Olympic games for the 2nd time in less than 50 years. Following this will be the Paralympics; all of this will be staged in Sydney. Australia has also been the host of 3 Commonwealth Games. Australia is one of only 3 nations to have competed at every modern Olympic games and has been represented at all 13 Commonwealth games. This shows our commitment to sport and our willingness to represent our country at the highest level.

At the most recent Commonwealth games in Kuala Lumpur, Australia won the most medals, also we ranked among the leading nations at the 1996 Olympic games at Atlanta. Australia is world champions at many sports and in others we rank among the best, many Australian athletes hold world records and are world champions in their own right. Now of course these athletes deserve credit and admiration, and their sport should get worthy recognition as well. This does not place too much emphasis on sport; these competitors deserve praise and should be revered for their accomplishments.

Just before I continue, I want you to imagine that you are a member of the workforce, you work Monday to Friday, 9-5. Then when it comes to the weekend what better activity is there to do, then play or watch sport so you can relax. For many, sport is almost like a therapy, they get to express themselves and either relieves stress or it may be used so that they can spend quality time with friends and family.

People all throughout our country play and partake in sport and it s a good opportunity to bond. Men often go to a footy game so they can relax and have fun. It s a way they can relate to each other. Families are regularly found playing cricket in their backyard, or kicking a soccer ball in the park. Sport can help families and friends bond with each other.

Sport benefits society in many ways. Sport lets Australians enjoy themselves, whether it is through attending a game, watching it on TV, playing or even teaching sport. Sport has a lot of health benefits. This is one of the main reasons playing sport is emphasised to children at primary school, and even to adults. The message has to be put across that sport and other such physical activities benefits your health. Many of us just take up sport for this one reason, the aim of keeping fit and staying in shape. Statistics have shown that our children of this generation are more obese then children back in the 60 s. Sport is a great way to encourage children and adults to exercise. Many of us may use sport as motivation or determination to reach some type of goal.

As sport being a major part of the Australian lifestyle, plus the encouragement parents give to their children. It s no wonder why kids of this generation have at least one athlete to look up to. Many of these sportsmen and women are seen as role models to these kids, and they are sometime seen as ambassadors of this great sporting country of ours. Many of these athletes see the role of being a role model very important, and they try as much as they can to please their fans. Either it is by signing autographs, holding special training sessions for the kids or even supporting special charities.

Many things that you don t see in the media are how generous these sports teams and sportspeople are. With many sports dealing with big money, they see that this money is worth more to others. Many sporting teams and sportspeople give large donations to charities, or hold auctions with all the proceeds going to charity. This shows that society benefits from sport. Sport benefits all Australians that are involved in sport and benefits also some of those that are not involved in sport.

How can we say that Australia places to much emphasis on sport, sport is our lifestyle, sport deserves the attention given and sport benefits society. No one can argue about that. Like I said before all Australians have a choice to participate in sport, watch sport, or to enjoy sport. The thing you have to understand is more than half of the population enjoy sport. All Australians place correct and justified emphasis on sport. I ll leave you with one last thing if more than half of all Australian s were interested in an Australian winning the Nobel Prize award, and there was extensive media coverage about it, would you be questioning the emphasis Australians put on that topic?

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