Reflection of Blogs-Final Blogs

Sport and Learning in Australian Culture really opened my eyes to a bunch of new sports that I never even knew existed. Prior to coming to Australia, I have never heard of AFL, rugby league, netball, soccer was called soccer-I thought we only did that in America, how popular surfing really is, and lastly I thought cricket was only a sport played in the Middle East. All of these sports became what I watched on highlights when I saw a TV. I even went to a party for the AFL final. I learned not only the rules about each sport, but which sport is popular in each state, the rivalries between teams, and everything that goes with the sport. I am really glad I took this class because I have experienced way more than what I know of American sports.
AFL is unique, a sport that is only played by Australians, and a sport that is popular mainly in Melbourne. The first time I watched this game I thought that the players were just playing rugby, but then as soon as I saw the one of the players punt the ball as they were running, I knew it couldn't be rugby. I watched two AFL games live, one at the youth level, and a professional Sydney Swans game, and of course countless games on TV, including the grand final. It was great to see the differences in skill levels between the youth; it reminded me of when I played soccer when I was a young boy. At the youth AFL game, kids were just running around aimlessly, having pretty much no idea the sense of the game. When I played soccer, every kid tried to kick the ball, resulting in a big mob of kids just moving around in circles. It was great to see the game played at the professional level and see the tactics used to score. It was also my first time in a professional stadium while I was in Australia. It was interesting to be in a stadium with a field designed in the shape of an oval, because at home pretty much every venue is a rectangle.
The next game I attended was a rugby league game between the Roosters and the Sea Eagles. I also got the privilege to see this at the youth and professional level. But this time I saw the youth game at a youth National tournament representing all the states of Australia. These kids varied in size greatly, it was the age at which some kids mature much faster than the other. Each game I saw was similar and very fun. The professional rugby league game was very entertaining because I felt this is where all the fans were very into the game and cheering on their team.
Watching Netball was one of my most culture shock moments while I was here in Australia. Unlike rugby and cricket, I have never even seen a Netball court or basket. Each jersey had a different letter or number on the back, and it was great to see a sport that I have never seen or heard of before being played in front of my eyes. I was most interested in this sport because I did not know even one rule. Every play the girls ran I was learning at the time they performed it. After watching Netball that day, I reflected upon myself on the bus ride home. Her I am an American, who thinks every sport the world plays I have seen or heard of. It was at that time on the bus when I knew I should not hide myself from the world in my own shell. I knew I need to take in everything that Australia has to offer, and to open myself fully to another culture. From then on, I have been open to anything and have been taking in everything.

Another sport that I have heard of, but never played or seen a game is played is cricket. Cricket was a sport that I saw played in my hometown in New York, and was generally played by a small group of people from the Middle East. Right away I thought it was a sport only played on that side of the world, but again I was wrong. As soon as I stepped off the plane in Sydney, I saw highlights of this spectacular game on television. Again I was amazed because here was a sport that I thought only existed in the Middle East. About three weeks ago I got to experience Cricket first hand and even got to be the batsman. As soon as I picked up the bat, the Australians started laughing at me because I was holding the bat like a baseball bat, where the bat goes above your hip. I then was taught how to hit the ball, and to pitch the ball. It was a great experience learning how to play this fun and tense game.

Growing up in a beach town on Long Island in New York, I was taught how to surf by about the time I was seven years old. Surfing was very popular in my town, but as soon as you crossed the bridge to go into another town, people had no idea what surfing was. I knew the sport of surfing was popular in California, Hawaii, Indonesia, and Australia, but I never knew the magnitude of how popular surfing was here in Australia. Everywhere I look I see surfboards, cars with surfboards on top, and countless surf shops. I was particularly happy when I entered Sydney. Within two weeks, I bought a surfboard because I knew I would be surfing a lot while I was here, it was actually one of the main reasons I chose to study abroad in Australia. Being in the waters, surfing great waves, and meeting new people out in the water has been a great experience and it is neat to see the differences and similarities between cultures. I have surfed some of the best and scary waves while I have been here in Australia. It will be something I Hold onto my whole life and will never forget.

Sport and Learning really expanded to what I thought were the only sports being played in the world. I am grateful for enrolling in this course, because I would probably be going home not fully engulfed in a new culture. I have learned so much more about Australia through sport than I have ever imagined. I hope to take home what I learned in this class and tell it to my friends and maybe even get a pickup game of cricket, AFL, or rugby.

Nippers vs. Junior Lifeguards

Although the field trip to Maroubra beach was canceled on Sunday to see the Nippers. I am well aware of the nippers, because I did the same kind of lifesaving program when growing up. As a teen raised in a beach town on the ocean, we had a program called the Long Beach Junior Lifeguards. We performed mock rescues, what to do if caught in a rip current, surfing, bodyboarding, bodysurfing, swimming, and beach runs. As I looked on the Sydney nippers website, it was almost identical to what I did. I believe that learning about the ocean is such an important thing to have because their are so many drownings when lifeguards are not on duty where I live. Many of the people are from New York City taking the train to the beach and spending the day at the beach. I was fortunate enough to be a talented paddle board swimmer and I got to take trips with the junior lifeguards to Cape May New Jersey, Virginia beach, and Nationals in San Diego California. It is great to see all of the communities who have these programs because it is assurance that their are lifeguards protecting the waters everywhere. Beginning at a young age is a great way to get kids used to the water and be a strong swimmer. Not only did I learn about lifesaving procedures, but I was put with a great group of kids and became close with them over the years, I even still work with them on the beach to this day is a regular Long Beach Lifeguard. It was nice to see that Australia offers these programs as well, because I know it benefits so many kids out there.

Bledisloe Cup

Although this blog is posted more than a month after the event, I thought if would be a good idea to write about this great game. On September 11th I went to ANZ Stadium(home of the 2010 Summer Olympics) to watch the Bledisloe Cup between The All Blacks of New Zealand and the Wallabies representing the continent of Australia. The cup is seen is one of the biggest game's Australia has to offer. ANZ stadium seats approximately 110,000 people and the stadium was nearly full. The atmosphere of this special game was electrifying. The stadium was extremely loud the entire game. Outside of the stadium their were concerts going on throughout the perimeter. Every person either had yellow or black on, depending on who they go for. It was by far the most crowded event I have been to in Australia, and it was truly special. I could not believe how massive this stadium was, I have never been in a stadium with so much size ever in my life. It was also neat to be in the stadium where medals were one in the 2000 Olympics. It was also fascinating to be in Sydney Olympic Park, a venue totally designed and built for the sole purpose of the Olympics. I guess I never realized how much is put into hosting the Olympic games.
Now back to the actual game, the Wallabies dominated the whole game, except for the last ten minutes or so, when they gave up one too many points, they lost a heartwrenching game with a score of 23-22. Although the Wallabies held on to the lead the whole game, they could not capture the win, losing the match in the closing minutes. The one thing that I was looking forward to the most was the ritual dance done by the All Blacks prior to the game called the: The Haka. The Haka is performed every game right before the match begins. It was awesome to see and also looked very intimidating to the Wallabies.
The Bledisloe Cup was was one the best experiences I have had in Australia. I guess it was a combination of being with my friends, sitting in the home of the 2000 Olympics, the 100,000+ people, the Haka Dance, and just the overwhelming atmosphere. The Bledisloe Cup at ANZ stadium is definitely something I will remember forever.

Sydney FC vs. Adelaide United

On October 4th, we traveled to the Sydney Football Stadium to watch a football (soccer) game between the Sydney Football Club and Adelaide United. Within the Sydney football league their are three leagues: A-league, W-league, and Youth league. We watched the A-league game. As I entered the football stadium, I felt like this sporting event had a different feel to it. Although the stadium was not too crowded, their was a fan section with about 150-200 people cheering the whole game. They had multiple different chants for each event that occurred in the game. Each chant was pretty entertaining and unique. Their was a guy in the middle of the section with a megaphone leading each chant. As far as the actual game went, Sydney Football Club lost a true nail biter. With a 1-0 lead after a penalty kick, Adelaide fought their way back to tie the match at 1. With regular time just ended, and stoppage time dwindling Adelaide scored a goal to go up 2-1 and seal the deal. It was heartbreaking, but a great game to watch. We had great seats at the match, about 15 rows from the field. I even bought my first beer with my mate at a stadium.
When I said before that the event had a different feel to it, than the other events I went to previously, such as: rugby league and AFL, I noticed the stadium was not full like the other games. At the other matches, the stadiums were almost completely full. This was kind of bothering me that the stadium was less than half full, so I asked an Australian why it was like this. He said it could be a combination of three things: 1. It was labor day 2. The Sydney Football Club was not performing too well this year and 3. Football(soccer) is not as big of a sport in Australia as rugby league and AFL. I think the main contributing factor to the empty stadium \ is the small popularity of the sport in Australia. Just like in the states, soccer is not too popular. It is funny to see how popularity of different sports in different cultures and countries differ.
All in all it was a great day at the Sydney Football Stadium, although the Football Club lost it was a great game and an even better culture experience.