Mass Participation, Excellence and Gender in Sport

AUSTRALIA

Mass Participation

The failure of the Australian team in the 1976 Montreal Olympics lead the government to make changes to the way sport was organised.

A master plan for sport led to the establishment of the Australian Sports Commission (ASC)

The purpose of the ASC is to administer and fund sport nationally on behalf of the government and to encourage sport and physical activity for all Australians.

What programmes help to do this?

Active Australia has now moved on. Following a review called ‘Backing Australia’s Sporting Ability’ in 2000, a new policy was introduced called ‘More Active Australia’.The focus of this is to increase the active membership of sports clubs across the country.The government invested AU $550 million over a four year period to make this scheme work.

Why are the government willing to invest so much money into this scheme?

Australian Sports Institutes

• The AIS was opened in Canberra in 1981.

• Funded by the ASC

• Result of failures in The Montreal Olympics and Edmonton Commonwealth Games

• Offers: Financial Support

Top quality facilities

Coaching and sports science specialists

Competitive opportunity

Sports Medicine Service

Athlete’s Career Education (ACE)

Opportunity to develop sporting excellence

For a broad range of sports.

Since the original AIS was built, subsequent developments have been made to expand the provision of Sports Institutes.

•1982 South Australia Sports Institute (SASI), Adelaide

•1984 Western Australia Institute of Sport (WAIS), Perth

•1985 Tasmanian Institute of Sport (TAIS), Launceston

•1985 New South Wales Academy of Sport, Sydney

•1989 Australian Capital Territories Academy of Sport, Canberra

•1990 Victoria Institute of Sport (VIS), Melbourne

•1991 Queensland Academy of Sport, Brisbane

•1995 New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS), Sydney

•1996 Northern Territory Institute of Sport (NTIS), Darwin

In order to represent Australia’s ‘red centre’ and its inhabitants, there are plans to develop a Desert Institute of Sport in 2005

A few final facts about the AIS’s

• Sports institutes are also called academies.

• The AIS and state institutes operate in parallel so no one is better than another

• Institutes don’t guarantee progress to higher level. They can also be bypassed.

•The whole process is monitored by The National Elite Sports Council. With such a small population it is vital that every opportunity is taken to nurture talent.

Look at the pathways for Aussie football and cricket on pages 149 and 153

Sport and Gender

‘Frontier’ and bush attitudes of early colonialism laid down male domination and discrimination towards women in sport.

Feminism and fertility were thought to be threatened by playing in sports.

During the 1950’s and early 60’s female sports stars emerged.

Marjorie Jackson

In athletics Betty Cuthbertson and Marjorie Jackson were accepted because the press portrayed them as feminine.BUT………

Shirley Strickland was criticised for being too aggressive and competitive and not very feminine.

Poor old Dawn Fraser even had her sexuality questioned after winning the gold medal in swimming in the 1960 Olympic Games.

After this period, the male view was challenged and women started adapting male styles and strategies and were accepted in sport.

However, in a country where women are in the majority, sports representation is disproportionately low.

Today there is a strong desire to address this issue. In 1995 the medical profession urged women to ‘work out’ to achieve fitness.

In schools, sport education programmes are always mixed wherever possible.

Female role models are used frequently. National heroes like Cathy Freeman are given a high profile.

AUSTRALIA

Outdoor Education and Outdoor Recreation

Australia has the advantage of wonderful natural resources and beautiful scenery.

Ayers Rock (Uluru)

Australia has tropically forested areas, high mountains and extensive coastal areas.

How does this compare to the UK?

The Organisation of National and Regional Parks

There are more than 500 national parks in Australia. Three well know examples are:

• Kakadu Park

• Uluru Park

• Great Barrier Reef

The Role of Outdoor Education

Primary Schools offer outdoor adventure activities as part of a balanced physical education programme. From 7 there is a tradition of the ‘school camp’.

Each state offers a Youth Development Programme (YDP). For example the government funded version (VYDP) is a voluntary elective from year 9 and must be linked to one of the following.

army cadets fire service

ambulance life saving

The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme also operates as it does in the UK.

Skiing

More than 4000 primary and secondary pupils take part in the Victoria state inter school championship each year.

Outward Bound

Teachers plan outdoor adventure packages in activities like bush walking, horse riding, canoeing and skiing. It is common for schools to travel overseas for adventure experiences.

Outdoor Education as an examination subject

During years 11 and 12 outdoor education can be taken as an HSC course and validated for the TER. The subject has a lot of theory aspects but involves practical assessment.

Residential experiences

The character building concept relating to the outdoors pioneered by British public schools has continued in Australian independent schools.

Timbertop is a residential upland forested adventure centre used to provide students with outdoor residential experiences.

True or False?

1. There are more than 500 national parks in Australia.

2. The Duke of Edinburgh Scheme operates in Australia.

3. Timberland is a residential forested adventure centre used to provide students with outdoor residential experiences.

4. Outdoor Education can be taken as an HSC Course.

5. Bush walking is more popular than hiking and back packing.

6. YDP stands for Youth Dependency Project.

7. The Frankston VYDP has four components which include surf lifesaving techniques.

8. As part of the Outward Bound programme it is common for schools to travel overseas for adventure experiences.

9. An outdoor lifestyle is popular in Australia because they are a young nation.

10. Skiing is not a very popular activity in Australia and not many school children get the opportunity to participate.

11. Administration, organisation and regulation of the natural environment is the responsibility of the federal government.

12. Schools do not participate in ‘school camps’ in Australia.