Football in Australia

The sports which have been selected for the purpose of this assignment are football and rugby. I have selected these sports because I am a fan of football and rugby both. Both the sports require considerable physical effort and time for participation. They also involve certain cost in relation to participation. The sports are discussed below. 

Soccer or football is a team sport which is played by two teams having eleven players using a spherical ball. Soccer is considered as the most popular sport in the entire world. The game is played by more than 250 million individuals across 200 countries. The national body which governs the sport in Australia is Football Federation Australia. The FFA is responsible for organization major football tournaments in Australia such as W-League, A-league and FFA cup. The organization also takes care of the Men and Women national football team. Around the world the Australian Men football team is known as Socceroos and the women team is known as Matildas (Hay, Murray & Books, 2014). The introduction of modern soccer in Australia was done by the British Immigrants in the 19^th Century. Football entails significant benefits for the participants. It provides for a regular form of exercise with a good chance that such exercise would be regular for a long period. One of the most important reasons why football is considered to be as a prevalent sport in Australia is it develops within the participants an intense sense of teamwork for the purpose of reaching a common goal (Australia, 2013). The lesson in relation to sharing responsibility for each player, by putting on the line their bodies to help the team and a sense of selflessness is an important teaching which entails the participants of football. In addition playing football promotes physical fitness of the participants. The game is one of the most physically intense sports as it involves continues running and playing for a period of ninety minutes. The sports requires speed agility and strength and therefore most footballers have to train for a year round period. Participating in football helps the players to ensure that they develop overall endurance and enhance their strengths and stamina. It is also one of the most highly paid sports in the world where players such as Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo earn €2,75,000 ever week. There are various opportunities which are provided to the Australian payers through the sports as the FFA organizes several tournaments which provides a platform for the players to showcase their skills. However the international Football team of Australia is not very strong as compared to its South American and European counterparts such as Spain or Brazil. In addition taking up football as a career involves putting in intense dedication and time in relation to the sports. The participants in football are also prone to injury which can have significant impact on their careers. A footballer has to go through significant hardship in relation to social life as they are advisably restrained from consumption of Alcohol and eating junk food. Most of their time is spent watching and learning the game and training (Hay, 2014). 

Rugby in Australia

Rugby is a very popular spot in Australia which is most played during the winter. Although is not as famous as football around the world but it is very popular in the southern hemisphere countries like New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina. The sport is specifically vastly popular in Queensland and New South Wales. It was awarded as the most watched sports on the Australian television. The premier competition in relation to rugby in Australia is the National Rugby league which has three teams for Queensland, ten teams for NSW and one team each from New Zealand, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria. Rugby is the most physically involved sport in the world. Just like football it is a team sport and therefore enhances the essence of teamwork within the participants. The participants have to put in a significant amount of physical effort to enhance their strength and stamina. It has been argued by Kohler et al. (2017) that rugby brings more benefits than skills. The risk of injury can never be eradicated form the participation in rugby, however such risk should not supersede the benefits provided by the sport. In rugby physical courage is tested the most as compared to any other sport. The participants for the purpose of impressing the supports or the selectors put their bodies in lines which may subject them to significant injury that is career or even life threatening. The most important lesson which is thought to those who participate in Rugby is that of courage. The participants are thought to be fearless and combine their mind and body to produce results. The game offers the participants increased self-respect and confidence as it is considered as one of the best character building sport. Rugby fosters, team efforts, togetherness, fitness and courage and also helps to bring together people from diverse background.  The sports also provide the lesson of great sportsmanship by promoting handshakes even where a participant has been hurt by the other in crunch tackles. The sport applauds commitment and skill where the practice of cheating is almost unheard. This is a game where every word of the referee is the law. In the same way as football Rugby also requires considerable investment of time in relation to training, although it does not involve the kind of money which football entails for its players. 

Both Rugby and football in Australia are developing sports. However, according to a survey conducted by Roy Morgan the number of participants in sports are declining consistently since 2001.  It has been observed that in relation to exercises Australians are participating in activities like yoga, walking, jogging and cycling for the purpose of doing exercise, however the participation in sports for the same reason have declined. According to the released figures there were 2,56,000 people participated in sports in the year 2001 and the number declined by 1% and came down to only 2,53,000 participants. On the other hand when it comes to rugby, the participation from 148000 in the year 2001 to dropped to 55000 in 2016 which is near about 63% decline. Although it is true that the country has an ageing population, the decline in sports participation is apparent across all age groups and both the sexes. The rate of participation among women and men in most different age groups has reduced by 20%. Either of the sports was played by 34 percent of the men and 20% of the women in 2001. However by the year 2016 the numbers reduced to 26 and 14 respectively. The most likely people to play football or rugby were young men. However their rate of participation has also reduced considerable from 57% in 2001 to 42% in 2016. Deep concern has been raised by NRL chief Executive Todd Greenberg in relation to the decline of rugby league player participation. The issue has emerged to be the core of NRL clubs who were asking the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) Chairman John Grant to resign, as he stated that the low number of registration has caused him to restrain from an agreement to provide funding to the clubs for raising the salary caps by 130%. Although national participation figures have not been released by the NRL, it is suggested from the figures provided by Queensland, NSW and Country rugby league associations that there has been a significant decline in the number of participants. However according to statistics provided by the NSWRL it has been stated that although male participation has declined, there has been a considerable increase in the number of women participation in the sport (Kohler et al., 2017).

Declining Participation in Sports in Australia

The major reasons which have been identified in relation to decline in the number of participants in rugby is that of poor sportsmanship, standard of coaching and unevenness of competition. According to the general manager of NSWRL the real scenario is not depicted by such figures in relation the registered participants. According to him although there is a decline in the number of participants who play the game every week, there is no decline in people who play the game every year. He also stated that they have a lot of people who are interested in playing the game. However there is no framework or structure in place from which it would be ensured that they continue to participate on a regular basis. Although there has been a decrease in the number of participants there has been a significant increase in the number of female participants (Snodgrass et al., 2017).

In addition, according to O’Connor, Larkin & Williams (2017) football has overtaken swimming as the most popular sport in Australia in the year 2016 among Australian children. These numbers states that the participation in Australia football is increasing, however the participation is still going down. This may be due to the amount of money involved in the sport. As the economy has become capitalist, individuals also want to invest their time in something where they can get appropriate return. According to Dabscheck (2014) the number of football participation is increasing gradually and this is because of the payment structure of the players along with the facilities provided to them. This is also one of the major reasons why the national teams of the European countries are much stronger than the Australian national team in football.  In addition the structure which is provided to the management of football within the country is much inferior to the technology and framework provided in the European countries. These challenges are faced by both the sports due to the evil of corruption and lack of private and government funding. In the European structure of football the level of private and government funding in relation to the game is much more than what is available to the Australian association. 

According to poet William Blake, “The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest”. Although he was not talking about rugby, it is considered that the sport is at a critical juncture and without changes someday it may run out of receivers. According to the rugby league the next three or four years are going to be crucial on relation to the most popular sport in the country.  Many high school football teams are backing out since the football season has initiated. There have been various incidents in Australia where high school players have suffered death due to the neck or head injuries. Death in rugby has also taken place due to sickle cell tied to exertion and heat related causes. The concern in relation to concussion is also present in the sport in like several past seasons. Parents are getting a view from the same data and story and therefore taking a step backwards in relation to the sports. They are worried about the safety of their child and therefore they are trying to avoid the sport amidst several safer sports available in the country like cricket and swimming. It has already been discussed above that there has been a significant decline in the number of participants in relation to rugby in Australia (Hume et al., 2017).

Comparison of Football and Rugby

The primary concern which the parents have in relation to their children towards the sport is their safety. There have not been adequate changes in the Australian Rugby system to ensure the safety of its participants. As there are several other sports which high school students may take up which are comparatively much safer than playing rugby the parents do not motivate their children to take part in the sport. In addition the payment structure in relation to the sport in Australia is also not very strong as compared to the other kind of sports. Rugby requires intense dedication and practice. Although there are several advantages in relation to paying the sport, its disadvantages supersede the advantages. In relation to this it can be stated that the future of rugby is Australia is not very strong. Unless there are significant changes made to the system it would be difficult for the sport to gain participants (Cobley et al., 2014).

Football is the most popular sport in the world. There is no other sport which is player by as many countries as football. There are some significant changes which have to be made in relation to football in Australia. It has been provided by the president of FFA that they are going to work together and take the most popular sport in Australia to a new level off success in the National, International as well as local arena. However if this is not done the sport in the country will return to its old bad days of self-interest and therefore be subjected to inevitable results. The AFC and FIFA stakeholders have visited Australia for the purpose of enhancing the game. The support of the football bodies have been profoundly accepted by the FFA president. However the primary question in relation to football in Australia is that whether the governing bodies carry out their functions for the purpose of enhancing the sports for those who love the game and participate in it or for the purpose of self-interest. There has been several significant chaos in the Country in relation to football in the past. The game was broken and broke and was not able to carry out a sustainable national league driven by self interest (Connolly, 2017).

The FFA has conducted several changes in relation to the game in Australia and taken it beyond self-interest to support the participants and followers of the game. It has been provided that almost 60% of the FFA’s financial resources would be received by the A league. These changes and initiatives taken by FFA in relation to the sport have enhanced the participation numbers within the country. There game has already overtaken swimming as the most popular sport in Australia as the rise in world football along with proper management of the FFA will ensure that the there is a significant increase in the trend of participation in Australian football and which is also projected to increase at a stable rate. In addition the amount of money involved in professional football is much more than other like sports such as hockey or rugby. In addition with the enhancement in the management of football facilities in the country there have been significant decrease in major injuries and therefore the participation in football is much likely to grow unlike rugby. In addition the commitment shown by the FFA in relation to enhancing the game and eradicating evils form the game has provided motivation to all members of the country to participate a love the game (NewsComAu, 2017). 

Benefits of Football and Rugby

Recently a five year strategic plan has been announced by the Australian Rugby Union in relation to the game for the period 2016-2010. The plan has been formulated in collaboration with the rugby community along with input from all member unions and constituents of all member states and territories, the Rugby Union Players Association and 8300 fans. The plans indentify four key areas which are required to be focused upon in order to enhance the situation of the sport in the country (Woods et al., 2017) . These four areas include making rugby a game for all- community, igniting passion of Australia in relation to the game- fans, creating sustainable success in the professional game- elite teams and excellently managing the game- administration.  Therefore the sports would require investment in relation to all four areas. Making rugby a game for all in relation to the Australian community will require establishing a framework through which the game is made readily available and accessible to the community. The second objective of the strategic plan which is to ignite the passion of the fans would require significant investment in the promotion of the game. The game has to be promoted through televisions, newspapers and mobile media. This form of promotion would require significant investment in relation to the sport which would. For the purpose of building sustainable success in the professional game, the rugby union needs to enhance the infrastructure of the game within the country. The latest technology has to be brought into the system to ensure that the players are able to avoid injuries and enhance their game at the same time (Rugby.com.au, 2017). A change in the traditional infrastructure of the game would also be needed significant amount of monitory investment as the new technology and cost of restructuring is very high. In relation to effectively managing the game within the country it has to be ensured that proper and experienced managers are brought. These managers have to be remunerated adequately so that there is no chance of corruption within the governing body towards pursing self-interest. Therefore in order to enhance the situation of the game within the Australian community from its present state significant future funding is required.

It is clear from the above analysis that Australian Rules football is most popular sport in the country. However the state of football in the country is much inferior to other countries such as Spain, England and Brazil. This is mainly because the amount of investment which is received by those countries is much more than that which is received by Australia. Therefore the ARF in the country would also require significant future investment to enhance its present system and purse the goals set by it. The domestic system of football has to be restructured in a way where talents within the country in relation to the sport can be spotted and nurtured. In addition the facilities provided to the participants in terms of coaching and injury also require enhancement. These would therefore also need investment. The popularity of the sport has increased the amount of investment inflow within the game from media and other sports brands. However such investment would not be adequate for the proper achievement of the goals set by the FFA and additional funding from FIFA would be required. 

Challenges for Football and Rugby in Australia

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