The 10 Most Popular Sports in Australia

Sport is one of the most popular activities in Australia, with the country being known for its success in sports, specifically cricket. Social sport is becoming more and more popular with younger generations, with childrens starting to play and train when they are as young as pre-school aged.

We thought it might be fun to have a look at some of the most popular sports in our country, and find out just why they are so widely played and watched. Here is a countdown of Australia’s most popular sports!

Netball has been played in Australia since 1897. It is played by women and children of all ages, and currently stands at approximately 503,000 children and 343,000 adults who regularly play the game. Australia’s international team, the Diamonds, have won 10 out of the 14 Netball World Tournament since 1963.

It is no surprise that NRL is one of the most popular sports in Australia. There are approximately 170,000 registered players for NRL throughout Australia, however over 770,000 people play different versions of the sport.

Cricket is Summer’s most popular sport. Not only is it played competitively, it is also famously known as a fantastic beach or backyard sport. Let’s face it, nothing can beat a good old game of backyard cricket! 631,000 children and 328,000 adults play the game regularly.

Tennis is an ideal social sport; however, it is also very popular as a competitive sport in Australia. More than 960,000 people play tennis in Australia.

Aside from being one of the most played sports in Australia, AFL is also one of the most watched sports, particularly in Victoria and South Australia. Over 1.5 million people participate in this sport, and it continues to grow every year.

Since Australian basketballers have been making it in the big league over in America, the sport has certain grown in popularity over here. More and more children are choosing to play basketball as their sport of choice, with a total of 1.08 million participants currently in Australia.

While it may be controversial referring to dancing as a “sport,” there is no denying that it is an incredibly popular activity in Australia. More than 1.3 million people dance, with 743,000 of them aged between just 6 – 13.

Soccer has been played in Australia since the 1800’s, with over 2 million people currently playing soccer in our country. For children aged 6 – 13, soccer has a participating of 48.7%, making is just as popular as swimming for the most played sport in that age group.

Most children start to learn how to ride a bike at a very young age, usually a lot younger than most children first start participating in any social sports competitions. As a result of this, cycling has become one of our most popular sports, with over 2.4 million people participating in it. Whether it be competitively, or as a genuine way of travel, the popularity of cycling is continuing to increase as we speak.

Swimming is Australia’s most popular sport, with a HUGE 3.1 million people regularly involved in it. Regardless of age, it seems that Australians just love their swimming, which isn’t surprising given how hot it is in Australia for most of the year, and how amazing most of our beaches are.

We would love to know which sport you play. Was it on this list? Where did it rank? Is it perhaps another sport that isn’t on this list, but that you think might make the top 10 in a few years’ time?

Written by OTG Custom