Re: The Official A-League Thread.
Soccer on rise as AFL treads water(the age)
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Like it or lump it Australia loves its football.
AUSTRALIAN children typically begin their sporting life in the swimming pool. But once they have learned to swim, soccer is now the main sport of Australia's young — although certainly not Victoria's.
A Bureau of Statistics survey of children's sports shows more Australian children are taking swimming lessons — numbers up almost 40 per cent in the past nine years to 463,000.
But while 25 per cent of children aged five to eight took swimming lessons this year, only 8 per cent of those aged 12 to 14 are still training in the pool. By then, soccer is king, especially for boys, and its lead is widening.
This year, 269,000 Australian boys aged five to 14 played in soccer competitions out of school, up from 209,000 nine years ago. By contrast, the number playing Australian rules grew only slightly to 189,000, and the three rugby codes — league, union and touch — had 182,000 between them.
Soccer is making even faster inroads among girls. It is now the fourth-biggest girls' sport in Australia, after swimming, netball and tennis. This year, 83,000 girls played in soccer competitions, almost half of them in NSW.
For boys, soccer dominates the traditional rugby lands — NSW, Queensland and the ACT. They have more than half of Australia's population, but almost three-quarters of its junior soccer players.Soccer is making serious inroads in traditional Australian rules territory. It has now overtaken Australian rules in Tasmania and the Northern Territory, and is moving up to challenge it in South Australia.The exception is Victoria. This year, 83,000 boys played Australian rules, almost three times as many as the 30,000 playing soccer. Nine years ago the numbers were 79,000 and 20,000 respectively.
Australian rules has made up some ground in rugby land. The bureau found the number of children playing the code in NSW had risen from 11,000 to 17,500 since 1997, and there had been an almost identical rise in Queensland.The number of boys playing the game in WA and South Australia is falling.
But while all the football codes are growing overall, cricket is losing ground. The number of boys playing the sleepy game has decreased from 165,000 to 138,000 in the past nine years, with most of this fall in NSW and Queensland.
It might not be a coincidence that the fastest-growing sport, among boys and girls alike, is the fast-moving indoor soccer or futsal, a summer game here. In nine years, the number of boys playing futsal has almost doubled to 45,000, while the number of girls playing has almost trebled to 14,000.
Basketball and netball have seen their numbers reduced slightly in recent years, although netball is by far the most popular sport for girls after swimming.
Tennis has basically maintained its numbers, but the number of children taking part in organised athletics has dropped from 111,000 to 77,500.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/soccer...500010371.html
Wuddie, where are you mate?
Soccer on rise as AFL treads water(the age)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Like it or lump it Australia loves its football.
AUSTRALIAN children typically begin their sporting life in the swimming pool. But once they have learned to swim, soccer is now the main sport of Australia's young — although certainly not Victoria's.
A Bureau of Statistics survey of children's sports shows more Australian children are taking swimming lessons — numbers up almost 40 per cent in the past nine years to 463,000.
But while 25 per cent of children aged five to eight took swimming lessons this year, only 8 per cent of those aged 12 to 14 are still training in the pool. By then, soccer is king, especially for boys, and its lead is widening.
This year, 269,000 Australian boys aged five to 14 played in soccer competitions out of school, up from 209,000 nine years ago. By contrast, the number playing Australian rules grew only slightly to 189,000, and the three rugby codes — league, union and touch — had 182,000 between them.
Soccer is making even faster inroads among girls. It is now the fourth-biggest girls' sport in Australia, after swimming, netball and tennis. This year, 83,000 girls played in soccer competitions, almost half of them in NSW.
For boys, soccer dominates the traditional rugby lands — NSW, Queensland and the ACT. They have more than half of Australia's population, but almost three-quarters of its junior soccer players.Soccer is making serious inroads in traditional Australian rules territory. It has now overtaken Australian rules in Tasmania and the Northern Territory, and is moving up to challenge it in South Australia.The exception is Victoria. This year, 83,000 boys played Australian rules, almost three times as many as the 30,000 playing soccer. Nine years ago the numbers were 79,000 and 20,000 respectively.
Australian rules has made up some ground in rugby land. The bureau found the number of children playing the code in NSW had risen from 11,000 to 17,500 since 1997, and there had been an almost identical rise in Queensland.The number of boys playing the game in WA and South Australia is falling.
But while all the football codes are growing overall, cricket is losing ground. The number of boys playing the sleepy game has decreased from 165,000 to 138,000 in the past nine years, with most of this fall in NSW and Queensland.
It might not be a coincidence that the fastest-growing sport, among boys and girls alike, is the fast-moving indoor soccer or futsal, a summer game here. In nine years, the number of boys playing futsal has almost doubled to 45,000, while the number of girls playing has almost trebled to 14,000.
Basketball and netball have seen their numbers reduced slightly in recent years, although netball is by far the most popular sport for girls after swimming.
Tennis has basically maintained its numbers, but the number of children taking part in organised athletics has dropped from 111,000 to 77,500.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/soccer...500010371.html
Wuddie, where are you mate?
melbourne suffer shock draw. 