Shock data show Aussies losing their competitive edge

Aussies are known for their fiercely competitive streak when it comes to sport.

Whether it’s the infamously vicious sledging of the opposition on the international cricket pitch or just bowling out your dad in a backyard game, the urge to win has long run strong through Aussie veins.

But that’s changing. We’re getting less competitive when it comes to sport, and older women are leading the way.

Over the past 15 years, the big firm Roy Morgan Research has been tracking the number of Australians who play competitive sports – a sport that can be won or lost in the traditional sense. (They don’t count swimming, snowboading, surfing and other largely solo sports and activities that some people do do competitively.)

Roy Morgan found that across all age groups and both sexes, there’s been a noticeable drop in the number of people playing competitive sports, and in some cases, the decline has been dramatic.

A national favourite, netball, is down 24 percent. This is despite population growth of 26 percent in the same period.

The number of people playing the traditional Aussie sports of AFL, rugby league and rugby union have plunged, with union players down a massive 63 percent between 2001 and 2016.

In fact, just seven competitive sports have had an increase in participants, with rowing leading the field with a 61 percent increase between 2001 and 2016. Soccer and badminton have also shot up in popularity – something that could possibly be explained by our increasingly multicultural society.

Soccer overtook tennis in popularity 10 years ago and has been neck-and-neck with golf since 2014, before finally over-taking it in the most recent survey.

Roy Morgan looks at age groups from 14-plus and found that most were down at least 20 percent in the number of people playing a competitive sport.

But women aged 50-plus are dropping out of competitive sport at the greatest speed, alongside woman aged 35 to 49.

“These groups were already the least likely to play any competitive sport 15 years ago – both 16 percent – and now are just 9 and 10 percent do, respectively,” Roy Morgan’s report found.

Interestingly, the decline in numbers of woman aged 14 to 24 playing competitive sports has been among the smallest, because young women are dropping tennis, cricket, hockey and gymnastics but taking up soccer, volleyball and AFL.

Michelle Levine, the CEO of Roy Morgan, explains that it’s not that Australians are becoming less keen on sport, but that they’re more interested in individual, non-competitive activities.

That means walking, jogging, cycling, going to the gym or yoga are increasing in popularity.

In fact, the number of people doing some fort of some form of sport, fitness or heart-pumping leisure activity is pretty much unchanged since 2001 at one in every two, among people aged 14-plus.

“We’re still keeping comparatively fit through other individual activities that aren’t about keeping score, finishing first or acing defeat from an opponent,” Levine says. “Personal activities are also easier to fit into busy lifestyles, while competitive sports require a lot of time and commitment.”

That said, almost 20 percent of Aussies don’t do any sport or fitness activity other than walking and about 30 percent don’t do any activity at all, not even taking a brisk walk. And only 19 percent of kids are active three or more times a week outside of school hours.

The big decline in competitive sports participation is something the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has also noticed.

Paul Fairweather, the head of research at the ASC research boss, told the ABC last year that there are bigger pressures on peoples’ budgets and time than there was 20 years ago, as well as a wider range of sports and fitness options to choose from.

An ASC survey taken in the year to September 2016 found that women were more likely to participate in sports or fitness for its physical and mental health benefits and to lose or maintain weigh, while men are more motivated by fun, enjoyment and for socialising.

Meanwhile, the biggest barriers to taking part are not enough time or too many other commitments, poor health or injury, getting older, feeling too lazy or not liking sport or physical activity.

Are you still still involved in sports or fitness activities? Why do you think Aussies may be becoming less competitive in the traditional sense?