Is sport coming to an end in Australia?

Today, sport of all kinds is more a business and a career than a pastime for youngsters who wanted to compete but wouldn’t dream of making money out of any success they might enjoy. A great difference from when I was a kid, seventy-five years ago, when the great majority of sportsmen and women were amateurs, people who participated in running, jumping, cricket, tennis and soccer for the sheer pleasure of it, not to put millions of dollars in both their own pockets and those of the flocks of trainers, managers, medics and “owners”, hidden in the background. In fact, most participating individuals in those days paid for the privilege of taking part, not expecting to make a living from it at all.

Of course, there were professionals in the thirties, forties and fifties, but most of them seemed to be employed in either cricket, soccer or boxing, with many other activities being strictly amateur. I’m sure many readers of approximately my age will recall how the captains of County cricket teams in the UK were always amateur, (usually the only one in the team), and, unlike the rest of their colleagues, they were always referred to as “Mr”, while the professionals of the team were given no title at all.

The Olympics were, of course, the great icon to amateurism, until well into the fifties – professionals weren’t just discouraged in those days, they weren’t allowed to take part at all! Basically, the same rules applied to tennis as well, where the only professionals were retired champions, making a living coaching the up-and-coming youngsters.

The prizes that could be won in those days were mainly cups and shields, with small monetary awards being allowed in some sports, but at a strictly limited level, (never enough one could live on, for sure!). All the fancy, colourful clothing we are so used to now hadn’t been invented yet either, the most a sportsperson would indulge in on that score was perhaps a pair of shorts and an appropriately coloured shirt, (especially for team events), plus a minimal amount of protective clothing, like the shin-guards I used to wear for soccer. We all had a good time, though, in the various sports and games we played, in their appropriate seasons, like strawberries being ripe in June and impossible to obtain at any other time!

But today everything is different, especially in the higher echelons. The absolutely right gear has to be worn, right down to the colour of shoelaces, in every sport, and the gear has to be splashed all over with the logos of the mighty sponsors. The players/participators themselves can earn annual wages that most ordinary individuals could live in for fifteen years or more, and they are considered, as well as being good at their chosen activity, to be geniuses too, called on to take part in highly intellectual programs on the television to give their valued opinion. Now don’t get me wrong, I realise footballers, etc., can be as clever as anyone else, but let’s face it, would anyone call on someone like me or you to appear, when they can have a famous face there?

As I said at the beginning, sports of all types are now big business, and it shows. Seasons are forgotten, the Saturday game we used to enjoy going to can now be played almost any day of the week, and look how many new styles of cricket have been invented, just to get more coverage and more money! A lot of the ‘sportsmanship’ we admired in our heroes has disappeared too, they are impolite to each other and to their fans, they cheat, they take drugs to improve their play, (they hope), and a frightening few of them indulge their considerable wealth in illegal activities. And look at the way sports bodies have acted, both financially and politically, to gain great wealth for themselves

No, I’m afraid sport just isn’t sportsmanlike anymore, and that is sad!

Do you agree with what Brian had to say?  What do you think about sport in Australia?

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