Sport in Sydney

Sport is a significant aspect of the Sydney lifestyle. Activities range from the occasional international event, annual competitions, competitive leagues and individual recreational pursuits. Sydney is the home of Australia's biggest sports league, the National Rugby League, hosting 8 teams, and the base for a number of teams in national competitions including the Sydney Sixers, Sydney Kings and Sydney Swans.

The Sydney City Council caters for sporting activities with a range of facilities. Across the city there are 20 public swimming pools, many kilometres of dedicated bikeways, ovals and other sports venues. Stadium Australia and the Sydney Cricket Ground, are two of the largest venues in the city.

Rugby league is the most popular spectator sport in Sydney. In 2006, 565,898 people attended first class rugby league matches at Stadium Australia alone. Other popular spectator sports include Cricket, Football (soccer), Australian rules football, rugby union and basketball. The martial arts are also popular in Sydney, with the more traditional western combative disciplines and also because of the proximity to Asian countries where the arts are historically based. While participation rates are high it tends not to enjoy the profile of traditional Australia sports, though the olympic sports of boxing, judo and taekwondo are more well known. For the Asian arts there are many places to practice in Sydney.

Teams in national competitions

Club League Venue Established Premierships
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs National Rugby League Stadium Australia 1935 8
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks National Rugby League Shark Park 1967 1
Greater Western Sydney Giants Australian Football League

AFL Women's

Sydney Showground Stadium & Sydney Cricket Ground

Blacktown ISP Oval

2012 Nil
Greater Western Sydney Giants Netball Suncorp Super Netball State Sports Centre & Qudos Bank Arena 2012 Nil
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles National Rugby League Brookvale Oval 1947 8
New South Wales Blues (cricket) Sheffield Shield/One Day Cup Sydney Cricket Ground 1856 46 (SS), 9 (One Day Cup), 1 (T20 Bash)
New South Wales Swifts Suncorp Super Netball Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre & Qudos Bank Arena 2008 1
New South Wales Waratahs Super Rugby Sydney Cricket Ground, Western Sydney Stadium & ANZ Stadium 1882 1
New South Wales Waratahs (field hockey) Australian Hockey League Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre 1991 3
Parramatta Eels National Rugby League Western Sydney Stadium 1947 4
Penrith Panthers National Rugby League Penrith Stadium 1967 2
St. George Illawarra Dragons National Rugby League Jubilee Oval & Wollongong Showground 1999 1
South Sydney Rabbitohs National Rugby League Stadium Australia 1908 21
Sydney Bears Australian Ice Hockey League Sydney Ice Arena 1982 2
Sydney Blue Sox Australian Baseball League Blue Sox Stadium 2009 Nil
Sydney FC A-League Sydney Football Stadium & Sydney Cricket Ground 2005 2 (P'ships), 3 (C'ships), 2 (WL P'ships), 2 (WL C'ships)
Sydney Ice Dogs Australian Ice Hockey League Liverpool Catholic Club Ice Rink 2002 2
Sydney Kings National Basketball League Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre 1988 3
Sydney Roosters National Rugby League Sydney Football Stadium & Sydney Cricket Ground 1908 13
Sydney Sixers Big Bash League Sydney Cricket Ground 2011 1
Sydney Swans Australian Football League Sydney Cricket Ground & Stadium Australia 1874 5
Sydney Thunder Big Bash League Sydney Showground Stadium 2011 1 (BBL), 1 (WBBL)
Sydney Uni Flames Women's National Basketball League Brydens Stadium 1992 3
Western Sydney Wanderers FC A-League Western Sydney Stadium, ANZ Stadium, Sydney Showground Stadium 2012 1 (P'ship), Nil (C'ships)
Wests Tigers National Rugby League Leichhardt Oval, Campbelltown Stadium & Western Sydney Stadium 2000 1

Venues

Venues in national competitions

Venue Capacity Main Sports
Stadium Australia 83,500 Rugby league, rugby union, football
Sydney Cricket Ground 47,000 Cricket, Australian rules football
Sydney Football Stadium 44,000 Rugby league, rugby union, football
Sydney Showground Stadium 25,000 Australian rules football
Belmore Oval 25,000 Rugby league, football
Brookvale Oval 23,000 Rugby league
Penrith Stadium 22,500 Rugby league
Jubilee Oval 22,000 Rugby league
Leichhardt Oval 22,000 Rugby league
Shark Park 22,000 Rugby league
Parramatta Stadium 20,741 Rugby league, football
Campbelltown Stadium 20,000 Rugby league
Concord Oval 20,000 Rugby union
North Sydney Oval 20,000 Cricket, rugby league
Redfern Oval 5,000 Rugby league
Sydney Entertainment Centre 13,250 Basketball
NSW Tennis Centre 10,000 Tennis
Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre 4,020 Equestrian
Dunc Gray Velodrome 3,150 Cycling
The Australian Golf Club Golf
Oran Park Raceway Motor racing
Randwick Racecourse Horse racing
Rosehill Racecourse Horse racing
Sydney Motorsport Park Motorsports

Sydney Olympic Park

Map of Sydney Olympic Park, showing the sporting facilities there

Sydney Olympic Park is roughly in the geographical centre of Sydney. Created for the 2000 Olympics, it is now a major sporting centre in the city.

Sydney Superdome

Sydney Superdome hosts miscellaneous events as Sydney's premier indoors facility. It has a maximum capacity of 21,000.

Stadium Australia

Track and field events in during the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Stadium Australia, sponsored as ANZ Stadium, is Sydney's largest stadium. Built for the 2000 Olympics, it now hosts big events such as the NRL Grand Final, the rugby league State of Origin and rugby union and soccer internationals.

The venue is the home ground of NRL teams, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the South Sydney Rabbitohs and serves as an occasional home ground for the Parramatta Eels. ANZ Stadium also hosts a number of Swans home games and the occasional domestic cricket one-day match.

Other facilities

There are various other sporting and recreational facilities in the centre including another indoor arena, tennis centre, aquatic centre, athletics centre, hockey centre, archery centre, as well as the Sydney Showground. In 2009 the area hosted a motor race in the form of the Sydney 500 motor race to be held on a street circuit within the former Olympic grounds.

Sydney Football Stadium

Sydney Football Stadium was designed for the use of rugby league and is now also used for rugby union and soccer. The Sydney Roosters, the NSW Waratahs and Sydney FC soccer team use it as their home ground. The Wests Tigers use the stadium part-time as a home ground. The ground hosted the 2005–06 A-League grand final won by Sydney FC. The ground also hosted rugby league grand finals from its construction until ANZ Stadium was opened.

Sydney Cricket Ground

The Sydney Cricket Ground is mainly used for cricket games and Aussie rules matches. It is home to the Sydney Swans and NSW Blues. The ground held over 1000 rugby league first-grade matches in its history but is rarely used anymore.[1]

See also

References

  1. "Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust - SCGT". nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
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