Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by kicking the oval ball between the central goal posts, or between a central and outer post.
Netball is a ball sport played by two teams of seven players, usually on an indoor court, and is predominantly played by women. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for the female sex. Originating in England, UK, in the late 19th century, the sport is played specifically in schools and is most popularly played in Commonwealth nations. The sport uses indoor and outdoor netball courts.
Andrew Barry Casson Gaze is an Australian former professional basketball player and coach. He played 22 seasons in the National Basketball League (NBL) with the Melbourne Tigers from 1984 to 2005, winning the league's MVP award seven times and winning the scoring title 14 times. He also guided the Tigers to two NBL championships, in 1993 and 1997, and was named an All-NBL First Team member for a record 15 consecutive years. Gaze has been described as one of the greatest players Australia has ever produced.
Rod Laver Arena is a multipurpose arena located within Melbourne Park, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The arena is the main venue for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the calendar year.
Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena.
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) is the National Olympic Committee responsible for developing, promoting and protecting the Olympic Movement in Australia. The AOC has the exclusive responsibility for the representation of Australia at the Olympic Games, the Youth Olympic Games and at Regional Games patronised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). All National Olympic Committees are constituents of the International Olympic Committee.
The Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) is the pre-eminent professional women's basketball league in Australia. It is currently composed of eight teams. The league was founded in 1981 and is the women's counterpart to the National Basketball League (NBL). Several WNBL teams have NBL counterparts. The Adelaide Lightning, Melbourne Boomers, Perth Lynx, Southside Flyers and Sydney Uni Flames are the current WNBL teams sharing a market with an NBL team. The current league champions are the Melbourne Boomers, who won their second title in 2022.
Sport is an important part of Australia that dates back to the early colonial period. Australian rules football, rugby league, rugby union, association football, cricket and tennis are among the earliest organised sports in Australia. Sport has shaped the Australian national identity through events such as the Australia vs USA basketball match in 2019 which attracted over 100,000 people, the Melbourne Cup and the America's Cup. Australia also holds the record for the largest attendance at a Rugby Union match with almost 110 000 watching the Wallabies play the All Blacks in 2000.
Mark Robert Bradtke is an Australian retired professional basketball player who played mainly in Australia's National Basketball League, but also had a single stint in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1996–97. As well as his outstanding play, Bradtke was known in the early part of his NBL career for his mullet haircut.
Belinda Snell is an Australian women's basketball player. She is a member of the Australia women's national basketball team, and has won two silver medals in basketball at the 2004 & 2008 Summer Olympics, a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, a gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, a gold medal at the 2006 World Championships, and a bronze medal at the 2014 World Championships.
The Australian men's national basketball team, known as the Boomers after the slang term for a male kangaroo, represents Australia in international basketball competition.
Basketball is a sport played both indoors and outdoors in Australia. Basketball is the number two sport globally with over 200 countries participating and over 450 million players. According to research by Sweeney Sports, one in three Australians has an interest in basketball. Furthermore, basketball is played by approximately one million men, women, boys, and girls throughout Australia. According to Basketball Australia, as of March 2014, basketball is the second highest team participation sport in Australia.
David Emil Andersen is an Australian-Danish former professional basketball player. One of Australia's most experienced and successful players, Andersen won 12 league championships abroad and played in Italy, Russia, Spain, Turkey and France. He also played in the NBA, spending two years in the league between 2009 and 2011. In 2018 and 2021, he won championships with Melbourne United in the National Basketball League (NBL).
The Deakin Melbourne Boomers have been a part of the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) since 1984, making the club both the oldest WNBL club and the longest-running elite-level women’s sports team in Australia.
Rachel Jarry is an Australian professional basketball player for the Southside Flyers of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). She started playing basketball as a five-year-old and as a youngster in national competitions, she represented the state of Victoria. In Australia's WNBL, she has played for the Dandenong Rangers, the Australian Institute of Sport and the Melbourne Boomers. She was drafted by the WNBA's Atlanta Dream in 2011 and was traded to the Lynx on the same day. She has been a member of the Australia women's national basketball team on both the junior and senior level.
Natalie Porter is an Australian basketball player who played for the Australian national team and became an Olympic medalist. In her home country, she has played for four different top-level teams including the Dandenong Rangers, Townsville Fire, Sydney Uni Flames and Canberra Capitals. In 2000, she was drafted by the Women's National Basketball Association. She has also played basketball in Italy. She has been a member of the Australia women's national basketball team, and won a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens as a member of the team.
Madeleine Claire Garrick is an Australian professional basketball player in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). Maddie Garrick has been representing Australia in the FIBA WOMEN'S ASIA CUP (2017) and FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup(2018-2019).
Tess Madgen is an Australian professional basketball player. She currently plays for the Melbourne Boomers in the WNBL. She is also a member of the Australian Opals.
Lauren Elizabeth Jackson is an Australian professional basketball player. The daughter of two national basketball team players, Jackson was awarded a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in 1997, when she was 16. In 1998, she led the AIS team that won the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) championship. Jackson joined the Canberra Capitals for the 1999 season when she turned 18 and played with the team off and on until 2006, winning four more WNBL championships. From 2010 to 2016, Jackson played with the Canberra Capitals, which she did during the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) offseason during the time she continued WNBA play.
The 2019–20 NBL season was the 42nd season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979.
