When sports fans from the same nation come together every weekend in stadiums, or in front of a screen, they all of a sudden have two unique things in common– their love for the sport and their commitment and pride in their nation. Every nation, whether it is Australia or the United States of America, has their set of sports and sporting occasions that they take pride in. Back in the United States, we pride ourselves on our sports. In Boston, sports fans religiously follow the Boston Bruins in ice hockey, the Boston Celtics in basketball, the New England Patriots in Football, and the Boston Red Sox in baseball.
Other Americans from other parts of the nation also support their home town teams in these 4 exact same sports. A lot of Americans can relate on the basis of our love for our sports– hockey, basketball, baseball, and football. Yet, in Australia the “precious” sports vary. People do not religiously follow ice hockey, basketball, baseball, or football.
Rugby and cricket appear to be the most viewed and discussed sports in Australia. Simply as people in the United States congregate on the weekends to watch or get involved in ice hockey, baseball, basketball, or football, people in Australia do the very same with rugby and cricket.
No matter the nation, the one commonalities the individuals have with their fellow people is sports. In a method, each country has their own set of “national sports.” Some people might be more informed in the national sports than others, however no matter what, all residents have the ability to recognize with the sports of their countries.
Based on this analysis, it has actually ended up being clear that sports groups and occasions permit countries to establish a national identity and construct a strong sense of community through the citizens’ capability to identify with specific sports within their country and connect to one another on the basis of their love and loyalty for the offered sport.
The establishment of a national identity was extremely evident at this year’s ANZAC Day matchup between the Sydney Roosters and St George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League. ANZAC Day is somewhat similar to Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day and Fourth of July in the United States. Veteran’s Day celebrates all of the war veterans, dead and alive. Memorial Day commemorates all the soldiers who have fought or are fighting for our country. And lastly, the Fourth of July celebrates our independence as a nation and reveals our intense Rossetti 2 pride in our country.
According to The Australian Army Website, not only does ANZAC Day “mark the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War”(Commonwealth of Australia: 2012), but it also celebrates the “remembrance of all Australians killed in military operations”(Commonwealth of Australia: 2012). It has also become clear that ANZAC Day allows Australians to show pride in their country and appreciate all those who have fought or are fighting for their country.
The sense of national pride and identity at the ANZAC Day game was unavoidable. Prior to ANZAC Day, I also observed another National Rugby League Game between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Sydney Roosters. I physically attended the ANZAC Day game and I watched the “regular” National Rugby League Game on YouTube. The sense of community and togetherness was obvious within both games, but the pride in the nation and the establishment of a national identity was inescapable at the ANZAC Day game. In his piece titled “Nation,” Shiv Visvanathan (2006) defines the word “nation” as, “‘a unique people’ or a unique sovereign people” (Visvanathan: 2006: 533).
At the ANZAC Day match, or any other sporting event, the group of people sitting in the stadium is considered to be “unique” because they all share one common interest—rugby. The people in the stadium are a nation. Together, they are establishing a national identity around the basis of sport. They are loyal to their team and have allowed their love and devotion towards their national sport to define their ‘Australianness. ’ With that being said, there were not many differences in the play of the game or attire and behaviour of the fans at both games.
The ANZAC Day game and the “regular” game were played under the same time regulations and rules, and the level of intensity by the players did not differ from one game to the next. The fans were also dressed from head to toe in their team’s kit at both games. At the Rabbitohs v. Roosters game, there was a sea of navy blue and red on the Roosters side and red and green on the Rabbitohs side (Fieldwork Note: 16/04/14: 8). At the ANZAC Day game, the Dragons’ side was a sea of red and the Roosters’ side was filled entirely with navy blue.
The fans were wearing everything from t-shirts and jackets to hats and scarfs (Fieldwork Note: 25/04/14: 12). The crowds were majority male, but there were a fair amount of women scattered throughout. It did appear that any woman that was there was with her significant other, family, or a large group of other women. Families were seated with at least three, sometimes even five children. There was quite a bit of drinking going on in the stands. Fans would return to their seats with four or more beers each time. As the night went on, the drunkenness in the crowd.
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