Description
In conjunction with the Centre for Olympic Studies, The University of New South Wales
This is the first book to explore the impact of Federation on Australian sport and the contribution of sport to the new Commonwealth of Australia before and after 1901.
The first three chapters explore whether new policies of the Commonwealth (defence, the White Australia Policy and the non-recognition of Aborigines) influenced sporting practice. Did the regular visits of ‘non-white’ sporting teams and individuals modify the operation of the White Australia Policy?
Four chapters examine the emergence of national sporting organisations and explore why Australasian teams (joint teams of Australia and New Zealand) persisted in some sports for decades. The authors also investigate how national symbols, emblems and colours featured in sporting costumes.
The final chapters consider whether sport contributed to a sense of nationhood after 1901 encouraging a more indigenous sporting culture, such as surf lifesaving. The connection that some women made between political and sporting reform is another theme of this part.
