Academic Site Visits

Since 1996, virtually all of our Australia programs have included the academic site visits as listed below.

From an academic perspective our classes typically include:

• The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) which leads the development of elite sport and is widely acknowledged in Australia and internationally as a world best practice model for elite athlete development. The AIS is a pre-eminent elite sports training institution with world class facilities and athlete support services for 700 athletes across 35 programs in 26 sports.
• The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the governing body responsible for distributing funds and providing strategic guidance for sporting activity in Australia. It is an agency of the Government of Australia and implements national sports and recreation policy.
• Australian Universities & Guest Presentations from professors as well as interactive opportunities with Aussie students.
• A visit to the Sydney 2000 Olympic site and behind the scenes tour of ANZ Stadium, which was the main arena for the games and was the largest Olympic facility in history. The theme of the 2000 Olympics was the "Green Games" and from an environmental perspective this facility is arguably a world's best practice model for environmentalism.
• Attend a professional Australian Football League (AFL) game, otherwise known as "Aussie Rules" or "Footy" & a site visit to a pro club for a facility tour and guest presentation from staff. In 2008 AFL games had a cumulative attendance of 7,083,015, a record for the competition and an average attendance of 38,295. AFL games have the fourth-highest average attendances in the world for a domestic professional league in any sport, and third among all football codes. (In this respect they are surpassed only by the NFL, the Indian Premier League Cricket, and German Bundesliga Football.)
• Attend a professional National Rugby League (NRL) game & a site visit to a pro club for a facility tour and guest presentation from staff. The National Rugby League (NRL) is the top league for professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL competition is contested by 16 teams, 15 based in Australia and one based in New Zealand, and is the Southern Hemisphere's elite rugby league championship.
• A visit to a Surf Life Saving Club and an inside look at surf related sports Down Under. The Australian Surf Life Saving Clubs' history dates back to 1901 and they are the largest volunteer organization in the country. This is a model unique to Australia and involves thousands of Surf Clubs which patrol their local beaches, provide education programs to the community and compete in a range of surf related sports against each other culminating in an Annual National Championship.
• A visit to a Netball club. Netball is a non-contact team sport originating from the United States similar to, and derived from, basketball. Invented in 1895 by Clara Gregory Baer, a pioneer in women's sport the game is virtually unknown to most Americans nowadays, over shadowed by basketball many years ago. Netball is now pre-eminently played as a women's team sport in Australia and New Zealand and is popular in the West Indies, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom. Over 20 million people play netball in more than 70 countries. There is a professional league in Australia comprising of 10 teams and from a participation perspective, netball is the most popular sport for girls in both Australia & New Zealand.
• A visit to a Cricket Club to learn about the game's amazing history and value to the Australian community. Cricket is a bat and ball game that is first documented as being played in southern England in the 16th century. By the end of the 18th century, cricket had developed to the point where it had become the national sport of England. The expansion of the British Empire led to cricket being played overseas and by the mid-19th century the first international matches were being held. Today, the sport is played in more than 100 countries and with Australia dominating International Cricket for much of the last decade.
• A visit to the NSW Department of Sport & Recreation as well as a & local council for recreation sports & to look at community facilities & infrastructure.

All of the above forms the basis of virtually any of our Down Under classes, however faculty members teaching the class have some flexibility to alter some of the above and also add some of their own interests to round out the academic content. Some additions to the above can include: Horse Racing, Swimming, Soccer, Lawn Bowls, Tennis, Golf, Fishing, Rugby Union, Volleyball, Softball, Water Polo or the Australian Sports Drug Agency (ASDA).