Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, is often proclaimed and thought to be the sports capital of the world. They are the 2nd biggest city in Australia but were selected as the sports capital in the decade in 2016. The people of Melbourne are sports crazy and it doesn't matter exactly what the sport is, the people in the city turn out for it.
Why then is Melbourne the sports capital and how did it get to be the sports capital? First of all, the city has a vibrant sporting history and culture. Melbourne was initially founded in 1835 and sport became a feature of city life starting from then, with the Melbourne Cricket Club being formed in 1838. The now well-known Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) started in 1853. It is still there and it is now the largest sized sports arena in Australia. Several types of football became also preferred in the cities beginning years, subsequently bringing about its very own sports activity - Australian Rules Football, or ‘footy’ as it's called by the local people. The first Melbourne Cup horse competition happened in 1861 and is still going. The very first Australian tennis championships happened in 1905 and is also still held there. Melbourne held the 1956 Olympics.
Local community sport is definitely a significant part of the the cities life style and involvement rates in Melbourne are among the highest globally. This is certainly quickly noticed each weekend you can observe exactly how prominent local community sporting activities is with people actively taking part and watching a variety of sports such as cricket, tennis, footy, rugby, netball, basketball, baseball, golfing along with soccer. They play a fundamental part of so many people’s community lives and wellness. When people in Melbourne aren't actively playing sport, they're fans of viewing sport. The Australian Football League (AFL) grand final attracts 100 000 individuals to the MCG. Rugby Union is not a well-known or a common sports activity in Melbourne, but Melbourne stills hold the world record for the greatest number of fans to attend to see a game!
In addition to the 1956 Olympic Games, the city continues to hold international sports activities. Each year, they hold the F1 Australian Grand Prix, the Australian Open Tennis Grand Slam, the Spring Horse racing Carnival, the MotoGP, the Boxing Day cricket international game and the Rip Curl Pro surfing tournament. There are the key AFL, National Rugby League, or Australian A-League (soccer) matches on almost all weekends. There have recently been various other significant one-off events including the Commonwealth Games, the Cricket World Cup, World swimming championships and also Asian Cup soccer.
All of this is sustained by lots of first class sports activities facilities including the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, Melbourne Park, Rod Laver Arena, AAMI Park, Hisense Arena, Etihad Stadium, Flemington Racecourse, The State Netball and Hockey Centre, Margaret Court Arena and the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit that is an infrastructure which is not near to being surpassed by any other area in the world. You can certainly observe how and why Melbourne is regarded as the sporting capital of the world and exactly why sport is unquestionably a part of the way of life around Australia.
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