Are Australians as athletic as they are tanned ?

At Café Oz we love sports ! And because sport in Australia is a bit of second nature, here are the 5 sports activities that are most common among Aussies :

• Le footy 

Or the Australian Rules Football, is a cross between football and rugby. The two teams of 18 players compete to score the most goals between two posts without a net. Players can use their feet and hands, and contact can be more violent than in rugby. Matches are played on an oval court or, more often than not, on a cricket court.

It's a discipline you can follow on our giant screens at Café Oz Grands Boulevards, our bar atmosphere in Paris ! Find the sports programming right here.

Did you know that ? Australian Rules Football is said to have its origins in an ancient Aboriginal sport called "marngook". A sport that was played with a possum skin ball. 

• Le cricket

When you know that Australians have a very British culture, that's not surprising ! The national team is second in the world rankings, just behind India. This sport, which does not make much sense to us "froggies*", is the most practiced and followed in the whole country !

Another sport to watch at Café Oz Grands Boulevards ! All the sports programming right here.

*The frogs = nickname of the French by the Australians

• The netball

Another legacy of the English (1890) ! It is a derivative of basketball where two teams of 7 players compete against each other. In Australia it is the main female team sport! Australia is one of the two best netball teams in the world, along with New Zealand, a long-time rival.

• The tennis

Well, we won't dwell on this discipline, tennis is known all over the world and played almost everywhere on the globe. And since 1905, the Oceania continent has hosted the Australian Open in Melbourne every year, which is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments (with Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open).

• Surfing

Cliché, you say ? At the same time, when you live in a country surrounded by the ocean, and get sun 360 days a year, how can you resist the call of the waves ? Australia is very famous for its many beautiful spots, each one more beautiful than the next.