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☆ Cleveland Guardians: Travis Bazzana becomes first Australian ever taken with top pick in Major League Baseball draft
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-15 | by ( Brad Lendon | Jacob Lev | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The Cleveland Guardians selected Australian second baseman Travis Bazzana with the top pick in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft on Sunday, the first time an Aussie has been taken in the first round - let alone with the first overall pick - for the world’s premier baseball league. With his selection by Cleveland, Bazzana will join a franchise with the best record in the American League and the second-best record in MLB as well as baseball’s No. Now he hopes his pick at the top of the MLB Draft will translate into more Australians dreaming of the baseball diamond. Travis Bazzana was selected first overall by the Cleveland Guardians during the 2024 MLB Draft at Cowtown Coliseum on July 14, 2024 in Fort Worth, Texas. The MLB Draft continues through July 16 ahead of the MLB All-Star game at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas.

Persons: Travis Bazzana, Bazzana, Steven Kwan, Jeff Moreland, ”, we’ve, Sam Hodde, Chris Antonetti, Travis, he’s, Paul Skenes, Cleveland, Chase Burns, Charlie Condon, Golden, – Organizations: CNN, Cleveland Guardians, Major, Baseball, world’s, Oregon State University for, Australia, Cleveland, American League, MLB, Oregon State Beavers, Turramurra High, Oregon State University, ESPN Australia, ESPN, Guardians, Cowtown Coliseum, Images, Collegiate, American, Major League, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Wake, NCAA Division, The Colorado Rockies, University of Georgia, Life Locations: Kentucky, Lexington, Sydney’s, Fort Worth , Texas, Arlington , Texas

☆ Australia-based Wallabies lacked work ethic at World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsPARIS, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Australia-based players in the Wallabies squad for the disappointing World Cup campaign lacked the ability to train at the same level as their team mates at European clubs, according to assistant coach Pierre-Henry Broncan. "The team's youth did not work at this World Cup, it did not lack experience but collective experience," he told French sports newspaper L'Equipe. "We lost the World Cup the week we lost Tupou and Skelton. They have been preparing for this World Cup for four years. "If he senses a real desire from Rugby Australia to create a high-performance environment, I think he will be there."

Persons: Siphiwe, Pierre, Henry Broncan, Eddie Jones, Will Skelton, Richie Arnold, that's, Jones, Skelton, Taniela Tupou, Tupou, Frenchman, Fabien Galthie, Broncan, Eddie, Nick Mulvenney, Ed Osmond Organizations: Australia Wallabies, St Peter’s, Rugby, South, REUTERS, Rights, Wallabies, Castres, Australia, French, L'Equipe, Fiji, Rugby Australia, Thomson Locations: Sunninghill, South Africa, Pretoria, Australia, France, Fiji

☆ Australian Punters Are Putting a New Spin on Football
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Jeré Longman | More About Jeré Longman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

On a cloudy, gusty morning last month, three dozen students, teachers, construction workers, electricians and bartenders wore helmets and shoulder pads and boomed torpedoes, banana kicks and drop punts. Down the hill from a strip mall outside Melbourne, on a borrowed soccer field, they trained to become the next generation of Australian punters who greatly influence special teams play at the highest levels of American college football and, to a lesser extent, the N.F.L. This season, 61 of the 133 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the top tier of N.C.A.A. football, have Aussie punters on their rosters, according to Prokick Australia, a Melbourne-based academy that converts Australian rules football players and some rugby players into punters (and a smaller number of kickers) for the American game.

Organizations: Football Locations: Melbourne, N.C.A.A, Australia

SYDNEY, Aug 20 (Reuters) - England and Spain go head-to-head in the final of the Women's World Cup on Sunday, capping off a tournament that has broken attendance and TV records and raised hopes of a surge in interest for the women's game. The last Women's World Cup in France four years ago attracted more than 1.1. million fans to 52 matches with an average crowd of 21,756. "We need funding in our development, we need funding in our grassroots," she said. "We need funding, you know, we need funding everywhere." The Matildas' standout World Cup campaign has led to calls for more support to women's soccer in Australia, where it lags more popular football codes like rugby league and Australian rules.

Persons: Sam Kerr, Anthony Albanese, Albanese, Jorge Vilda, Alasdair Pal, Edmund Klamann Organizations: SYDNEY, Australia, England, Seven Network, FIFA, White Ferns, GAP, Sweden, Australian, Sunday, Spanish, Thomson Locations: England, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Sydney, France

☆ Wanted: Female Athletes. Multiple Vacancies.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( Rory Smith | More About Rory Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Brooke Walker spent that first night watching as much Australian rules football as she could. She did the same the next night, and the night after that. Walker had not grown up playing what is, depending on whom you ask, Australia’s most popular sport. As a child, she had played touch, the minimal-contact version, and rugby league. “Even when I was 14 or 15, I wouldn’t ever have seen it,” she said.

Persons: Brooke Walker, Walker, ”, “, — Organizations: league, Australian Football, — Carlton Locations: New Zealand, Australia, Melbourne

☆ World Cup needs to be Australia's starting point, not the finish: Gustavsson
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Soccer Football - FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 - Semi Final - Australia v England - Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia - August 16, 2023 Australia coach Tony Gustavsson looks dejected after the match as Australia are knocked out of the World Cup REUTERS/Carl Recine Acquire Licensing RightsMELBOURNE, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Australia's dream of hoisting the Women's World Cup trophy is over but the co-hosts are determined to take more than a bronze medal away from a watershed tournament. The Matildas lost 3-1 to England on Wednesday but won over a nation during their first run to a World Cup semi-finals, drawing record crowds and TV audiences. Months after that World Cup, they went on strike over pay and conditions, fed up with contracts that demanded professional commitment for poverty-line wages. The Australian government tipped A$44 million into hosting the World Cup. We need funding in our grass-roots ... We need funding everywhere," she said.

Persons: Tony Gustavsson, Carl Recine, It's, Sam Kerr, Kerr, Ian Ransom, Devika Organizations: Soccer Football, FIFA, England, World, REUTERS, Rights MELBOURNE, Sweden, Australia, Chelsea, Australian Financial, Australian Rules, rugby, Thomson Locations: New Zealand, Australia, Sydney, Sweden, Brisbane, Canada, Melbourne, Australian

☆ Matildas to look back in pride after thrilling host nation
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

England's second goal may haunt Ellie Carpenter, whose failure to clear an innocuous long ball opened the door for Lauren Hemp to swoop. Distraught midfielder Katrina Gorry worried the Matildas had let the nation down after building them up on their first run to a World Cup semi-finals. "The joyride is over, but the glow will long remain," sports columnist Greg Baum wrote in Melbourne's The Age newspaper. Since being awarded the right to host the tournament with New Zealand three years ago, Australian soccer officials have promised repeatedly that the World Cup would leave a strong legacy for the game. Long-term, it remains to be seen whether the World Cup has moved the needle for a sport in Australia that has modest professional leagues and struggles to retain talent.

Persons: Sam Kerr, Hannah Mckay, Sam Kerr's, England's, Ellie Carpenter, Lauren Hemp, Lax, Katrina Gorry, Gorry, Greg Baum, Kerr, Vine, Ange Postecoglou, Ian Ransom, Jamie Freed Organizations: Soccer Football, FIFA, England, Rights MELBOURNE, Stadium Australia, Spain, Sweden, Olympic, Canada, Nigeria, Australia, France, Australian Rules, New Zealand, Seven Network, league, Socceroos, Thomson Locations: New Zealand, Australia, Sydney, England, Denmark, Canada, Melbourne

☆ England out to play spoilers as 'Matildas Mania' sweeps Australia
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Nick Mulvenney | Thomson Reuters | Leads Coverage Of Sport Across The Asia-Pacific. Still Reports On The Full Panoply Of Sport. Many Olympics World Cups World Championships Grand Slams Grands Prix | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SYDNEY, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Australia and England re-engage one of the oldest and fiercest rivalries in sport when they meet with a place in the Women's World Cup final on the line at a sold out Stadium Australia on Wednesday. While England boast the pedigree as twice World Cup semi-finalists and winners of the European title last year, Australia's plucky Matildas have captured the hearts of a nation usually invested in other sports. In Dutchwoman Sarina Wiegman, they have one of the best coaches in the game and most of their players play for top clubs in highly competitive European leagues. Before Saturday's win, much of the narrative around Australia at the tournament focused on the injured calf of the one Matildas player everyone in the country knows, striker Sam Kerr. Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Peter RutherfordOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Australia's, Mackenzie Arnold's, Cortnee Vine's, Sydney's, Sarina, Millie Bright, Keira Walsh, Chloe Kelly, Lauren Hemp, Saturday's, Sam Kerr, Kerr, Hayley Raso, Mary Fowler, Caitlin Foord, Wiegman, Nick Mulvenney, Peter Rutherford Organizations: SYDNEY, Australia, Sports, England, Thomson Locations: Australia, England, France, Spain, Nigeria

Soccer Football - FIFA Women?s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 - Quarter Final - Australia v France - Brisbane Stadium , Brisbane, Australia - August 12, 2023 Australia's Mackenzie Arnold and teammates celebrate winning the match after a penalty shootout REUTERS/Dan Peled/File photoSYDNEY, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday backed calls for a public holiday if its team win the Women's World Cup. They play European champions England in Sydney on Wednesday in a match likely to smash Australian TV viewing figures for a soccer game. Chris Minns, the leader of country' most populous state of New South Wales, on Monday pledged to declare a public holiday within a week of the final if the Matildas win. But the Matildas' World Cup matches have sold out months in advance, with millions watching at home in numbers not seen since the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Peter RutherfordOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Mackenzie Arnold, Dan Peled, Anthony Albanese, I've, it's, " Albanese, Albanese, Chris Minns, Bob Hawke, Alasdair Pal, Peter Rutherford Organizations: Soccer Football, FIFA, Brisbane, Australia, New Zealand, France, England, ABC, Soccer, Sydney Olympics, Australian, Thomson Locations: New Zealand, Australia, France, Brisbane, SYDNEY, Sydney, New South Wales

☆ Sam Kerr: the superstar carrying Australia’s hopes on her shoulders
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —Even as a 15-year-old, Sam Kerr had the weight of a nation on her shoulders. Fast forward to 2023 and Kerr is one of best players in the game and a global star. Kerr has had to wait longer than expected for the honor at this tournament having been forced to miss Australia’s opening two games because of injury. But a surprise defeat to Nigeria in the Matildas’ second group game have left their hopes hanging by a thread. Kerr takes a selfie as she celebrates with her Chelsea teammates after winning the Women's FA Cup in 2022.

Persons: Sam Kerr, Kerr, Alyssa Mautz, ”, Tony Gustavsson, Don Arnold, Tony, it’s, I’m, ’ Kerr, Daniel, Bobby Despotovski, “, ” Despotovski, Nicola Williams, ” Williams, Williams, Mautz, ” Mautz, she’s freakin, ” Kerr, Ryan Pierse, Western New York Flash, Rich Barnes, Vanessa DiBernado, Vanessa, ‘, ’ ”, …, swag, Michael Regan, –, Eddie Keogh, she’s, She’s, soccer’s Organizations: CNN, Australia, Perth Glory, Chicago Red Stars, National Women’s Soccer League, FIFA, reining Olympic, Canada, coy, Sydney Opera House, Getty, Reuters, West Coast Eagles, Australian Football League, Glory, AFL, CNN Sport, Western New York, Sky Blue FC –, NY Gotham FC, Western New York Flash, Perth, Sky Blue, Chelsea, Super League, Red, League, – Chelsea, EA Sports Locations: Canberra, Italy, Australia, Brisbane, New Zealand, South Korea, Nigeria, Western Australia, Chelsea, NJ, Rochester , New York, Perth, Illinois, –, Chicago, London

☆ Australia recommends testosterone limits for transgender athletes in elite female sport
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MELBOURNE, June 16 (Reuters) - Australia's peak sports authority has recommended testosterone limits for transgender athletes seeking to compete in elite female competitions as part of guidelines on inclusion released on Friday. The 'Transgender & Gender-Diverse Inclusion Guidelines for HP (high-performance) Sport' recommends transgender athletes have plasma testosterone levels of less than 2.5 nanomoles per litre for two years prior to competition. Transgender inclusion in female competition has become one of the most contentious and divisive issues in sport. Australia's guidelines come months after the national basketball federation rejected a transgender athlete's application to play in a semi-professional league, drawing criticism from LGBTI groups. Eligibility requirements for transgender athletes in elite female competition vary broadly in Australian sports.

Persons: Ian Ransom, Peter Rutherford Organizations: MELBOURNE, Australian Sports Commission, HP, AIS, Australian Institute of Sport, ASC, rugby, Australian Football League, Australian Rules, Cricket Australia, Thomson Locations: Melbourne

In a full page statement published in The Sydney Morning Herald, Rugby Australia (RA) said the proposed referendum is "too important a contest to watch in silence". "Provision for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in our Constitution is long overdue," it added. RA and the AFL join the National Rugby league (NRL), several AFL clubs, and other sports governing bodies like soccer's Football Australia, Tennis Australia and the Australian Olympic Committee in formalising support for Indigenous recognition through a referendum. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has staked significant political capital on the referendum, has been keen to get the support of leading sports bodies and players. Some of Australia's top athletes are Indigenous, like NBA star Patty Mills, former Olympic sprinter Cathy Freeman and former woman's tennis world number one Ash Barty.

☆ Australian Rules-Tasmania savours victory in 'hard fight' to secure AFL team
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The state government signed off on commitments to secure the AFL's 19th team license and has targeted the 2028 season to launch in the Australian Rules top flight. "This has been a hard fight ... by many, many Tasmanians over a number of generations," state Premier Jeremy Rockliff said in the state capital Hobart. The AFL targeted richer eastern states and continues to spend a fortune propping up expansion teams in territory long owned by rugby league. AFL clubs relying on league distributions balked at the prospect of another drain on the league's coffers. ($1 = 1.5006 Australian dollars)Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter RutherfordOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ New AFL boss steals spotlight from Jones's Wallabies pitch
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Australia rugby union coach Eddie Jones poses with a ball, flanked by Wallabies players Andrew Kellaway and Reece Hodge at a news conference, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, in Melbourne, Australia, May 1, 2023. Whether the AFL’s late press call was by coincidence or design, Rugby Australia officials were left fuming as the spotlight shifted away from their global sport to the homegrown game popular in only the nation's southern states. Appointed in January, Jones's second stint in charge of the Wallabies sees them much diminished from his first when he took them to the final of the 2003 World Cup on home soil. In 2002, Jones was the last Australian coach to win the Bledisloe Cup, the annual series against New Zealand. Rugby Australia will hope Jones can deliver Rugby Championship wins along with his sharp wit and penchant for a sound bite to help build more buzz around the fallen twice World Cup winners.

☆ Big Oil’s old profligacy lives on Down Under
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Antony Currie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Throw in dividends and Santos shareholders have received a measly 6% total return during that period. Santos’ 15% return on capital employed last year puts it at the bottom of the class; BP delivered almost 25%. It looks slated to stay in the basement, with analysts projecting a sub-8% return for 2025, per Refinitiv data. The bonus is mostly tied to successful “growth projects”, which arguably encourages him to overinvest. If that happens again at next month’s annual meeting, it would, under Australian rules, allow investors to boot the entire board.

☆ Australian Cardinal George Pell, whose abuse conviction was overturned, dies at 81
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

CANBERRA, Australia — Cardinal George Pell, who was the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted of child sex abuse before his convictions were later overturned, has died in Rome at age 81. Pell, an Australian, was once the third-highest ranked Catholic in the Vatican after earlier serving as the Archbishop of Melbourne and Archbishop of Sydney. But Pell returned to his native Australia in 2017 in an attempt to clear his name of child sex charges. Pell’s reputation remained tarnished by the church’s child sex abuse scandal. Pell was born on June 8, 1941, the eldest of three children to a heavyweight champion boxer and publican also named George Pell, an Anglican.

[1/3] Australian Cardinal George Pell gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters in Rome, Italy December 7, 2020. Archbishop Peter Comensoli, the Archbishop of Melbourne, said Pell had died from heart complications following hip surgery. An Australian appeals court ruling in 2020 quashed convictions that Pell sexually assaulted two choir boys in the 1990s. Pell took pride in having set up one of the world's first schemes to compensate victims of child sexual abuse in Melbourne. The inquiry, known as a Royal Commission, began in 2013 a five-year investigation into child sex abuse in the Catholic Church and other institutions.

☆ Football or soccer? It’s complicated …
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Allison Rosen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Football, or soccer, has been around for centuries with its roots dating back over 2,000 years ago, but it was not until 1863 that England’s Football Association (the FA) cemented the sport’s full name of Association Football when they established the game’s first rules. Courtesy of U.S. Soccer and National Soccer Hall of FameBy the time association football and its round ball made its way across the Atlantic, American Football was already the popular game claiming the name of football. Unlike association football, American football is a game played mostly with one’s hands and uses an oval ball. Fast forward to 1974 and the United States Soccer Football Association (USSFA) – the sport’s governing body in the US – distanced itself from the word football by changing its name to the United States Soccer Federation, commonly referred to as the USSF (US Soccer). In places where football can be ambiguous, soccer is usefully precise.”In 1994, soccer fever reached a highpoint as the US hosted the World Cup.

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