Surfing and skate sports are becoming more popular among women following pandemic disruptions according to a new report from the Australian Sports Commission (SportAus).
Releasing the latest AusPlay report, How Australians’ participation in sport and physical activity is adapting to COVID-normal, Chief Executive of SportAus, Kieren Perkins said an estimated 196,000 Australians had taken up surfing, and 119,000 had taken up skate sports since 2019.
“The majority of these are women,” Mr Perkins said.
“Activities that can be enjoyed physically distanced like bushwalking, tennis, canoeing/kayaking and mountain biking continued to increase in 2021,” he said.
“Others like running, swimming, cycling, yoga, golf and fishing levelled off in 2021 after increasing in 2020.”
Mr Perkins said AusPlay identified sport and physical activity habits across the country and had been examining the impact of COVID-19 on the sector since October 2020, giving SportAus two full calendar years of data collecting during the pandemic.
He said there were positive signs that children were returning to organised sport and physical activity outside of school, after reaching their lowest point in 2020-21.
He said adults were also participating in more activities than they did two years ago, but while men and boys were driving the return to clubs, women continued to be physically active more often.
“Exergaming has also skyrocketed into the top 20 sports and physical activities as Australians looked for other ways to be active during COVID-19,” Mr Perkins said
“Using game consoles or online platforms increased 100 times since 2019, with less than 10,000 participants to 935,000 in 2021,” he said.
“Exergaming, or using a Wii Fit, Xbox, PlayStation or indoor smart trainer or treadmill now has a similar number of participants to pilates and basketball.”
Mr Perkins said the rise in technology-based exercise was largely led by families with children, under 35s and people living in areas affected by the Delta wave in the middle of 2021.
“It will be interesting to see if this trend continues as traditional sport and physical activities become more easily available again,” he said.
SportAus’s 31-page Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
