Sea-level playing fields: an exploration of the histories of beach soccer and its practices within one specific context, the Australian beach
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2020
Authors
McGowan, L.
Ellison, E.
Lastella, M.
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Journal article
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Soccer and Society, 2020; 21(3):289-298
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Abstract
Football, or soccer, is a simple game. It requires very little in the way of practical resources. Markers for a goal, a ball-shaped object. This simplicity enables the sport to be undertaken almost anywhere. Yet the beach is one place the game requires a substantial rethink in approach and participation. The best players do not necessarily make the best beach soccer players. For many Australians, the coastal edge of their continent is more than a key location for leisure and pleasure. The beach is an integral part of their culture, a symbol of their egalitarian nature, with a history of iconic sporting competitions, including the Sydney 2000 Olympics beach volleyball. Where beach soccer draws on notions of literal and figurative level-playing fields, this paper examines histories, practices, and myths and offers the first academic insight and discussion of Australian beach soccer.
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