Welcome to the Sportish Podcast
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Why Sportish Podcast
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.
It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book.
Do you know the story of how parkrun ended up in Australia? Or that dogs used to be registered to run? Or that Australia has made it our own? Neither did we until we caught up with parkrun Australian's founder, Tim Oberg. Tim was the person who brought largest free running activity to Australia and grew it to what it is today. And now he's ready to help kids find a love of moving their body through the RAD Run Club.
The ABC and Deakin University recently released the findings of a survey of elite female athletes and the results say a lot about the work still to be done in women's sport. In some parts, there seems to be progress. In others, the results are grim. Regardless, we wanted to bring in the ABC's Deputy Editor Amanda Shalala to unpack the numbers for us and remind us why these sorts of surveys are so important in the women's sport landscape.
Brisbane City Council is the 2nd biggest council in the southern hemisphere and part of the team pulling together one of the largest sporting events in the world, Brisbane 2032. And you know how much we're into the Olympics. Soooo, this week we asked Brisbane's Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner to drop into the studio and talk to us about how we involve kids in parks and what legacy we can expect from Brisbane 2032. Not from Brisbane? DOESN'T MATTER. If you have a council, you need to listen.
It's been a while since it's just been us on the mics so we wanted to take a minute to give the Sporties (who have sent so much love) a full update on what's been going with Libby's health. PLUS we wrap up of our Play Well season with the Australian Sports Commission (do you have a favourite? Don't make us choose!), unpack the gambling reforms coming to sports match near you and discuss the two Sportish things we learnt this week. Join us!
It’s round one of the AFL season in 1999. 28,000 fans pack the Sydney Cricket Ground as a fresh-faced Adam Goodes runs out for his first game with the Sydney Swans. You probably know what came next. What you haven’t heard before is this side of Adam Goodes - a busy dad of four, giving an insight on how he’s constantly finding new ways to enjoy staying active every day. Adam shares the few simple rules he lives by to keep balance in a full-on family life, and how protecting his energy has become the key to showing up at home.
Saturday sport can bring out the best in our kids… and the loudest in us. One minute they’re chasing the ball, the next they’re sitting in the grass making daisy chains. As a sideline parent, something in us flicks. Suddenly we’re “just giving tips” at a volume the entire suburb can hear. Gen Muir is a parenting educator and mum of four boys. She shares her top tips on how you can support your kids without hijacking their game – right down to what you could say in the car on the drive home.
Kieren Perkins knows what it takes to win (Atlanta 96, 1500m, ICONIC), but he’s far more interested in whether Australians are still playing sport at all. As an Olympic champion and now CEO of the Australian Sports Commission, Kieren is urging us to be a nation of “doers” rather than just “watchers”. If you want kids to love sport for life, it starts with participation, curiosity, and showing up.
For Rana Hussain, cricket gave a sense of belonging. But in fact organised sport wasn’t really set-up for her. Whether it was the non-inclusive uniforms, the lack of knowledge of cultural expectations, or simply the lack of diversity in the food offered at sports clubs, Rana felt locked out of sport. Today, Rana’s changing that. As founder of Good Human, she’s helped sporting organisations like Cricket Australia and various football clubs build spaces that are inclusive, welcoming, and community focused.
Before sport was graded, scored and analysed... what did you love to play? Not just do, but actually, play?
That feeling of joy, curiosity and being completely immersed in something is known as the 'play state'. Mindset coach Ben Crowe says most of us leave it behind far too early. As sport becomes organised, measured, and outcome-driven, we change from playing for love to playing for approval.
Swimmer Ellie Cole has spent most of her life adapting. Losing her leg aged three meant learning how to move differently, think differently, and push through moments most kids never face. That early resilience didn’t just make her a Paralympian - it shaped how she sees sport and who gets to take part in it.
As a kid growing up in the suburbs of Melbourne, sport was the soundtrack for Hugh van Cuylenburg’s childhood. That deep, visceral connection to sport looks different since Hugh founded The Resilience Project, but the lessons of sport continue to inform every aspect of his life.
“I experienced shocking burnout. I wouldn’t have got through it all without track. There’s no way. I feel like [sport is] almost petrol. I feel when my tank is empty. I go the track and I fill up and go; I’m good now,” he says.
And the broader opportunity for sport? To be the place where neurodiverse, or people with a disability, or just the less talented can also be involved.
Imagine walking out in front of 15,000 people, taking a deep breath, smiling and thinking: “How cool is this?” That was Ash Barty on centre court… and she still chose to leave while at the top of her game.
Ash shares her insights into what really sits behind those trophies: the brutal Wimbledon loss that sent her back to the drawing board, the conversation with her coach that flipped her mindset, and the “why not me?” question she now shares with kids.
Hello Sporties. Did you listen to the trailer? Are you as excited as we are?! Well, before the first episode of the new season of Sportish comes out next week, we have a little treat for you. We wanted to bring you behind the scenes and have a quick gasbag about some of the amazing guests you'll hear from this season and the things that happened on (and off) the mic. Tune in!
Have you seen it all on the sidelines? Cheered the wins. Felt the losses. Sat through missed selections. Heard the “I don’t want to go anymore.”
If you’re an amateur athlete, a coach, a parent, or a volunteer — this new season of Sportish is for you.
All the Opening Ceremony vibes, including Libby's last Mariah reference point (R&B Fridays). Of course we watched Lindsey Vonn and had thoughts on her 41 year old Olympic campaign. And we give a shout out to a VERY deserving Mid Week Hall Of Fame. Come join us!
Libby has had the most awkward interaction with an international cricket star and we've nearly died. Georgie's become a sports reporter on the sidelines of softball, Libby has thoughts on Coco Gauff and just how special is a winter or summer Olympics and Paralympics (just a bit more than your regular football season thank you very much!). Tune in!
Sporties! We are back and do we have CHATS for you. Are there 2 many influencers at the tennis? Should Netflix be encouraging a man to scale a skyscrapper without a rope? And how do we feel about the new Scotty James documentary on Netflix. Rest assured, we are refreshed, we are ready for the kids to go back to school and WE HAVE THOUGHTS.
We've all been the worst of on a team (yes, even our resident Olympian). And through that process, we learnt oh so much. Here's a snippet from a chat we had a couple of years ago with our non-sporty mate, Rebecca Sparrow, all about what we learnt when we found ourselves to be the worst on a team.
We hear it so often - where are kids supposed to go when they just want to the play sport for fun? Once you get to 18+, there are a HUGE amount of social sport opportunities. But well before that, once the Auskicks and the Net Set Go stops, and the grading begins, where are kids who aren't competitive meant to play? This is a chat we had with tween and teen educator and author Rebecca Sparrow a couple of years ago about the need for kids to have social sport options.
Some Saturdays you may be on the sidelines of kids sport and wonder if you've accidentally turned up to the AFL Grand Final. Or the Super Netball GF. Or even game 5 of the Ashes. Because the level of parent involvement is just, well, INTENSE. Be it yelling, taunting, or even having a crack at the ref, parent behaviour is a real issue in kids sport. This is part of a chat we had with tween and teen educator and author Rebecca Sparrow, about the sidelines of kids sport and how we can all make little changes that make a big difference.
It's Christmas holidays and while we may not know what day it is we certainly know this - as one year closes we ALWAYS start thinking about what next year might bring. And central to that is the how of getting things done. Be it sport, exercise or movement (or anything else for that matter!) understanding how motivation works is crucial. We hope you enjoy this chat we had with Rebecca Sparrow from a couple of years ago - between the 3 us of we have elite, community and reluctant sports particpation all covered!
The McLaren Team has lost their minds and we are wondering whether Max is actually the 3rd Papaya Driver. Paralympic swimming superstar Rowan Crothers joins us to talk about the upcoming social media ban PLUS Georgie revisits her softball spirital home and Libby is in her happy place after the 3rd week of the Sportish Swimming Club.
We don't know how to feel about the hot hot mess that is the Sky Sports Halo TikTok account - definitely giving "pink it and shrink it vibes" but is everyone also just a bit angry? Former Aussie Diamond and Queensland Firebird Gretel Bueta joins us to talk about the hottest new netball comp - Fire5 - happening on the Gold Coast this weekend. Plus we went for a 2km swim last Friday and have now we've decided that you guys should join us!
We are DEEP in all the sporting analogies and wisdom of Brené Brown, following the release of her new book Strong Ground and honestly, Libby won't stop talking about it. Georgie's got thoughts on the new football comedy Chad Powers (it's definitely NOT Ted Lasso, to be clear) and we chat about how on earth you can do exercise with some many children and so little time. Come join us!
Kids in water polo are playing in multiple teams, multiple age groups and multiple locations in one weekend - is it too much? We don't know much about water polo, but we certainly know someone who does! This week we welcome to the Sportish studio the coach of the Australian Women's Water Polo Team (The Stingers) and Olympian, Bec Rippon.
Post the World Athletics Championships held in Tokyo in September, we unpack why the Swedish pole vaulter, Armand Duplantis is literally breaking world records 1cm at time. Two quick things became four quick things and honestly, WE'LL ALLOW IT because women's sport is absolutely on FIRE this week. We chat about the retirement of Ariarne Titmus, and wrap up with all the great sporting documentaries currently available on iView - a whole host of Australian Stories and a cracking 3 part documentary by Tony Armstrong on racism. Join us!
Who on earth are these people dressed in yellow, dancing to music and playing...baseball? This week's episode of Sportish is a Sports Short (yes, it's back!) where we update you on the Banana brand as it stands today, and bring back a clip from our first chat about it in September 2023. Tune in!
While we were on holidays Brisbane became the Australian epicentre of sport and Libby is suggesting that it all started with a swimming gold medal back 16 years ago? Stay with us. Meanwhile, it feels like McLaren's Papaya rules have got a little out of hand and we are very concerned that it's distracting to Oscar (a bit of ssshhh please for our Driver's Championship contender)! And after last week's Four Corners deep dive into gambling in Australia, Georgie discusses how betting language unexpectedly surfaced in her own home. Come take a listen!
Given it's school holidays (or nearly for some) we're bringing you a chat with the brilliant Carla Salmon - parent, high school english teacher and now author of "We Saw What You Started". A mystery set in a little coastal town surf club, We Saw What You Started is MEANT to be for teens but actually, Georgie found herself sneaking off from her family to read the next chapter. This story absolutely takes a look a life through the lens of sport. Come catch up with us and learn a bit about reading in the meantime...
Crunch time at the Women's Rugby World Cup! We’re sitting down with former Aussie 7 and current NRLW player, Dominque du Toit, to get her take on all the action, both on the pitch and behind the scenes (Ilona, pretty bows, lack of press coverage - the works). We'll also tackle Libby's two quick sports things for the week and chat about some incredible new research: playing after-school sports can make girls 50% more likely to get a top job later in life. We're here for it!