This week we went on our first official trip with my Australian Sport and Cultures class. Early Sunday morning a huge group of us made our way down to Maroubra beach to watch the Nippers have fun in the sand. There were two interesting things that struck me as interesting about this trip. One was that Maroubra has such a crazy history and a very rich (and yet also violent) culture. Maroubra beach is home to the famous beach gang called the Bra Boys, and although it seems that their main purpose is to find solitude amongst a difficult life by riding a wave, there are still hundreds of cases of fighting, stabbing, and other crimes associated with the gang. It was interesting that a gang like this actually existed, and I haven’t even heard of anything like this in America. What was even more interesting was that on a Sunday morning, Maroubra looked so calm and peaceful, it was hard to believe that it could be home to something so rough.
The second thing that I found really interesting about this trip was how fun the Nippers looked! I swear I wish we had something like this in America. I live pretty close to the Jersey Shore and I would have loved a group like the Nippers growing up. There was a really tight community and family feel as the little kids swam in the ocean and did drills in the sand. Most of the parents were directly involved while the rest were enthusiastically cheering the kids on from the sidelines. I find it amazing that groups like this exist all along the Australian coast, and I think it’s a great way to instill family time and promote healthy competition in young children’s minds. Not to mention the children were so well-behaved!!
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