Sheepshearers call for sporting recognition

From beach volleyball to BMX bike racing, a number of obscure activities are now international Olympic sports. But the sheepshearers of Australia are still waiting to be taken seriously in their own country after 118 years of competitive cutting.

Sheepshearers are now planning to ask the Australian Sports Commission for official recognition. This would allow the shearers to apply for training money. Peter Artridge from the organisation Sports Shear Australia is very serious.

"Shearers should be up there with other Australian sporting champions," he said. "Some of these guys train for months. They go to the gym, do yoga and follow special diets. They're outstanding athletes."

He says competitive shearing meets all the criteria of a modern sport. There are clear winners and losers and participants do a physically difficult activity which involves skill. It is also very enjoyable to watch.

The first shearing competition in Australia happened in Euroa, Victoria, in 1890. Events are now held at sheep farms all over the outback and winners go on to the national championships.

But while champion shearers are heroes in New Zealand, there is a very low-key approach in Australia. Competitors and judges have to pay all their own expenses and prizes are small. Most spectators come from farming communities.

Shannon Warnest, 34, the Usain Bolt of Australian shearing, is a gun shearer, the name for those at the top of the profession. Warnest has won the Australian championships six times. He has shorn a sheep in 26 seconds and can do 400 sheep a day. "Yes, its bloody annoying that shearing isn't recognised as a sport in Australia," he said.

"Because there are animals involved I don't think it could ever get to [Olympic] level," said Warnest. "To get recognition in Australia would be good enough for us."

Lesson Plan

Ask students which sports have recently been added to the Olympics. Examples: beach volleyball in 1996, triathlon in 2000, women's wrestling in 2004, BMX bike racing in 2008. See, for example, here for lists of official sports - 4 mins

Tell students they're going to read about a popular sport in Australia and they'll see a photo of a man doing this competitive activity. What do they think the man will be doing? Students guess in pairs. - 5 mins

Show students the photo. Discuss as a group what the mans is going and how it is a sport - the man is shearing a sheep; people compete against each other to see how quickly they can shear a number of sheep. Do students have similar sports in their country? Pre-teach the nouns: shearing, shearer, spectator, judge, official recognition and the irregular verb to shear (shear, sheared, shorn). - 7 mins

Write the following questions on the board . Students read the text and answer the questions true or false in each case. - 12 mins

1. Sheering sheep is going to be an Olympic sport in 2012
2. Sheepshearers want official recognition in Australia.
3. Some shearers do a lot of training and eat special food.
4. The first Australian shearing competition happened in 1980.
5. Champion shearers are national heroes all over Australia.
6. Shannon Warnest is one of the top Australian shearers.

Ask the group to reads the text again and underline unknown vocabulary. In pairs students compare their unknown words and decide on four items to check together in a dictionary. - 7 mins

Tell the class they are now going to create a campaign for a new Olympic sport. Refer them back to paragraph four, which identifies the criteria of a modern sport. In groups of three students choose their new Olympic event - it could involve an existing sport or they could create a new one. Each group then develops a structured presentation which outlines:

• the rules of the sport
• the ways in which it meets the criteria of a modern sport
• the main reasons why it should appear in the Olympics.

Students give their presentations to the group. There is a final vote to choose the new Olympic sport. - 25 mins