Special: Sport

MICHELLE WAKIM: Hey I'm Michelle Wakim and welcome to this BTN special all about sport! Here's whats coming, we'll meet an 11 year old BMX champ, learn all about wheelchair Rugby and catch up with Lazarus who has a big future in motor sports.

WORLD FOOTBALL DAY

But to kick us off, we're going back in time to celebrate world football day. It was created by the UN to recognise the role of the "beautiful game" in bringing the world together. Here's Tatenda

KID: I've been playing soccer for eight years.

KID: I started six months, yeah about six months, I used to crawl with the ball around the house.

KID: I don't know what sport I would play without soccer.

TATENDA CHINIKA, REPORTER: Whether you call it soccer or football, the beautiful game is the most popular sport in the world played by billions of people from more than 200 countries. And for many, it's more than just a game.

ANNOUNCER: The Arab world unites, the African continent believes.

It's a way to connect with people, no matter where they're from.

KID: My favourite team would be Manchester United because Ronaldo used to play for them and he used to be a star.

KID: Liverpool, because my dad goes to them and Celtic because my granddad played for them.

In fact, soccer has had such a big impact on the world, that the United Nations decided it deserved an official day. Last year, it declared May 25th, World Football Day.

DENNIS FRANCIS, FORMER GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT: My friends that is precisely why we need football, why we must embrace any tool that has the potential to heal wounds, bridge divides and lift people's spirits even in the face of adversity.

The date wasn't chosen randomly. It marks the anniversary of first game of the football tournament at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. 22 countries competed in the event which is seen by many as the first global football competition.

Of course, the story of soccer goes back much further than that. Many ancient civilisations had their own kicking games, like in China, where they played Cuju which means 'kick ball' or Australia's own Woggabaliri which was invented by First Nations people.

However, soccer as we know it, started in 19th century Britain. The Brits had played different versions of the game for hundreds of years but there were no official rules until 1863 when several clubs came together in this tavern and formed the Football Association creating a rulebook that everyone could follow. From there, soccer took off.

It's pretty easy to see why it was so popular, the rules are easy to understand, and you don't need a lot of special equipment just a ball and some open space and anyone can join in.

As the British colonised other parts of the world they took the game with them and by the early 1900s, there were so many teams and leagues, it was hard to keep up. So, in 1904 FIFA was created in Paris to oversee international competitions and in 1930, it created the World Cup which today is the biggest sporting event on the planet.

ANNOUNCER: Tim Cahill has scored the nation's first ever World Cup finals goal.

While soccer is the number one team sport played here in Australia, in terms of popularity, it takes a backseat to other forms of footy. Although, some reckon that's changing.

ANNOUNCER: Her we go, Stadium Australia is a Colosseum tonight, the biggest match in the history of football in this country.

A record number of Aussies tuned in to watch the Matilda's play in the World Cup semi-finals in 2023 and experts say it's helped get even more kids into soccer.

KID: There's a lot of World Cups. There's a lot of crazy games and that like a lot of mad goals, yeah that's very inspiring.

KID: Makes me feel like I'm playing in that game, like watching.

KID: Makes me just wanna be like them and experience actually giving young players like me signatures.

So, whether you're cheering on your heroes, or having a kick with your friends, these guys say there's a lot to love about the beautiful game.

Quiz

The largest recorded attendance at a football match was for the 1950 FIFA world cup final between Uruguay and Brazil with 199,854 people attending. But who won? It was Uruguay! 

BMX RACER

 Now it's time to meet Penny, an 11 year old BMX racer from Adelaide. We caught up with her before she headed to Europe for the BMX Racing World Championships. Check it out.

PENNY: Hey BTN, my name's Penny and I've been racing BMX for five years.

There's BMX freestyle which is doing big tricks and jumps and but BMX is actually racing against people and trying to get the best time and be inf front of everyone.

My Dad inspired me because he was a professional track and road racer when he was younger and one day, during Covid, I think it was, he brought us to the Happy Valley BMX track and me and my family really liked it. It's very good having a family like that, because you can talk to them about things you need help with and if you're feeling scared about something and they know you can do it, they'll encourage you to do it.

When I turned eight I went to the national championships for the first time and I got a bit scared because I was racing against people from different states and I was getting, like, a bit nervous between every race. But once I got on the track, I was fine.

I do about six days a week of training. I get rest days sometimes if I'm like sick or I'm injured or something. You have to use long sleeve, like jerseys and long sleeve pants, and you have to wear a full face helmet and gloves. They're requirements because if you have a bad crash and you whack your head, you'll have a better chance of not getting concussed or anything.

It's a very welcoming sport, you've got nice people all around you who'll help you if you need help and if you have a bad crash, anybody will, like, come and help you.

My most recent competition was Mighty 11s, which is a race that there's an Australian team and a New Zealand team, and they race against each other as teams. Try and win. That's really all that goes through my head. You've got split second decisions to try and do when you're racing.

All my medals and trophies all together, I think I have about 85 to 90 of them, but I have not counted.

I'm going to the World Championships in Copenhagen, which is in Europe. I'm going there for the World Championships. It's where you're racing everyone from the world in your race category. It'll be very fun to race against other 11-year-old girls, `cause I don't get to get that opportunity a lot. I usually have to race against the boys, cause there's, like, not a lot of 11-year-old girls to race against. I'm nervous. But I'm also very excited because I get to go over to Copenhagen and race against other people.

I would say it's a very cool experience and it's a great sport to get into, you should definitely come and try it.

WHEELCHAIR RUGBY

MICHELLE: The Wheelchair Rugby World Challenge was held in Adelaide earlier this year. It's the world's biggest wheelchair rugby competition and for the first time ever it included a junior division. Tatenda found out more about the event and met some wheelchair rugby players.

TAI, WHEELCHAIR RUGBY PLAYER: The nature of the sport, the high speed, high impact. You know, you have players, chairs going down.

TATENDA CHIBIKA, REPORTER: That's wheelchair rugby. A sport that's so tough, it's also known as murderball. But for Tai and Riley that's part of the fun.

What makes wheelchair rugby such a fun game to play?

RILEY, JUNIOR WHEELCHAIR RUGBY PLAYER: Probably the bashing.

Even though it's called wheelchair rugby it combines parts of rugby, basketball, handball and more. It's played in more than 25 countries and it's one of the few mixed gender events at the Paralympics.

TAI: It's just all-inclusive role for everyone. It just brings another dynamic to the sport that you just don't see anywhere else.

Before wheelchair rugby was invented, the main team sport for people who used wheelchairs was basketball, which is a hard game to play for people with limited upper body function. So, in 1977, a group of Canadian athletes created a new game to include people with different abilities. They called it murderball. It was played as a demonstration sport under the name wheelchair rugby at the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta where Australia took on New Zealand and lost.

STEVEN PORTER, AUSTRALIAN WHEELCHAIR RUGBY PLAYER: To lose is one thing, but to lose to the Kiwis, I hate it and so do the rest of the guys.

By the time the Sydney Paralympic Games in 2000 came around, wheelchair rugby was an official Paralympic sport.

COMMENTATOR: But it's all over! (WHISTLE BLOWS) The USA have won gold.

To keep things fair and inclusive, wheelchair rugby players are given a point classification based on their physical ability from 0.5 to 3.5. There's a maximum to how many points your four players on the court can have which means there are advantages to having a variety of abilities on the team.

TAI: I'm a 1.5 classification which is a low pointer so my role is in bounding screening and defensive work.

Tai's been playing wheelchair rugby for six years now.

TAI: I've always loved team sports since before my injury, so getting straight back into that was something I always wanted to do and the fact that it's just fast paced, it's competitive, it's physically mentally challenging.

And soon, he'll be joining Australia's national wheelchair rugby team, the Australian Steelers, as they take on the world.

TAI: To make my debut on home soil but let alone in my home city with friends and family, being able to come and watch is a massive privilege.

Adelaide hosted the world's first Wheelchair Rugby Challenge earlier this year. A tournament that brought teams together from Australia, Canada, Brazil, Germany, New Zealand and the Netherlands. The challenge ran alongside the National Championship and a newly formed Junior Division where Riley played..

RILEY: Do you want me to start that side or this side?

Riley started playing wheelchair rugby when he was seven after going to a come and try day.

RILEY: I didn't really know anything about it, so everyone taught me, and that was the best part really.

These guys say it's great to show off their favourite sport to their home town and hopefully make some new murderball fans along the way.

RILEY: I think that the wheelchair rugby team is a community. There's all the friendly people that know everything and teach other people.

TAI: Developing some up-and-coming young players and then having the size of the international tournament, the amount of players here, notoriety. It's just massive for the sport and for wheelchair rugby in Australia.

Quiz

How did Australia place in the 2025 Wheelchair Rugby World Challenge? We came second, narrowly losing first place to the Netherlands!

FORMULA ONE DREAMS

MICHELLE: Finally we're going to meet Lazarus, a 10 year old who loves racing and dreams of one day being a formula one driver. Here's Josh to tell us more!

 LAZURUS: Other kids usually play football or play other games or read a book.

JOSH LANGMAN, REPORTER: But not Lazurus. At just 10 years old, he's quite literally driven to become a Formula 1 driver.

LAZURUS: We were watching Drive to Survive when I was 4 and I was like, woah, look at these F1 cars, they're so cool, they go so fast. They've got these big engines. My dad came through the door, and I said dad, this is what I want to do — and I pointed to the TV.

Ever since, Lazarus' skills on go-kart tracks have been turning heads everywhere with his whole family pitching in to make his dream a reality.

LAZURUS: It feels great because they go "go Lazurus, go, go, go."

And he's already taken home some prestigious awards, claimed a sick nickname and even met some of his idols.

LAZURUS: My favourite F1 driver is Charles Leclerc, and he drives for the team I want to drive for.

And he's certainly on track with that goal. Earlier this year he signed on as a team driver for a go kart team in Italy where he'll spend three months getting world-class coaching and competing against other young drivers.

LAZURUS: I'm looking forward to go race there, meet new people. Be good race more people so I can learn off them. I just want to do it cos it's my dream.

Closer

MICHELLE: Well that's all we have for this BTN sport special. You can check out more specials like this one on our website. Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time. Bye!