With the world returning to some normality, we’re looking forward to watching some of our favourite sporting events in person and on the big screen this year!

Watching sports games could be a great chance to bring the family together and support both national and international teams. Our budding athletes have the chance to pick up tricks from their favourite players while learning more about rules and strategies. They’ll also observe how the top athletes accept losses and watch how a team’s success is tied to their ability to work together.

You can keep your children engaged throughout the game by asking them questions about what they would do if they were the coach or what play they might have run. You can also point out moments where athletes are showing good sportsmanship and talk about how athletes prepare and practice for games.

Use the list below to check out what major sporting events are on this year to see how you can get involved.

Basketball

FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup

The FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022 will feature the world’s top 12 women’s national teams, with 38 games to be played across 10 days from September 22nd to October 1st. Played right here on home soil, you can read more about the strong Australian Opals squad here. With a current 3rd FIBA World Rank, do you think we can beat this? #FIBAWWC

Cricket

ICC Men’s T20 World Cup

For our cricket fans out there, the ICC Men’s World T20 will be held in Australia from October 16th to November 12th 2022. Organised by the International Cricket Council, the T20 World Cup will see the world’s best cricketers from 16 international teams clash in 45 matches across seven host cities. Australia will enter the eighth edition of the men’s event as defending champions after winning their maiden ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title in 2021, will they take the cake again? #T20WorldCup

Football

FIFA World Cup

We can look forward to the FIFA World Cup later in the year, from November 21st to December 18th 2022. Held in Qatar, we’ll have to catch the 32 competing teams, including the Australian Socceroos, live on television. You can find out more about how to watch the FIFA World Cup here. #FIFAWorldCup #Qatar2022

If you miss the competition this year, you’ll be able to catch the Australia and New Zealand FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023. The tournament will be contested by 32 teams and for the first time be hosted by two nations! #FIFAWWC

Hockey

Women’s FIH Hockey World Cup 2022

If you love hockey, you won’t want to miss 16 teams battling it out in the Women’s FIH Hockey World Cup, held in Spain and the Netherlands from July 1st 2022. Australia and New Zealand qualified through quota places after the Oceania Cup was cancelled due to COVID-related travel restrictions. Look out for the FIH Hockey World Cup mascot, a dragon symbolising the values of women in hockey which includes passion, strength, courage and protection. Fans even had the opportunity to suggest her name, which has since been revealed as Lyla. #HockeyForPeace

Rugby

Rugby League World Cup 2021

Rugby fanatics will look forward to the Rugby League World Cup 2021, postponed from 2021 to October 15th 2022 in England. It’s the pinnacle event in international rugby league and this year more teams than ever will compete with four groups of four nations battling it out. We’ll be cheering on the Australian Kangaroos to see if they can climb from their current fourth ranking to one of the top three spots. Did you know that the Rugby League World Cup is one of the longest running World Cup tournaments in world sport? #RLWC2021

Tennis

Wimbledon

Catch the oldest tennis tournament in the world, Wimbledon, from June 27 to July 10 2022, live from London. Founded in 1877, it’s one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments which includes the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open. Due to COVID-19, the 2020 Championships were cancelled which is the first time since World War II. Wimbledon holds many traditions including games being played on grass courts, a strict all-white dress code for competitors and strawberries and cream eaten by spectators. That certainly makes for an decadent half-time snack!

Volleyball

FIVB World Volleyball Championships

There are two competitions for the FIVB World Volleyball Championships with womens held on September 23rd in the Netherlands and Poland, and the mens held on August 29th in Russia. Both competitions involve a qualification phase which takes place over three years, to determine which teams qualify for the World Championship Finals. In the end, 24 teams compete in the exhilarating tournament over a month!

If all this talk has you thinking about elite sporting opportunities, read more about how TAS can support aspiring elite athletes here: https://tassports.com.au/elite-pathways/