Adelaide University Sports Association Inc

Adelaide University Sports Association [AUSA] had its origins in the merger of the University’s lacrosse, tennis and boat clubs at the beginning of 1897. It immediately affiliated with the Adelaide University Union, an arrangement which remained in place for over a century.(1)

The Association’s preliminary aims were to foster cooperation between the three existing clubs in anticipation of the emergence of new clubs and, more generally, ‘fostering that…esprit de corps which is so essential to student life.’(2) All graduates and undergraduates of the University were eligible for membership upon payment of an annual subscription fee.(3)

From the outset the AUSA’s constitution established a General Committee as its core administrative structure. Initially this consisted of ‘a patron, president, six vice-presidents, two joint treasurers, and a secretary’.(4) As the number of associated clubs and overall membership grew, so too did the size and makeup of the General Committee with the addition of club secretaries and representatives of other interested parties including the University Council, Graduates’ Association, Footlights Club and the residential colleges.(5)

As of the 1930s the AUSA’s remit was ‘the furtherance of the interests of amateur sport and of University life in general, the care and management of the University Oval and other playing fields, and the control of the constituent clubs.’(6) Further, ‘Inter University Sports and the award of Blues [were] its special province.’(7) To this end, various sub-committees were established including a Grounds and Finance Committee, a Waite Park/Oval Committee, a Blues Committee and a Permit and Disciplinary Committee. By the mid-1930s the administrative requirements of the Association were such that the appointment of a full-time permanent secretary with an office adjacent to the Union Cloisters was warranted.(8)

During the mid-1970s, following an extended period of post-War growth, the AUSA adopted a revised constitution ‘to bring about a more efficient management structure and to emphasise its recreational role.’(9) Under the new constitution the General Committee became the Sports Association Council and the Grounds and Finance Committee became the Management Committee.(10) In 1979 the AUSA was incorporated as the Adelaide University Sport and Physical Recreation Association Inc while remaining a major associated body of the Adelaide University Union, along with the Students’ Association, the Postgraduate Students’ Association and the Clubs and Societies Council.(11)

In the early 1990s the constitution was again redrafted resulting in the Management Committee being expanded to a Board of Management.(12) During this period the official title became Adelaide University Sports Association Inc and an Executive Officer was appointed.(13)

Considerable financial uncertainty for the AUSA followed the 2006 implementation of the federal government’s voluntary student unionism legislation.(14) As a result an October 2009 general meeting of the Sports Association Council saw the adoption of a new ‘modernised’ constitution and funding model whereby the AUSA’s long-time relationship with Adelaide University Union would be ceased and replaced by a direct affiliation with the University from 1 January 2010.(15) Later in 2010 the Adelaide University Sports Association was rebranded Adelaide University Sport (or ‘AU Sport’).(16)

References:
(1) Margaret M Finnis, The Lower Level: A Discursive History of The Adelaide University Union, (Adelaide, The Griffin Press, 1975), 33-34.
(2) University of Adelaide Archives (UAA) Series 108, University of Adelaide Calendars. Calendar of the University of Adelaide for the Year 1901, (Adelaide: W K Thomas & Co, 1901), 184.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Ibid.
(5) UAA Series 108, University of Adelaide Calendars. Calendar of the University of Adelaide for the Year 1931, (Adelaide: Advertiser Newspapers Limited, 1931), 327-328.
(6) Ibid.
(7) Ibid.
(8) UAA Series 108, University of Adelaide Calendars. Calendar of the University of Adelaide for the Year 1941, (Adelaide: Advertiser Newspapers Limited, 1941), 294.
(9) UAA Series 108, University of Adelaide Calendars. Calendar of the University of Adelaide for the Year 1975: Volume III, (Adelaide: Griffin Press, 1975), 1227.
(10) UAA Series 508, Sports Association General Committee Minutes, AUSA Council Meeting, 17 July 1974.
(11) UAA Series 108, University of Adelaide Calendars. Calendar of the University of Adelaide for the Year 1980: Volume I, (Adelaide: Griffin Press, 1980), 310.
(12) UAA Series 508, Sports Association General Committee Minutes, Sports Association Annual General Meeting, 25 March 1991.
(13) Ibid. Sports Association Annual General Meeting, 24 May 1993.
(14) ‘Sport at the University of Adelaide’, Wikipedia, last modified 27 July 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport_at_the_University_of_Adelaide
(15) UAA S 508, Sports Association General Committee Minutes, Executive Officer’s Report, Sports Association Council meeting, 30 October 2009.
(16) Ibid, Sports Association Council meeting, 25 October 2010.

Taken from UAA Provenance Record UAR-0153