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Recreational Exercise Groups means -

(i)         for the purpose of comparing against the ASC 2006 ERASS format and its estimates are groups of Australians with at least 10 Participants who have participated in a non-organised sporting and REA on a regular basis for at least 3 months - viewed as non-organised because their group are not members of an organised Sporting Club for the purpose of participating in their sporting and REA;

(ii)        do not have a legal entity, but are referred to by a distinctive name/identity/moniker which its Participants refer to it by with pride; 

(iii)       inter alia' some LDRREGs which participate in various RREAs or LDMREGs which participate in MREAs which are arranged on an informal basis by local like-minded residents with venue and participation time details communicated by 'phone, e-mail, noticeboard, website or word of mouth.

(iv)       include -
*        most adult swim squads at the -
          -        450 local council 50m swimming pools; and
          -        100 private school 25m swimming pools - see "Swimming" below,
*        most weekly aqua aerobics classes at say 400 of the 450 local council 50m swimming pools during the Summer months,
*        some bush walking groups,
*        most local tennis groups - see " ***Tennis" below,
*        most social golfing groups which receive tee-off times outside members times - see " **Golf" below,
*        about 50% of local recreational Community Bicycle Groups,
*        most indoor cricket teams which generally field more than 10 players during a competition,
*        some swimming groups,
*        some touch football groups,
*        some Pilates and Yoga sessions,
*        some regular social dance class venues,
*        some aerobics/fitness activities,
*        some dragon boat racing teams,
*        some harriers/running/jogging groups etc.

*Swimming: There are 152 general purpose local councils and 14 county councils in NSW. As at 30 June 2004 NSW's population was 6.72m.  NSW's estimated residential population in 2005 was 6,804,522.  Assume NSW's current population is 6.9m.  The Australian population is presently 21.18m.  Which means 33% of Australians live in NSW.  NSW councils would generally have a higher number of residents than the Australian average.  Extrapolating the number of NSW councils indicates there are 450 approx local councils across Australia.  75% circa of these councils would have a 50m swimming pool which attract at least one non-organised adult swim squad with a minimum of 10 Sporting Participants.  There are 100 circa 25m swimming pools at private schools across Australia.  50% of these 25m pools provide at least one adult swim class per week during the Winter months when some out door 50m pools close.  Harbour Pools such as Drummoyne Pool on Parramatta River, Dawn Fraser Pool Birchgrove on Sydney Harbour also attract local regular non-organised swimming Recreational Exercise Groups.  AquaRec  Mathew Thompson 6352.5407.  ASC Greg Blood.

**Golf:  Many thousands of Australians use Inside Social Golf to book hit off times, largely on Sunday mornings between 5:30am and 10am, for their social golf clubs at over 200 council golf courses and some private golf courses across Australia.  Golf Access Australia (GAA) is a joint initiative of Golf Australia and the Australian Sports Commission which provides an opportunity for social golfers to participate more fully in golf competitions with a view to establishing a pathway to joining a golf club.  Sam Arthur from Inside Social Golf told Phil Johnston that his website has 1,500 Social Golf Clubs on his books.  Sam estimates that there are at least 8,000 to 9,000 Social Golf Clubs across Australia, with the vast majority having at least 10 adults who have played with their Social Golf Club in the last 12 months.

***Tennis:  Almost all of the 450 circa local councils in Australia would provide tennis courts for bookings by non-organised Recreational Exercise Groups.  Assume 5 tennis courts per council and 5 local Recreational Exercise Groups per court per week.  This assumes 11,250 Recreational Exercise Groups.  Assume 50% or 5,650 of those Recreational Exercise Groups contain 10 Sporting Participants which have participated at some time in the last 12 months and the remaining 50% contain less than 10 Sporting Participants.   

Recreational Exercise Groups, whilst not having a legal identity, still possess the same traits of Sporting Clubs, namely -
(a)        pride in their REA and the associated bonhomie and camaraderie; and

(b)        the name/moniker they have adopted which they are collectively known within in their local community.

Examples of Recreational Exercise Groups:

*           Oyster Bay Old Boys Community Bicycle Group which has existed for at least 7 years for 80k ave ride. 

*           Cyclops Community Bicycle Group where on average a dozen Participants have rolled out from St Ives each Sunday for the last 10 years for 100k ave ride. 

*           Locals have congregated at Turramurra Oval to play touch football on both Saturday and Sunday for 20 years. 

*           Other locals similarly congregate to play touch football at Hassel Park St Ives and Lindfield Oval on Sunday mornings for many years.