Australian Society for Sports History (ASSH) was formed in July 1983. The aim of the Society is to encourage discussion on the history of sport in Australia through research, publishing and events such as conferences and workshops.
The Society was formed during the Sporting Traditions VI Conference held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in July 1983. The inaugural President was Colin Tatz.[1]
The ASSH Fellowship is presented to members and non-members who have made an outstanding contribution to the field of sports history, either in Australia or internationally. It is presented in recognition of the leading role that the recipient has played in developing and furthering the research interests of sports history
ASSH biennially hosts a national conference called Sporting Traditions. The first Conference in 1977 was organised by Richard Cashman and Michael McKernan to bring together academics with an interest in the history of sport.[1] The conference proceedings were published in the book[4] Sport in history : the making of modern sporting history. Many papers presented at the Conference are published in the Society's journal Sporting Traditions.
| Number | Details (Host, Location and Dates) | |
|---|---|---|
| I | University of New South Wales, Sydney, 28–30 June 1977[5] | |
| II | University of New South Wales, Sydney, 1–3 July 1979 | |
| III | La Trobe University, Melbourne, 1981 | |
| IV | Melbourne Cricket Club, Melbourne, July 1983 | |
| V | Flinders University, Adelaide, 14–16 July 1985[6] | |
| VI | Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, 18–22 May 1987[7] | |
| VII | White City Club, Sydney, 6–9 July 1989[8] | |
| VIII | Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra, 11–14 July 1991[9] | |
| IX | University of Tasmania, Launceston, 30 June–3 July 1993[10] | |
| X | University of Queensland, Brisbane, 26–30 June 1995[11] | |
| XI | Edith Cowan University, Perth, 1–4 July 1997[12] | |
| XII | University of Otago, Queenstown, New Zealand, 1–5 February 1999 | |
| XIII | Aquinas College, Adelaide, 10–13 July 2001[13] | |
| XIV | Australian Catholic University, Sydney, 3–7 July 2003[14] | |
| XV | Victoria University, Melbourne, 11–14 July 2005 | |
| XVI | University of Canberra, Canberra, 27–30 June 2007 | |
| XVII | University of Otago and the Otago Polytechnic,Wellington, New Zealand, 31 June-3 July 2009 | |
| XVIII | University of Queensland. Kingscliff, NSW, 5–8 July 2011 | |
| XIX | University of Canberra, Canberra, 2–5 July 2013 | |
| XX | Darwin, 30 June – 3 July 2015 | |
| XXI | University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, 3–6 July 2017 | |
| XXII | Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, 1–4 July 2019 | |
| XXIII | Deakin University, Geelong, 27 June-1 July 2022 Incorporated in Australian Historical Association National Conference | |
| XXIV | Eastlake Football Club / National Library of Australia, Canberra, 10-13 July 2023 |
The Society publishes two journals. Sporting Traditions is a biannual academic journal that has been published since November 1984.[1] The inaugural editor was Wray Vamplew. It includes academic articles and book reviews. ASSH Bulletin is published on a regular basis and covers short articles and news.
The Society publishes compilations of papers on a range of topics including specific sports, law, gender, Olympics and Indigenous Australians.
The Society was responsible for creating the Oxford Companion to Australian Sport. Most members of the Society provided entries on all aspects of the history of sport in Australia. The first edition was published by Oxford University Press in 1992 and updated in 1994. Contributing editors were Wary Vamplew, Katharine Moore, John O'Hara, Richard Cashman and Ian Jobling.[1]