If après-ski is the revelry that occurs after a day on the slopes, après-sport is the spirited socialising that follows other leisure pursuits. It’s a round of drinks at the golf club; Pimm’s (or naked Pimm’s) on the tennis sidelines; the bocce lawn or pickleball court that inevitably turns into a dance floor. Sure, the physical game itself is important, but the social aspect is the real drawcard. Just like some people join book clubs for wine and an excuse to yap with their friends rather than actually read books, après-sport is the party you can attend and still get to bed by 9pm.

Social sports have been exploding in popularity for a few years now. Take pickleball, which blends elements of tennis, table tennis and badminton and is the fastest-growing sport in the world – 48.3 million people played it in the US in just one year. It’s growing in Australia, too, with 25,000 participants nationwide. Then there’s bocce and badminton, and even golf; albeit a more exclusive option, according to Golf Australia, 3.5 million people hit a golf ball last year.

The surge in popularity of these sports answers, in part, the problem
of dwindling ‘third places’. Coined by American sociologists Ramon
Oldenburg and Dennis Brissett in 1982, the term refers to spaces
that aren’t home, nor work, but are designed specifically to facilitate
conversation among people in the community. Think charming French
cafes that stay open all night or New York diners where you’re just as likely to meet a Wall Street banker as you are a sparky. They’re crucial for social cohesion and general community wellbeing, but as urban centres become