Cape Town - Sport

Venue Sport Capacity Club(s)
Cape Town Stadium Football/Rugby 69,070 Ajax CT
Newlands Cricket Ground Cricket 25,000 Cape Cobras, Western Province Cricket
Newlands Rugby Stadium Rugby 47,000 Stormers, Western Province
Athlone Stadium Football 24,000 Santos Football Club
Philippi Stadium Football 5,000
Bellville Velodrome Cycling (Track) 3,000 Western Province Cycling
Hartleyvale Hockey Centre Field Hockey 2,000 Western Province Hockey
Turfhall Stadium Softball 3,000 Western Province Softball
Good Hope Centre Various indoor sports 6,000 Various
Royal Cape Yacht Club Sailing N/A Royal Cape Yacht Club
Grand West Arena Various 6,000 N/A
Green Point Athletics Stadium Athletics, Football 5,000 N/A
Newlands Swimming Pool Swimming/water polo/diving 2,000 WP Aquatics
Autshumato/Berg River Dam Rowing/Canoe-Kayak N/A N/A

Cape Town's most popular sports by participation are cricket, association football, swimming, and rugby union. In rugby union, Cape Town is the home of the Western Province side, who play at Newlands Stadium and compete in the Currie Cup. In addition, Western Province players (along with some from Wellington's Boland Cavaliers) comprise the Stormers in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Cape Town also regularly hosts the national team, the Springboks, and hosted matches during the 1995 Rugby World Cup, including the opening ceremony and game, as well as the All Blacks versus England semi-final that saw Jonah Lomu run in four tries.

Association football, which is better known as soccer in South Africa, is also popular. Two clubs from Cape Town play in the Premier Soccer League (PSL), South Africa's premier league. These teams are Ajax Cape Town, which formed as a result of the 1999 amalgamation of the Seven Stars and the Cape Town Spurs and newly-promoted Chippa United. Cape Town was also the location of several of the matches of the FIFA 2010 World Cup including a semi-final, held in South Africa. The Mother City built a new 70,000 seat stadium (Green Point Stadium) in the Green Point area.

In cricket, the Cape Cobras represent Cape Town at the Newlands Cricket Ground. The team is the result of an amalgamation of the Western Province Cricket and Boland Cricket teams. They take part in the Supersport and Standard Bank Cup Series. The Newlands Cricket Ground regularly hosts international matches.

Cape Town has Olympic aspirations: in 1996, Cape Town was one of the five candidate cities shortlisted by the IOC to launch official candidatures to host the 2004 Summer Olympics. Although the games ultimately went to Athens, Cape Town came in third place. There has been some speculation that Cape Town is seeking the South African Olympic Committee's nomination to be South Africa's bid city for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

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Famous quotes containing the word sport:

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