Sport and Recreation
Poole Harbour and Poole Bay are popular areas for a number of recreational pursuits, including sailing, windsurfing, surfing, kitesurfing and water skiing. The harbour's large areas of sheltered waters attract windsurfers, particularly around the northern and eastern shores. Water skiing takes place in the harbour in a special designated area known as the Wareham Channel. The waters around the harbour, Poole Bay and Studland Bay are also popular for recreational angling and diving.
Poole's wide and sandy beaches are used for swimming, sunbathing, water sports and sailing. The beaches at Sandbanks are often used for sporting events such as the Sandbanks Beach Volleyball Festival, and the annual British Beach Polo Championship.
Poole Harbour is one of the largest centres for sailing in the UK with yacht clubs including Lilliput Sailing Club, Parkstone Yacht Club and Poole Yacht Club. Parkstone Yacht Club hosted the OK Dinghy World Championships in 2004, the J/24 National Championships in 2006 and the J/24 European Championships in 2007, and are the organisers of Youth Week and Poole Week – two of the largest annual dinghy regattas of their type in the country.
Poole's oldest football team is Poole Town F.C., a semi-professional team who play in the Southern Football League Division One South & West – the eighth tier of the English football league system. Established in 1880, the team has had erratic success at their level; they have never risen above non-League levels but once reached the third round of the FA Cup. They played at Poole Stadium until 1994 and have since settled at Tatnam Farm, sharing the school playing field with Oakdale South Road Middle School. Poole's other football teams are Hamworthy United, who formed in 1970 and also play in the Wessex Premier League, and amateur team Poole Borough F.C. who play in the Dorset Premier League. Poole is one of the largest towns in England without a professional football team.
Poole's motorcycle speedway team, the Poole Pirates, were established and began racing at Poole Stadium in 1948 in the National League Division Three. The team now races in the top tier of league racing (the Elite League) which they last won in 2008. Poole Stadium is also a venue for greyhound racing; race nights occur three days a week throughout the year.
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