Sports
Most sports are played competitively and a number of hours are set aside for them daily. Rugby is the major sport of the Michaelmas (Autumn) Term. The 1st XV team and their pitch is known as 'Bigside' while the first years' sports teams are known as 'Midgets'. The school fields 21 rugby teams on most Saturdays of the Michaelmas term. Radley is widely recognised for its rowing reputation. In the Lent (Spring) term hockey and football are the main sports, alongside fives, for those not choosing to row, with cricket, tennis and athletics all popular in the Summer term. Some recent Old Radleians have progressed to play cricket for England or captain county level cricket teams. The cricket grounds have been described as 'one of the best in the country' while the sporting facilities have been described as world class.
Recently in rowing, Radley has competed at Henley Royal Regatta, having reached the semi-final of the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup twice in the last two years, reaching the final in 2012 and winning it in 1998. The boathouse is located on a stretch of the river Isis about one mile (1.6 km) away from the main college campus.
Sports such as fives, rackets, sailing, badminton and polo are all represented. A real tennis court opened in July 2008, which made Radley College the only school in the world to have fives, squash, badminton, tennis, racquets and real tennis courts all on campus.
Despite such strong competition in so many sports, Rugby (Union) remains the most popular, and most competitive sport for boys at Radley.
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Famous quotes containing the word sports:
“Reading about ethics is about as likely to improve one’s behavior as reading about sports is to make one into an athlete.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Even from their infancy we frame them to the sports of love: their instruction, behaviour, attire, grace, learning and all their words aimeth only at love, respects only affection. Their nurses and their keepers imprint no other thing in them.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“The whole idea of image is so confused. On the one hand, Madison Avenue is worried about the image of the players in a tennis tour. On the other hand, sports events are often sponsored by the makers of junk food, beer, and cigarettes. What’s the message when an athlete who works at keeping her body fit is sponsored by a sugar-filled snack that does more harm than good?”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)