Best colleges for sport?

Hi
I'm very passionate about sport, esp. hockey and squash. Which are the best colleges for sport at Oxford, i.e. best facilities, best sporty atmosphere etc.?

Thanks

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Reply 1

Lady Justice

I have been told St Peter's are sporty. But I'm guessing all colleges will have SOME sports facilities anyway...

Reply 2

georgecrabbe

Teddy Hall is probably the sportiest college in Oxford. I'm not particularly proud of the fact, not being remotely sporty myself. We don't have much in the way of facilities (although we share some of Queens') but our various teams certainly make up for it in enthusiasm.

Reply 3

shinyhappy

We're very good at women's rugby, and rowing. I'm not so sure about the sports you mentioned, like squash - but I think Georgecrabbe prob has it about right, in that some colleges are just more inclined towards sport, despite what their facilities are like.
If you've got any colleges in mind, check out their alternative prospectus', these might give you a good idea of how enthusiastic the students are, and whether their facilities are actually any good. If the college has one, you can usually find it by googling the college name + alternative prospectus.

Reply 4

Kater Murr

I think Keble is very sporty - though I got the impression they're very much a RUGBY college. They do have a very good gym though, so I hear.

And the bar... oh, the bar...

Reply 5

mikeyT

Catz has a gym on site with two squash courts. I think there's a hockey pitch on the same site as the football pitches. We always seem to come second in everything which i guess shows that we're consistently good. You can do whatever sport you want here as there's always someone else who wants to do it.

Reply 6

Echolife

Any idea which ones have a strong interest in football?

Reply 7

Cirsium

Flying-Wombat

Hi
I'm very passionate about sport, esp. hockey and squash. Which are the best colleges for sport at Oxford, i.e. best facilities, best sporty atmosphere etc.?

Thanks

If you're passionate enough about hockey for this to make a difference, then Jesus has the only grass hockey pitch (I think in the entire uni, since Iffley has astro) - although we also rent it to Lincoln.

As people have said Teddy Hall has a very sporty atmosphere - if you want to row, then I'd recommend Pembroke. As far as squash, that's likely to be university based - although some colleges may specifically hire courts (e.g. Jesus hires a couple of badminton courts on a Monday)

Reply 8

F1 fanatic

BornUnderPunches

I think Keble is very sporty - though I got the impression they're very much a RUGBY college. They do have a very good gym though, so I hear.

And the bar... oh, the bar...

yeah it's really only rugby to be honest, the gyms not bad, but then I havent seen other colleges to compare it to. Facilities are ok, couple of courts etc, but if you're talking high level uni level stuff it's all done outside of college anyway.

Reply 9

Peter_The_Great

Wadham has a squash court in college, and the mixed hockey team won cuppers this year...

Reply 10

WokSz

Isn't Oriel very good at rowing?

Reply 11

davey_boy

Echolife

Any idea which ones have a strong interest in football?

check out the college's section of the university football club website:

www.ouafc.com

each college has a brief history there and there's a roll of honour going back 30 years or so...

Reply 12

heliotrope

for football, worcester are probably best.

for rugby, theres a few. the best teams last year were keble and hughs, but obviously teddy hall are traditionally strong.

oriel are THE rowing college.

but i wouldnt overthink it. most colleges have plenty of sporting opportunities, though if you want to play football or rugby and are quite serious about it, definitely go to one of the larger/more traditionally sporty colleges, because some teams (eg merton/mansfield football) are complete and utter jokers who it would suck to play for.

Reply 13

Cirsium

heliotrope

oriel are THE rowing college.

If you're a man.... Teddy Hall definitely have the women's rowing covered :wink:

Reply 14

Echolife

davey_boy

check out the college's section of the university football club website:

www.ouafc.com

each college has a brief history there and there's a roll of honour going back 30 years or so...

That web site link is excellent, thanks :biggrin:

Reply 15

chocolatebear

Brasenose is supposedly one of the (if not THE) sportiest colleges. it has 3 football teams and 2 cricket teams and apparently the oldest boat club in oxford

Reply 16

Derek_the_Sheep

chocolatebear

Brasenose .... apparently the oldest boat club in oxford

Yup, you should see the Zimmer frames piled up outside the boathouse.

DtS

Reply 17

packupthemoon

As far as Squash goes, take a look at OUSRC for info. Most colleges seem to have 2/3 men's teams, and from the looks of it, St Johns is the top. Not so many teams for women, but if you take a look at the leagues you can see which colleges do have them. You also obviously have the Blues teams and Squirrels/Ferrets on a uni level. As for courts, most seem to have them, with some on site. Magdalen's courts are so nice I'm tempted to apply there just for them :p:

Reply 18

heliotrope

chocolatebear

Brasenose is supposedly one of the (if not THE) sportiest colleges. it has 3 football teams and 2 cricket teams and apparently the oldest boat club in oxford

having three football teams isnt unusual. most decent sized colleges do.

Reply 19

Flying-Wombat

You also obviously have the Blues teams and Squirrels/Ferrets on a uni level.

Is the Squirrel/Ferret thing one of your strange traditions? Are we talking about racing these agile little creatures? If so, I may consider applying. Who has the best squirrels and ferrets?