Eton College - Sports

Sports

Sport is a feature of Eton. There is an extensive network of playing fields. Their names include Agar's Plough, Dutchman's, Upper Club, Lower Club, Sixpenny/The Field, and Mesopotamia (situated between two streams and often shortened to "Mespots").

• During the Michaelmas Half, the sport curriculum is dominated by football (called Association) and rugby union, with some rowing for a smaller number of boys.
• During the Lent Half it is dominated by the Field Game a code of football, but this is unique to Eton and cannot be played against other schools. During this half, Collegers also play the Eton wall game - this game was given national publicity when it was taken up by Prince Harry. Aided by AstroTurf facilities on Masters' field, Field Hockey has become a major Lent Half sport. Elite rowing also exists.
• During the Summer Half, there is a division between wet bobs, who row on the River Thames, and dry bobs, who play cricket, tennis or athletics.

Dorney Lake, in Buckinghamshire, is owned by the college and hosted the rowing and canoeing events at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the World Junior Rowing Championships.

The annual cricket match against Harrow at Lord's Cricket Ground is the oldest fixture of the cricketing calendar, having been played there since 1805. A staple of the London society calendar since the 1800s, in 1914, its importance was such that over 38,000 people attended the two days' play, and in 1910 the match made national headlines. But interest has since declined considerably, and the match is now a one-day limited overs contest.

There is a running track at the Thames Valley Athletics Centre and an annual steeplechase.

Among the other sports played at Eton is Eton Fives.

In 1815, Eton College documented its football rules, the first football code to be written down anywhere in the world.