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The modern prep schools sponsors a range of different sports. This is especially true of the coed schools as boys and girls tend to play different sports. There are a few sports, however, that rexeive special attention. The principal games for boys are cricket and rugby and now football (soccer). Field hockey was once common, but has gradually lost out to soccer. The girls compete in netball and hockey. A considerable part of the afternnon at most schools is devoted to games. Here the emphasis is on the main sports and individual coaching is provided. Attention is also given to other sports like track and field and a range of other sports. The younger children might play games like rounders. While the emphasis on sports has declined, ironically the sport facilities at many schools have increased as so many different sports are now part of the program.
Athlectic is generally the term for track and field in Britain. Prep schools introduce the children to a wide range of these events Athletics is commonly dome as a school event with the different houses competing against each other, commonly on the school Sports Day. Here the competitions are organized around house competitions. Houses at prep schools are organized differently than at public schools. These intra-school competitions are one of the main purposs of prep school houses. Also there are meets held with other schools. There are also Nationals held in Britain for the very best performers.
Many of our great team sports can trace their origins to England. Basketball is one of the few exceptions. Modern cricket dates from the 1780s, when the Laws of Cricket which still rule the sport today were first formalized in England. Unlike rugby, the sport did not develop at the public schools, but it is strongly associated with the public schools.
Sport in America has always been seen has a leveler. Sport could be enjoyed and played by anyone despote their social back ground. There were some exceptions like golf and tennis, but most sports have been played by individuals of diverse backgrounds. What was important was the persons. The sports that developed in Britain was quite different. Sport was initially an upper class diversions as they could afford the spare time to persue the sport. The upper classes, however, had no desire to mingle with the great unwashed masses. Thus skills were developed at the country's public (exclusive private) schools were lower class boys had no realistic opportunity to attend. In addition, rules restricting the sport to amateurs were developed which created barriers for people without means to play the sport. These rules have become increasingly difficult to maintain in the modern world, but were used against atheletes from modest back grounds, like the great olympic athelete Jim Thorpe.
Cricket developed in England. British colonial rule brought cricket to countries around the world. No sport is more associated with England than cricket. During the 19th century the British carried soccer to the far reaches of their empire. Thus cricket today is a popular sport not only in England, but colonies including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, the West Indies and other countries.
Golf is not an important sport at prep schools, but quite a number provide an interduction to the sport. There are not normally inter-school competitions. Some schools have intra-school cup competitions. Golf is some times done as a club or activity. There is an annual IAPS tournament.
Gymnastics is one of the oldest sports with events dating back to ancient Rome. Gymnastics seems to have been particularly popular on the continent. It did not appear in America until the 1830s, brought by immigrants. This was at the same time America was developing a public school system. Gymnastics became an important part of the American physical education program. This was in part because there was not as much hype associated with team sports as is the case today. Some important educators both on the continent and in the United states thought that gymnastics should be an important part of a physical education program. I'm less sure about the sports's history in Britain, but it seems well established by the late 19th century. Gymnastics had a number of advantages to schools. It was a sport whih could be persued with limited equipment and space. It was also a sport which could be persued indoors during the Winter. It is persued by both biys and girls, but the televised success of Olga Korbut and Nadia Comaneci great popularized gymnastics for girls. Rhythmic gymnastics, which combined gymnastics and dance, using balls, ropes, hoops and ribbons, was accepted as an Olympic sport in 1984, further popularizing the sport with girls. Boys still participate, but most boys are much more interested in team sports.
We have only limited information on field hockey at this time. It appears to be another sport which has developed in England. Field hockey in the United States is esentially a girls sports with the uniform mostly consisting of pleated skirts. Some high school boys's have challenged the legality of excluding boys. An exception here are some exclusive private schools which are based on English private schools. The sport in Europe is widely played by girls, but boys also play it. It is widely played by boys , for example, in the Netherlands. It is also played by boys at at many private English schools. The boys mostly wear short pants uniforms when playing hockey. We note some team photographs, but are unsure as to what country is involved.
Netball is very similar to basketball, but played as girls' team sport. The sport was developed when girls in the United States wanted to play school sports. Sports exprts at the time believed that rles changes were needed for girls and the result was netball. It was decied that girls were not capable of dribling which is the major difference in addition to the absence of a back board, a smaller and softer ball, and two extra players. While developed in the United States as "women's basketball", it is now virtually unknown there. While basketball is not widely played at British schools bu boys, netball as it is known in Britain has become the most important women's team sport in Britain and many Commonwealth countries.
Rounders is one of the bat and ball sports that evolved from cricket. It has some simialrities to American baseball. The childrem we spoke with rather thought it was baseball. At British schools it is primarily a recreational sport often used played during the summer term in the physical education classes by both boys and girls. Commonly the coed-schools will use this as a sport that boys and girls can play together. It is also played by girls as a sport with inter-school competitions. Here the competitions seems not as competitive as some of the other sports.
Rugby is one of the most important sports played at both the prep and public schools. The sport originated a Rugby School after which it is named. There were for many years a class association with rugby. Many schools did not have football (soccer) programs. Some schools even banned boys from hicking a ball. The great emphasis was on rugby. The schools still emphasis rugby, but not longer to the exclussion of football. Most boys arrive at school unfamiliar with rugby. Rugby does not receive the media attention devoted to football. The noys are taught rugby in physical education and the most talented then begin to work more seriously as part of school teams to play other schools at different levels.
Soccer better known as football is beyond a doubt the most popular sport in the world. While other important British sports spread primarily to Empire countries (cricket and rugby) or were transformed in America (baseball and gridiron football), soccer is play in virtually every country in the world. While it is another sport that has evolved in Britain. It has never, however, been accorded the same prestige as rugby at private schools. There were for many years a class association with rugby. Many schools for many years did not have football (soccer) programs. Some schools even banned boys from hicking a ball. This has gradually changed because of the emense popularity of the sport. Many boys at private schools wanted to play soccer. Thus soccer programs were added to the sports program and fixtures arranged with other schools. Even so it still does not have the presige of rugby. Thisd can be seen in the school magazines which commonly give far more attention to rugby than soccer.
Softball is an American sport, commonly played in school recesses and PE classes and summer camps because it is safer than baseball. American girls play softball in school competitions. We did not note in being plyed at the schools we visit, but occassionally PE classess introduce new sports to the children t add a little diversity to the program.
Many prep schools have swimming pools. They are one of the most popular places during the summer term because they are used not only for instruction, but recreational swimming. Even during the summer term the water tends to be quite cold, but the children do not seem to mind. Several schools have heated pools so they can be used year round. Swimming competitions are done rather like athletics. There are intra-school house competitions as well as meets swith other schools.
Squash is an indoor racquet game. The name derives from the relatively soft or 'squashable' hollow rubber ball used. A much harder ball is used in Racquets from which Squash evolved. Squash is engaged in by two players or four players for doubles. The ball is struck by with a racket. The game is played in a four-walled court. Squash appears to be another sport which evolved at a British public school. Some historians belive the game developed at Harrow School during the 19th century. That is a little difficult to confirm, but the first Squash court appears to have been built at Harrow in the 1860s. The came became popular in private clubs and with the British Army as well as crossing the Atlantic to America.
Tennis usually is applied to the sort of lawn tennis, but there is also court or royal tennis--a much different game. Tennis is usually played outdoors with a racket and ball by two (singles) or four players (doubles) on a court of turf or hard surface such as clay or now commonly paved surface. The modern game of lawn tennis was invented in England during 1873 by Major Walter C. Wingfield, a British Army Officer, for use at garden parties. Major Winfoeld claimed that he modeled the game, which he called "spharistike," after an aincient Greek game. Authorities now believe that he simply adapted to outdoor play the principles of the widely popular came of court tennis. In Brtain it was and to some extent still is a sport generally plsayed by the more affluent. At school level it was the private schools that were more likely to have the grounds needed for tennis courts. It is popular with both both boys and girls.
Netball
Rounders
Rugby
Soccer
Softball
Swimming
Squash
Tennis
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