At St John’s, we’re proud of our remarkable sporting history – from Olympians, cricket captains, and international rowers and rugby players, to round-the-world yachtswomen and even the founder of the London Marathon. Our students have represented the College, the University, and their countries – but just as importantly, they’ve found friendship, fun and fitness through College teams and clubs. We are big believers in the importance of sport and physical exercise for keeping us healthy in mind and body so whether you’re picking up a sport for the first time or bringing a stack of medals with you, there’s a place for everyone to get involved.
Beyond sport, opportunities for recreation and relaxation are endless. You can stroll through our breathtaking gardens and grounds, hire a College punt on the river, or enjoy a lunchtime concert. Evenings could see you in the undergraduate or postgraduate common rooms playing pool or board games, rehearsing with Aquila – St John’s female a cappella group – or joining the fun in the College Bar for a quiz or karaoke night. There’s truly something for everyone at St John’s. Explore our sports and leisure activities below.
Nicknamed ‘the Poulets’, St John’s College Association Football Club prides itself on being one of the best men’s football clubs in the collegiate University.
With men’s first, second and third teams, all skill levels are welcome. Our first team competes against the best college players, while our second team is consistently one of the highest placed second team of any college, and our third team do us proud in the lower divisions.
We also hold social events for the Poulets throughout the year to foster that team spirit.
St John’s College Athletics Club is a highly successful team with a long and proud history that can be traced back to our first ‘College Sports’ event in 1855.
We perform strongly in the University’s annual inter-collegiate Cuppers tournament and other competitions and have a diverse athletics programme.
We encourage participation across all abilities and coordinate with Cambridge University Athletic Club as well as hold socials for our members at St John’s.
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Players of any ability are welcome to come along to St John’s College Badminton Club to enjoy some casual and/or competitive matches with us.
Our casual training sessions, which are open to everyone for singles and doubles, are held in the Palmerston Room at St John’s.
We also have teams competing in the termly College Open League and the annual Cuppers tournament in Lent Term.
St John’s Men’s Basketball Club is a skilled group of players who welcome student members from freshers upwards.
We train twice a week, giving opportunities for anyone who would like to get involved in the sport, and compete in the University College Men’s Basketball League and annual Cuppers tournament.
Novice players get the chance to learn and improve throughout our sessions and we provide an environment for more experienced players to hone their basketball skills.
St John’s College Cricket Club is community-driven and mainly active during Easter Term, where we train and compete in the inter-college matches known as Cuppers.
We’re a competitive club open to cricketers of all experience levels, with a focus on enjoying the game.
Outside of matches, we build a strong sense of community via our social events that take place throughout the academic year.
We welcome all players who come to along to training on the pristine pitches of the College sports grounds across the road from the main site, which includes a pavilion with changing rooms and other facilities.
Fans of BBC TV show Strictly Come Dancing will love taking part in St John’s College Dancesport – the club for competitive ballroom dancing.
We welcome male and female dancers of any level of experience, from complete beginners to Blues– the highest honour of sporting colours that can be bestowed on a Cambridge athlete.
We compete in the annual Cuppers tournament organised by the Cambridge University Dancesport team.
While we do not organise classes ourselves, we run shared practice sessions in the Palmerston Room at St John’s, and have produced many Blues sportsmen and women over the years.
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Our twin clubs celebrate and promote excellence in St John’s student sports at both a College and University level.
Our members are all elite sportsmen and sportswomen of the College and we organise social events together throughout the year.
We also support members competing in College and University sporting events, including Varsity events against Oxford.
Our well-equipped gyms are in the basement of the Cripps Building, where many freshers live on the College site.
They open around-the-clock so our students can hit the running machine or weights first thing in the morning before lectures, or late into the night.
The Fitness Centre and Weights Room together offer a great range of strength and cardio equipment on the doorstep to help our students maintain their fitness, wellbeing, and overall health without having to fork out fees for a gym membership.
St John’s is celebrated for its breathtaking gardens, offering peaceful spaces for both relaxation and recreation. The 17-acre site features traditional lawns, serene green expanses, and iconic views, such as New Court across the Backs.
The Paddock is a vibrant hub for activities like yoga, frisbee, and croquet, with students often lounging or gathering for social events. New Court’s famed 90-metre-long herbaceous border adds to the beauty of the surroundings.
The Scholars' Garden, a favourite for May Week parties and performances, provides a scenic spot with shade and benches, while lush areas throughout the College further enhance the connection with nature, promoting physical and mental wellbeing.
We have two successful hockey teams at St John’s: The Mags for women, and The Mogs for men.
We unite and compete together in the inter-college mixed league as St John’s College HockeyClub and all abilities are welcome, from novice to expert players.
We’re a large club with various socials throughout the year, from relaxed group drinks to large, fun sports swaps with other teams at St John’s.
Our teams have at least one training session a week, plus weekly social events and games.
The club welcomes people with little hockey experience, providing coaching and support to those picking up a stick for the first time.
St John’s Mixed Lacrosse Club is another high-flyer among the College’s sports teams.
We maintain a competitive spirit but we’re welcoming to all and play the sport in a relaxed and fun environment, training on the College’s sports grounds and playing in the University Mixed Lacrosse College League and Cuppers competition.
Mixed lacrosse is for everyone at St John’s, no prior experience is needed – in fact, many of our players had never tried lacrosse before coming up to Cambridge.
Tennis is a fun, social sport as well as being competitive and the College’s mixed lawn tennis club welcomes players of all level of abilities, from those just starting out to athletes competing at University level in Varsity games against Oxford.
We make use of St John’s well-kept tennis courts, which are on the College sports grounds across the road from the main site, both in competitive matches and socially.
We have several different sessions a week, from fun, social tennis for beginners, to women’s and mixed team matches for more experienced players.
Cambridgeshire may lack mountains – and even hills – but St John’s College Mountaineering Club is thriving.
Our club is a social environment for people in College interested in climbing, and we aim to generate interest in the sport and nurture talent at St John’s.
All skills and interests are welcome, whether it be using the bouldering and climbing walls at the nearby city centre Cambridge Climbing Centre, traditional outdoor climbing or the winter and alpine version of this exhilarating sport.
St John’s College Netball Club is a vibrant and inclusive group known for its warm welcome to players of all skill levels.
We have separate women’s and mixed teams and foster a supportive environment where teamwork and enjoyment are paramount.
Competing in a weekly league, our teams showcase their competitive spirits while prioritising camaraderie and fun.
The club also participates in the annual tournament where we challenge other college teams to claim the Cuppers trophy.
Whether you’re a seasoned player or new to the sport, our club is the perfect place to play netball.
Padel Tennis is a fast-growing racket sport and very easy to play, fun and sociable. It is mostly played in a doubles format and on an enclosed court about a third of the size of a tennis court.
Though the rules are similar to tennis, the game is not power dominant so players can be of mixed age and abilities, rackets are stringless and solid, and balls are allowed to bounce off the walls.
Padel is about reactions, strategy and teamwork. Our College club plays both casually and competitively at the nearby University of Cambridge Sports Centre, where you can learn to play or improve your game.
While pool tables are installed in both the College’s Junior Combination Room (JCR) and Samuel Butler Room (SBR) common rooms for those who fancy a few frames for fun, St John’s College Pool Club will help keen players take their game to the next level and play competitively.
We take part in the yearly College pool league games, which has different divisions, and the annual Cuppers inter-college tournament as well as other pool competitions that run during the academic year.
All abilities are welcome, from beginner to more seasoned pros.
Football is one of the biggest sports at Cambridge with huge numbers of students and staff playing every week.
St John’s College Postgraduate Football Team has its own separate team to our undergraduate football clubs and plays in a different University of Cambridge league called the MCR. This stands for Middle Combination Room, the University name for Cambridge’s postgraduate student community whose members at St John’s are known as the Samuel Butler Room (SBR).
We play other postgraduate teams across Cambridge providing our footballers the chance to play the sport competitively as well as enjoy our team socials.
St John’s College Rugby Union Football Club comprises two competitive and successful teams of athletes that regularly produce University players.
Our historic men’s rugby team, known as the Redboys, has competed in Cambridge’s knockout Cuppers competition every year since it began in 1923.
Both our women’s and men’s rugby teams compete in the inter-college rugby league and several members play in University-level Varsity matches against our rivals, Oxford, and in national student championships.
We develop new players and make sure they get game time during training at St John’s extensive sports grounds, with weekend matches and socials.
The College has several student sailors who are members of Cambridge University Cruising Club, competing in Varsity races and in the British championships for universities.
The University club is home to every sort of small craft sailing, including dinghies, boards, foils and small keel boats, and organises team training and racing events. Most activities are held at Grafham Water, a large reservoir near Cambridge.
We compete as St John’s in the annual Cuppers team racing competition against sailors in other Cambridge colleges. Students of all abilities are welcome to join us for sailing and board sports.
We have 28 stunning acres of sports grounds feet away from College, making St John’s the perfect place to try a new sport or develop skills as an athlete.
We cater for most sports along with others you may not have played before, such as Ultimate Frisbee. We have three football grounds, rugby and lacrosse pitches, and a cricket square. Our pavilion has a function room, changing facilities and showers.
There’s an astro pitch for hockey, football and tennis, volleyball and basketball courts, four hard courts that can double up for netball, and four grass tennis courts open in summer.
At St John’s we have our own excellent squash courts on the College site where our club members train weekly and play competitively.
St John’s students of any ability can join us for a recreational session once a week to play some casual squash on the two courts, which any members of College can book for free.
We are strong and competitive team players, taking part in the annual Cuppers inter-college competition and enjoying social events together.
Volleyball is a fun team sport and our mixed St John’s team of players competes in the annual Cuppers tournament between Cambridge colleges.
We train on the College’s volleyball courts behind the main site in the spring and summer during term and welcome players of all abilities, from beginners to the more experienced.
We are a chilled but competitive women’s football club for students from St John’s and King’s College.
Known as ‘the Moutons’, we’re friendly and welcoming. We are open to any level, even women who have never kicked a football.
Our two training sessions a week include strength and conditioning as well as football training, and we play matches every weekend.
We compete against teams from other Cambridge colleges in the Cuppers tournament and in the University football league.
Our social events are popular too, from club nights to cheese and wine evenings.
Historically St John’s has had a strong swim team that competes in the annual Cuppers competition, normally held in Easter Term.
Many College swimmers also compete in the Cuppers Water Polo League and college league for the sport.
At St John’s, we are all members of Cambridge University Swimming & Water Polo Club, which caters for a wide range of abilities.
Taster sessions and trials are held every year so this is especially handy for students wanting to try water polo but not engage in competitive University swimming.
Ultimate is fast and fun non-contact team sport played with a flying disc called a frisbee that is progressed down the field by passing between team mates.
St John’s College Ultimate is a mixed, friendly and relaxed sports team and we welcome all players of any ability wishing to strike a balance between playing for fun and playing to win.
We have five or six matches per term and one mid-week training on St John’s sports grounds and often in the beautiful environment of the College Backs, however we are flexible over sessions.
We play in the College Ultimate League and have regular socials too.
