Our Sports in Detail | Charterhouse School

Badminton is played throughout the year, with the main emphasis during the Oration Quarter (Autumn Term) and Long Quarter (Spring Term). Charterhouse has an excellent record in the sport. Boys and girls take part in House matches, as well as a strong circuit of school fixtures against opponents including RGS Guildford, Harrow, John Lyon, and Wellington. The teams also compete in a number of tournaments, including the Surrey Schools League.

Basketball has grown hugely in popularity in recent years. The use of the Queen’s Sports Centre (QSC), along with access to high-quality coaching, has made it a very popular choice across all year groups. Pupils specialising in the sport are able to choose it as their core sport of the term, while those in the Under School can opt for it as a non-core sport. There are fixtures for the U19 and U16 teams during the Oration Quarter (Autumn Term) and Long Quarter (Spring Term), playing against a traditional local schools circuit, as well as competing in the U19 National Cup.

The Climbing Club is well established at Charterhouse. Pupils benefit greatly from the excellent Queen's Sports Centre climbing wall, which features challenging overhangs, chimneys, traverses, and routes. Climbing can be chosen as a core sport option in the Specialist (Sixth Form) years or as a non-core sport option in the Under School. Additionally, pupils may use the wall outside allotted sports hours under the supervision of our qualified staff.

The Cross Country squad trains every Tuesday and Thursday, running on and around the School grounds and working on hill stamina, flat-ground speed, and rough terrain. Led by Mr Hadley and colleagues, each session is made challenging yet enjoyable. The team competes in traditional fixtures against Harrow, along with other competitions throughout the school year.

The Fencing Club trains on Thursday afternoons and benefits from the expertise of external coach Mike Johnson. Many boys and girls across all year groups represent the School in competition, with several fencers also competing at regional level.

Eton Fives was first played in one of the bays of Eton Chapel between the flying buttresses. Courts around the world – including those at Charterhouse – reflect the unique features of the original setting, such as the buttress, ledges, and steps. The game uses all these elements to create a dynamic team sport (always played in pairs) that requires a high degree of coordination and the ability to react to the unexpected. For this reason, it has traditionally been played by cricketers during the Oration Quarter (Autumn Term) as a way to hone reflexes. 

Charterhouse is fortunate to have eight courts, two of which have been recently refurbished and rank among the finest in the country. Refurbishment of the remaining courts will follow in due course.

The basic pattern of play is similar to rackets or squash, but there is no singles version of the game, and the ball is struck with the hands (protected by gloves) rather than with a racket.

The School Fives Club is thriving, with boys in every year group representing Charterhouse. Girls also play and take part in school matches. Regular block fixtures are played during the Oration Quarter (Autumn Term) and Long Quarter (Spring Term) against all the leading fives schools. While summer fives has been introduced, no matches are played during the Cricket Quarter (Summer Term).

There are inter-house competitions, individual pairs, and team events across various age groups, as well as the ever-popular Master & Boy Competition. Charterhouse also sends a strong contingent to the HSBC National Schools Eton Fives Championships, held in rotation at Shrewsbury and Eton.

The School has its own golf course – the Halford Hewitt Golf Course – a 9-hole, par 34 course set across 30 acres of Charterhouse grounds, overlooking the beauty of the Surrey Hills. Pupils can opt to play golf during their non-core sport sessions and also make use of the course in their free time.

The senior team competes regularly at Worplesdon Golf Club. We also field a girls’ team and a junior team, with friendly fixtures against schools such as Eton, Harrow, Cranleigh, Winchester, and Tonbridge. The performance squad receives expert training and coaching at Goodwood.

Highlights of the fixture list include the match against the Old Carthusians, the Micklem Trophy at Woking Golf Club, and the West Sussex Invitational. All pupils, including beginners, are able to take private lessons with the School professional throughout the year on our course.

In its earliest form during the 18th century, racquets was played in the open against the walls of the yards of the two main debtors’ prisons: the King’s Bench and the Fleet. Gentlemen, imprisoned until they could repay their creditors, amused themselves with various activities in the prison yards. These included skittles, fives (played both with the hand and with a bat, as at Westminster School), and a rudimentary version of racquets, improvised using tennis rackets and any convenient wall – often without side walls and always without a back wall.

By the mid-19th century, racquets began to be played primarily in covered courts. The MCC built a court in 1844 next to the old tennis court, and the old Prince’s Club opened in 1853 with several racquets courts, along with two tennis courts.

Charterhouse is fortunate to have two racquets courts and a full-time professional, Martin Crosby, who coaches the various squads and oversees the development of the sport at the School.

We currently have two shooting teams: the CCF Shooting Team and the School Shooting Team. The CCF Shooting Team represents the CCF in local, national, and Commonwealth Cadet Force shooting competitions, while the School Shooting Team represents Charterhouse in the British Schools Small-Bore Rifle Association leagues and in national small-bore competitions.

Small-bore shooting (air rifles, .22 rifles, both military and private Anschütz rifles) is carried out on the School ranges. Cadet GP Rifle and Cadet Target Rifle training takes place on military ranges, and shotgun clay target shooting is occasionally held at local ranges.

The teams meet every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, with an additional training session for top competitors on Tuesday evenings, led by an NSRA coach. We are currently developing electronic shooting training at Charterhouse to ensure that time spent waiting to shoot on the range is used productively (as there are four lanes on the range and 15 pupils in the teams).

At Charterhouse, there are four squash courts. A number of teams compete during the Oration Quarter (Autumn Term) and Long Quarter (Spring Term): 1st V, 2nd V, U16 V, U15 V, and U14 V. Training takes place on Mondays for seniors, Wednesdays for all team squads, and Thursdays for the Fourths (Year 9). Match days are usually on Thursdays. Charterhouse enters the National Cups for U19 and U15 boys, in both of which we have achieved considerable success in recent seasons.

Over the past four years, the School has won the Surrey group in the U19 Cup, establishing itself as the leading independent school in the county during that time. We have reached the national last eight in both the U19 and U15 competitions, culminating in a third-place finish at the National Finals in Manchester in March 2017.

Charterhouse also enters three other one-day school tournaments: the Independent Schools Cup at Epsom (winners in 2013), the prestigious Roehampton Club Schools Invitation (reaching the final three times in the last five seasons), and the Schools Doubles Cup (winners of the 1st pair competition in 2015).

There have been overseas tours to South Africa (2008) and the United States (2012 and 2014), with pupils competing against top-level school squash teams in both countries.

Charterhouse traditionally plays two fixtures each season against Eton, Harrow, and Winchester, in addition to regular matches against several other schools across Surrey, Berkshire, Sussex, and Kent. A highlight of the season is the annual fixture in February against the Jesters – an adult team composed of Old Carthusians, ex-internationals, and experienced club players – followed by a formal dinner.

There are also both Senior and Junior House competitions, as well as individual knockout tournaments.

Charterhouse has an excellent six-lane swimming pool, which also serves as a first-class water polo venue. Fixtures take place throughout the year, along with regular inter-house competitions in both swimming and water polo. Training sessions are held Monday to Friday in the afternoons, with an additional session on Monday evenings. Each year group has its own gala, and athletes benefit from daily access to the pool and expert coaching from highly qualified staff.

The excellent Charterhouse Club pool provides a fantastic facility for the Water Polo Club. There are regular fixtures against other schools, as well as inter-house matches held in the evenings.