Sports in Jesuit schools
What sports were played in Jesuit schools? And what archival sources can still tell us about athletic life in the classroom?
As the school year winds down and final exams draw to a close, students are more and more eager to head outside—often asking their teachers if they can play soccer or volleyball. Sports are today, as in the past, a meaningful part of student life at schools and colleges of the Society of Jesus.
The lives of Jesuit boarders weren’t confined to academics alone. While their schedules were packed with lessons, their days also included plenty of recreational time, both inside and outside the college walls—field trips, plays, school performances, writing and publishing the student journal. Sports, too, were a regular and structured part of the school program.
There was strong competition, and students from Jesuit institutions often met each other on the playing field—as rivals. For example, students from the Collegio dei Nobili at Villa Mondragone regularly faced off against those from the Ricreatorio San Giuseppe or the Istituto Massimiliano Massimo. “Dragoniana” versus “Massimina,” as recounted in their respective school newspapers and documented in photographs.
Villa Mondragone College
Thanks to archival sources, we can now reconstruct many aspects of daily life for Jesuit boarders, including their sports activities.
Villa Mondragone closed in 1953, which means some sports that are well-documented in later institutions were never introduced there, simply because they hadn’t yet become widespread.
The first sport practiced by the students was horseback riding—an activity aligned with the upper social class that the school initially served. But football soon gained popularity, along with fencing. The school also held many gymnastics exhibitions, even before the Fascist-era Saturday gymnastics programs were introduced. Photographs document these activities, but written records provide deeper insights. For example, we know students participated in fencing tournaments alongside their instructor Francesco Tinti.
Other recreational activities expanded the options available to students. Archival materials show games like marbles, tug-of-war, foot races—sometimes even on muleback—and other pastimes organized by Jesuits.
Massimiliano Massimo Institute
Founded 24 years after Villa Mondragone, the Massimiliano Massimo Institute remains active today and boasts a long tradition of sports. In its early years, gymnastics played a central role—an eclectic mix of athletics, artistic gymnastics, and even rhythmic exercises. Some photos show students using clubs, for instance. At the time, these were male-only activities, only later becoming associated with female athletes in the 20th century. Fencing was also widely practiced, even at the school’s newer EUR campus during the 1970s and 1980s.
Photographs tell us much about other sports, including basketball, which was played in the Terme location thanks to hoops installed in the school courtyard. The hard pavement wasn’t ideal, but students adapted by marking court boundaries directly on the ground. In that same courtyard, judo was also practiced on large mats—again documented in photographs.
Massimo Institute and its locations
One of the reasons the Jesuits began looking for a new campus as early as the 1940s was the lack of outdoor and green spaces. Originally located in Palazzo Peretti—owned by the Massimo family—the school remained there until 1886, when the building was demolished to make way for the expansion of Rome’s Termini Station. The building once stood exactly where Piazza dei Cinquecento is today. Father Massimiliano Massimo personally oversaw the construction of a new building in the garden of the old one, which hosted the school until the summer of 1960. Though purpose-built for education, the facility lacked green space. The only land area was a narrow strip along the building, separated from the road by a fence. Sports were therefore confined to the courtyard. That building still exists today, though it is no longer owned by the Society of Jesus—it now houses the National Roman Museum. The Jesuits then moved the school to its current EUR campus, which offered far more space for sports. Here, students practiced swimming, rugby, volleyball, and athletics, thanks to a fully equipped gym and sports fields. Photos also show students playing hockey and skiing during winter holidays.
Sources
What sources might a researcher use to study the history of sports in Jesuit colleges? Fortunately, the archives contain a wealth of documentation. These sources fall into three main types: manuscript, printed, and photographic.
Printed sources—especially school newspapers and provincial magazines—are a great place to start. School papers regularly reported on sporting events, often with detailed match reports or event coverage. Provincial magazines, though less focused on sports, sometimes featured related content when celebrating anniversaries or promoting new enrollments.
Many of these articles were accompanied by photographs. The original photos are preserved in the photographic collections of individual schools or provinces. Both Villa Mondragone and the Massimo have extensive photo archives, with several folders dedicated specifically to sports. The Massimo’s photographic series alone includes over 800 sports-related images.
Manuscript sources include the historiae domus and house diaries. The former usually mention sports only when important visitors (like the Provincial) were present. House diaries, on the other hand, are particularly rich sources of information. Written daily by a member of the Jesuit community, they document sports events, competitions, and list both participating students and teachers. Additional useful sources include event invitations, sports programs, and even posters advertising competitions—many of which have been preserved.
Sports not just for boarders
Sports activities weren’t limited to boarding schools. They were also common in religion schools, like those in Mantua and Padua, and at the Ricreatorio San Giuseppe in Florence, which had outdoor spaces where students played football. Archival records even show that Jesuits themselves took part in sports. Photographs reveal friendly matches and games at novitiates and scholasticates—showing that recreation was valued at every level of formation.
