Building Highlight - Sporting Fields & Facilities

Building Australia's National University: 75 Years of the Australian National University

Tha Acton Campus maintains four large sporting fields for casual recreational use and the use of University's sporting teams, a number of these teams being organised through various student halls of residence. The main sporting fields are North Oval, South Oval, The Willows Oval and Fellows Oval.

In 1965 ANU attained ownership of Turner Oval, which was situated in the area that is now bordered by Barry Drive and Clunies Ross Street. It had a long sporting heritage in Canberra, having been the venue of the first AFL match played in the Capital. However, given its location and size and the need to develop additional infrastructure for teaching and learning, the area was redeveloped and is now part of the ANU Science Precinct.

North Oval and South Oval were developed in the 1960s with the addition of sporting pavilions. South Oval was originally known as Oval No. 1 and opened on 30 November 1962 with a celebratory cricket match in which Sir Keith Hancock bowled the first ball. The South Oval Pavilion was designed by John Scollay & Theo Bischoff and constructed in 1965. The North Oval Pavilion was designed a few years later by Scollay, Bischoff & Pegrum in 1968.

South Oval is home to the ANU AFL Club and ANU Cricket Club. North Oval is home to the ANU Rugby Club and ANU Cricket Club.

The Willows Oval is a synthetic field located next to the ANU Sport Building. It is used by the ANU Football and ANU Hockey teams and other community sporting groups.

The Fellows Oval, located just next to Chifley Library, is generally used for casual recreation and regularly hosts games of football, ultimate (otherwise known as ultimate frisbee) and even Quidditch.

The ANU Sport Fitness Centre, known officially as the David Cocking Sport and Recreation Centre, was designed by Smith, Potter and Madden and constructed by the Westland Building Company in 1972. Additions to the building were completed several times between the late 1970s an early 1990s. It is a three level complex that offers fitness facilities and classes for the ANU community and is home to a number of ANU clubs including table tennis and jujitsu.

The Acton Campus also includes a number of tennis courts and additional fitness facilities, including pools, have recently been added to the campus as part of the Kambri development.