Eton Fives, one derivative of the British game of Fives, is a hand-ball game, similar to Rugby Fives, played as doubles in a three-sided court. The object is to force the other team to fail to hit the ball 'up' off the front wall, using any variety of wall or ledge combinations as long as the ball is played 'up' before it bounces twice. The compact nature of the court and the speed at which the ball can be hit leads to an entertaining game, in which both a quick mind and agile feet are needed if you are to succeed. Eton Fives is an uncommon sport, with only a few courts, most of them as part of the facilities of the Public Schools in the United Kingdom (as well as St Olave's and St Saviour's Grammar School, the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe and Queen Elizabeth's School for Boys Also Berkhamsted School have 6 courts also maintained to a high standard.); consequently, it is primarily the preserve of their students. Fives is a British sport believed to derive from the same origins as many racket sports. ... Rugby Fives is a handball game, similar to squash, played in an enclosed court. ... A public school, in current English, Welsh and Northern Ireland usage, is a (usually) prestigious independent school, for children usually between the ages of 11 or 13 and 18, which charges fees and is not financed by the state. ... St Olaves and St Saviours Grammar School for Boys (also known as St Olaves, St Olaves Grammar School, or simply Olaves) is a selective boys secondary school in Orpington, England. ... // History Queen Elizabeths School is a boys grammar school in Barnet, North London, founded in 1573 by Queen Elizabeth I petitioned by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and assisted by local alderman Edward Underne. ...

St Olaves Grammar School houses the only indoor Eton Fives courts in England, with four courts being part of an Eton Fives and Squash Court complex (consisting of four top quality courts for both sports) ^{[citation needed]}. However, the first real public courts have recently opened in the Westway sports centre in London's White City, marking a possible change in fortunes for Eton Fives as a minor sport. Only a few courts exist outside Britain, most notably at Geelong Grammar School in Australia (the school is often referred to as the 'Eton of Australia'); there are also courts in Geneva, Zurich, Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz, Switzerland, St. Paul's School, Darjeeling, India and Malay College Kuala Kangsar, Malaysia. For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... For other uses of Westway, see Westway Westway, or The Westway is the main route from central London to the northwestern suburbs and beyond. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... White City is a place in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London in England. ... Geelong Church of England Grammar School is an Anglican co-educational boarding and day-boarding Public School. ... Geneva (pronunciation //; French: Genève //, German:   //, Italian: Ginevra //, Romansh: Genevra) is the second most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich), and is the most populous city of Romandy (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). ... Location within Switzerland   Zürich[?] (German pronunciation IPA: ; usually spelled Zurich in English) is the largest city in Switzerland (population: 366,145 in 2004; population of urban area: 1,091,732) and capital of the canton of Zürich. ... The Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz is a preparatory school located in the town of Zuoz in the Engadin valley of the Alps of Switzerland. ... // History In the year 1823, John William Ricketts, a prominent Anglo-Indian leader from Calcutta concieved the idea of a school to meet the educataion needs of the growing British and Anglo-Indian community in Calcutta. ... The Malay College Kuala Kangsar (Malay College, MCKK, MC or Koleq, Kolek and sometimes dubbed the Eton of the East) is the premier residential school in Malaysia. ...

The origins

Throughout history, different races and cultures have always played some type of game where a ball is hit against a wall. This is no different with England, and Fives, as a secular inclusion of Rugby, Eton, Winchester and any other of the many types of Fives, is the same. In mediaeval times, peasants used to hit a ball against their chapel wall as a form of entertainment. The game has moved on a long way since then, but in essence it is still the same; you hit a ball against a wall. The shape of the court used now is taken from the chapel at Eton College, where A. C. Ainger and some of his friends developed a simple set of rules in 1877. The rules have been modified since that time to those seen now, but the essential components are still the same and will be described later in the 'Rules' section. A view of Rugby School from The Close, the playing field where according to legend Rugby was invented Rugby School, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, is one of the oldest public schools in England and is one of the major co-educational boarding schools in the country. ... The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a public school (privately funded and independent) for boys, founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. It is located in Eton, near Windsor in England, north of Windsor Castle, and... Winchester College is a well-known boys independent school, and an example of an English public school, in the city of Winchester in Hampshire, England. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Eton College Chapel is the chapel of Eton College, an independent school in the United Kingdom. ... 1877 (MDCCCLXXVII) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

The court

An Eton Fives court consists of three walls, with the left hand wall interrupted by a buttress approximately halfway up the court [1]. There are also two levels to the court, the front being around six inches higher than the back half of the playing area. On the front wall is a vertical black line about three quarters of a metre from the right wall; this is used during the serve and return process detailed later. There is a diagonal ledge that circumvents the entire 'top-step' at about chest height; it is this ledge which the ball has to hit or go above to be 'up'. Below this ledge, at knee height, is a horizontal ledge about two inches wide, and which is only present on the 'top-step'. This is merely here because of the origins of Eton Fives as the ledge is present at the chapel in Eton College. The diagonal ledge drops vertically at the edge of the 'top-step' and then returns to normal at a slightly lower height on the bottom step, running to the back of the court. At the back are brick columns that jutt out slightly into the court, which are only about an inch to two inches wide. Shots very rarely hit this part of the court, but once they do it is usually very effective for winning a point. Each of the courts at varying schools differ in some way, leaving room to modify how your school's courts are built to a certain extent. In this way the 'home team' will often have an advantage over a visiting side because of their knowledge of the court's layout. A buttress (and mostly concealed, a flying buttress) supporting walls at the Palace of Westminster Three different types of buttress: diagonal, on the statues plinth; an ordinary buttress supporting a flying buttress, to the right of the statue; a small ordinary buttress to the right side of the picture...

The rules

Fives has many rules that are similar to other court type games, such as Tennis or Squash:

1. The ball is only allowed to hit the floor once (note: it can bounce off as many ledges or hit the walls any number of times).
2. The pair whose turn it is to hit the ball 'up' must do so without the ball hitting the ground.
3. You can only use your gloves to return the ball, no legs, arms, wrists, feet or any other appendages can be utilised in this way (similar to tennis and squash where you can only use your racket).
4. You can only hit the ball once before it must go up, and therefore only one member of the pair is able to hit the ball during the return of a shot (i.e., no Volley ball style 'set-ups' can be used).

However, there are a large number of rules unique to the game of Eton Fives: Volleyball is a popular sport where teams separated by a high net hit a ball back and forth between the teams. ...

1. All games are played to 12. However, if the score is 10–10, or 11–11 the game can be 'set' so that you play to a higher number.
2. A pair can only score when it is their serve.
3. The start of a point comes from a serve, and then a shot called a 'cut' is used to try and stop the server or his/her partner being able to hit the ball back.
4. The cut must go to the right of the black line on the front wall (note: if the ball hits the right hand wall and then hits the front wall to the left of the black line this is regarded as 'in'). If the ball goes to the left of the black line a 'Black Guard' is in effect and if the serving pair hit the ball down they do not lose the point; it is treated as a 'let'.
5. When a pair reaches 11 points, the server must stand with at least one foot on the bottom step when they serve. From that point they cannot move until the 'cutter' has hit to ball. This is called 'step'.
6. On 'step' the cutter can hit the ball anywhere on the front wall, it does not have to go to the right of the black line.

A point

A point operates thus: At the start of the play, the server stands between the buttress and the front wall. The receiver, known as a 'cutter', stands in the backcourt, along with the other two players (the cutter's partner stands behind him, with the server's partner in the bottom right corner). The server throws the ball high so it bounces off the front and right wall, landing after the step and roughly in the middle of the court (note: different players like the ball to bounce at different points in order to get varying types of spin on their 'cuts'). There are no rules about the serve but as a cutter can reject any serve, there is little benefit in giving him a serve which can not be easily hit. The cutter will then smash the ball overarm so that it is 'up', usually into the corner, so that the ball hits the right then the front wall and goes straight back at the server. The best way to follow up this 'cut' is to follow the ball in and stand on the step, ready for a volley if the server returns it high. From here the cutter and the server will try to volley the ball, while the other two players will sweep up anything that they miss. This continues until the ball is either hit 'down' or out of the court.

Competitions

There are now a huge number of Championships and tournaments that take place at various times throughout the fives season.

The Kinnaird Cup is an open tournament for men of any age. Over the years it has become more and more competitive, and is now the most sought after trophy of them all. Other Men's tournaments include the Northern Championships and the Eton Fives Association (EFA) Trophy, where teams of 6 players (3 pairs) compete against one another in one-set matches. This year (2007) was the first year that the EFA Trophy was won by a school team (from St. Olaves Grammar School). Peter Bird and Mark Chappel got through to the Quarter Finals in this years U15 nationals held at Highgate after superbly beating QEB 14-0 but were knocked out due to Mark taking preformance inhancing drugs.

The Schools National Championships are the highlight of the season for school players across the country. The location of the championships changes every year between Highgate School, Eton College and Shrewsbury School. There are championships for every age group, ranging from the Under 10s to the Open (Under 18s). Within these championships are the Main Tournament, Plate A, Plate B and as many plates as possible until everyone has played as much Fives as they want. Highgate School is a British Independent School in London, England. ... The Kings College of Our Lady of Eton beside Windsor, commonly known as Eton College or just Eton, is a public school (privately funded and independent) for boys, founded in 1440 by King Henry VI. It is located in Eton, near Windsor in England, north of Windsor Castle, and... Shrewsbury School (formally known as King Edward VI Grammar School, Shrewsbury) is an independent school, located in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. ...

Modern Fives

Fives is a sport that has become evermore popular amongst juniors and seniors, with a wide range a recreational, ladder and national tournaments to keep players occupied. The enthuiasm of top players like Matt Wiseman and Howard Wiseman is passed on throughout the teaching and hopefully a new generation of talent is on the brink.

Also notable to the achievement of Fives today is the the growing involvement by women. The relatively new women's fives league has started up with the addition of an annual nationals and many ladder competitions — female or mixed.

External links

• The Eton Fives association website
• Brief introduction
• Brief history
• Encyclopaedia Britannica article on Fives in general
• Geelong Grammar School