• By Sam Parton
• In Blog
• Nov 29, 2013

The Unearthing of Hidden London Sports Halls

Sports Halls in London come in all shapes and sizes, catering to a plethora of different sports such as 5-a-side football, volleyball, basketball, badminton, gymnastics, cricket nets and more. Their size often dictates the sports on offer, with some sports such as handball only suitable in sports halls 40m in length or more.

As can be expected most of the London sports halls belong to schools or leisure centres and are inevitably very popular, particularly towards central London. School sports halls are usually used by the particular school until around 5pm to 6pm from Monday to Fridays, at which point most will become available for community use. However this isn't always the case and some schools will only let out to commercial organisations on a long-term basis as historically they provide more revenue and security than pay and play bookings.

OpenPlay aims to change that by facilitating shorter-term, pay and play bookings without the lengthy bureaucracy which can typify hiring of such facilities.

Sports Halls in London

Sports Halls in South London

Dunraven school, Streatham

A medium size hall suitable for 5-a-side football, basketball, badminton (4 courts), netball and cricket. It is available outside of school hours and currently has reasonable community use for badminton, fencing and netball. However there are plenty of gaps, particularly on weekends which is fairly surprising as prices are incredibly low at around £40/hour. You can book the Dunvraven School sports online here.

Globe Academy, Elephant & Castle

This lies in the heart of Southwark and is one of the most centrally located sports halls I know of, which isn't too far away from Elephant & Castle tube station. Though perhaps not the most desirable area of London, the Globe Academy sports hall is excellent and offers a great range of sports facilities for sports such as 5-a-side football, badminton, basketball, netball and most other indoor sports. Bookings are managed by Schools Plus and you can book through OpenPlay here.

Harris Girls' Academy East Dulwich, Peckham Rye

Situated off Peckham Rye Common in trendy East Dulwich, Harris Girls' Academy East Dulwich has an excellent sports hall which can be split into two halves. Sports typically played in this South London sports hall include Badminton, 5-a-side football, volleyball, basketball, netball and table tennis. There is some availability during the week and a great variety of activities taking place. You can find out further details here.

Sports Halls in West London

Heston Community School, Osterley

Wedged in between Osterley and Hounslow, Heston Community School has some excellent sports facilities, some of which have been recently upgraded such as their 3G football pitches. One of their offerings is an indoor sports hall which caters for most indoor sports such as cricket (two sets of nets), basketball (international standard), 5-a-side football, netball and indoor hockey. The sports hall online booking can be carried out via OpenPlay here.

Chiswick School, Chiswick

Chiswick School is located off Burlington Lane towards the south of Chiswick, fairly close to the Thames. It offers a broad range of sports facilities to the community and sports groups outside of school hours such as a floodlt 5-a-side 3G football and full size 11-a-side grass football pitch. However more interesting than these fine assets is its indoor sports hall which caters for badminton, netball, indoor cricket nets, 5-a-side football and volleyball. It it available for community hire and the link to the Chiswick School OpenPlay profile is here.

Sports Halls in North London

Haverstock School

Haverstock school is in Chalk Farm and the community lettings of the sports facilities are run by a large Japanese company called Kajima Ltd. The sports facilities on offer include a 7-a-side football pitch, a basketball court and an indoor sports hall. The indoor sports hall caters to the usual range of sports such as badminton, basketball, 5-a-side football and netball. Bookings can be made via OpenPlay at the Haverstock School profile here.


By Sam Parton

Sam is co-Founder of OpenPlay which makes it easier to find and book sports facilities such as London sports halls. The OpenPlay marketplace is constantly expanding around London across all kinds of sports venues.