New Haven Sports & Outdoor Life
The Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale is home to the New Haven Open Tennis Tournament, which spotlights the top women's tennis players in the world just a week before the U.S. Open in New York. Yale boasts one of the largest gymnasiums in the world, and its athletic facilities allow graduate students to participate in everything from scuba diving to polo to tae kwan do. There are active intramural leagues in every imaginable sport; a yacht club that is open to members for lessons, sailing, and wind surfing; a flying club; and a world class, Charles Blair MacDonald-designed eighteen-hole golf course.
As in other college towns, bikers, joggers, and roller bladers are omnipresent, but for such a small city, New Haven is unusual in that much of its land is devoted to parks. For those who prefer sand to sidewalks, Lighthouse Point on Long Island Sound is a public beach for swimming, boating, and picnicking.
In addition, the expansive lawns of Edgerton Park and the extensive hiking and biking trails of East Rock Park offer immediate escape from city life. Mountain bikers also find trails in neighboring rural communities both on the shoreline and inland. CT has several ski slopes, and as mentioned in the “New Haven and New England” section of this site, the ski resorts of Vermont and New Hampshire are only a few hours drive away.
