Not long after the club was founded, Boston’s harsh winters raised the quandary of how Union rowers would keep fit during the months when the Charles River was ice-bound. Court sports filled that need: first handball and later squash racquets, both pulse-racing games of speed and agility played in tight quarters.  The particular breed of handball played at Union is called “fives,” for the five fingers of the single hand operating the ball.  Fives is said to have originated in England, circa 1694, at Eton, the prestigious “public” school for the British aristocracy.  At the annual meeting in 1891, the Executive Committee authorized a court to be built in November of that same year.

Fives or handball has been a staple at the UBC for more than 100 years. As a cross training method for rowers in the early days, Fives grew into a competitive dedicated bunch who competed against other Boston area players. After WWII the number of clubs offering Fives declined, but the UBC has kept the tradition strong. With a long New England Winter outside the Fives players keep going inside. UBC today maintains two Fives courts and is looking at a trip across the pond to challenge some of the Brits at their own game.