The Extracurricular Carries the Mission: Historical Perspectives on Games and Sports in Jesuit Education

This article explores the role of extracurricular sports and activities in Jesuit education, tracing their historical development from the early modern period to the present. Contrary to the perception that Jesuit schools adopted extracurricular activities, including sports, solely in response to external cultural trends, the study highlights how these activities have been integral to Jesuit pedagogy’s holistic vision. Through examples from the early modern sources and a focus on the French and Northern American contexts between the nineteenth and early twenty centuries, the article reveals the ways in which sports, games, and physical education have contributed to fostering formative education within Jesuit institutions. Emphasizing the centrality of extracurricular activities for Jesuit pedagogy, the study sheds light on how Jesuit educational institutions uniquely align these activities with their educational philosophy, impacting students’ intellectual, physical, and moral formation.