Sport plays a vital part of the life of the citizens of Rhodes, Greece. Sports provides for entertainment, recreation and bonding activity. Football and basketball is the most popular sport in the Island of Rhodes. Nonetheless there are other sports played in the area. There are also three major sports venues in Rhodes namely; the Rhodes Municipal Stadium, Kallipateira National Athletic Center and the Municipal Indoor Hall of “Venetokleio”.

Football is highly regarded in Rhodes. Actually, there are two major football teams in Rhodes- Diagoras GS and the AS Rodos. These teams are able to compete in the Greek National Third Division (Gamma Ethniki). Aside from these two, there are more than 50 teams in Rhodes distributed among three divisions.

Basketball is another popular sport in the island. Rhodes’ basketball team is widely recognized for their exemplary performance. In the last 15 years Rhodes was represented in the national level by Colossus BC which won various awards and promotion to National A1 Ethniki. The AS Diagoras Rhodes is another noteworthy team in the island. It received recognition in the National Third Division and AS Dodekanisos. It is considered the pride of the Aegean for being able to compete and excel in the national basketball league for handicapped. Rhodes has two divisions, and about 14 teams.

The other sports widely played in Rhodes include volleyball, water polo, rugby, table tennis, sailing, and cycling. Though these sports were not promoted very much, the various teams of Rhodes received awards in the bi-annual Island Games. The Colossoi of Rhodes, a new team in rugby reached the top spot in the league finals second time in the row for the Island games. The AS Diagonas Rhodes lost in the third division of the volleyball competition and was returned to the local leagues.

Table tennis is also often played in Rhodes and the island from time to time developed highly skilled players. We also need to acknowledge the competitiveness of cyclists from Rhodes. For the longest time, the island was the only place in Greece with a cycling track that offered Olympic level athletes.

Rhodes’ greatness in sports was often showed in the bi-annual Island Games. This competition features events in archery, athletics, basketball, cycling, football, golf, judo, sailing, shooting, swimming, tennis, triathlon and volleyball. Rhodes hosted the NatWest Island Games held June 30 to July 6, 2007.