The most visible evidence of Ranney’s outstanding athletics program is the Gerhard Pavilion for Athletics. Not only was it one of the first buildings established on campus, but this 33-year-old facility is also the one piece of Ranney history that all students share. It is the place that binds students together – from grade to grade, and generation to generation.

Whether students received their first swimming instruction in its 25-meter pool, or were taught how to bounce a basketball there for the first time, the Gerhard Pavilion plays an integral part in every Ranney students’ education.

The walls of the Gerhard Pavilion hold over 88 championship banners; it is where the annual faculty-student basketball game is played each year, where over 34,000 physical education classes have been held, and where, in 1979, the varsity boys’ basketball team played its first game on the new court. That same year, the team went on to dominate in its division, won its first invitational basketball tournament, and for the first time in the school’s history, went on to play in the state tournament.

Since that first championship year, Ranney School has won 15 Panther Classic Championships, has hosted a New Jersey Independent School championship basketball game, and has played more than 1,025 basketball games on the gym floor. This fall, the Kelly Tennis Center hosted the 2011 Shore Conference Girls’ Tennis Championships.

Every Ranney student has created a memory inside the Athletics building, and it continues to hold the hopes and dreams of future athletes, who will bring honor to Ranney School.

Each child deserves the opportunity to make the most of his or her innate potential. As history shows, Ranney’s athletics program and facilities, including the Gerhard Pavilion, Kelly Tennis Center, Karagianakis Field and Guidone Track, make it possible for children to pursue excellence at even higher levels.