Matson, Hockey Team, Establish New Goals

Barbie Matson, the Radcliffe field hockey team's goalie, captain and manager, is not a typical Harvard jock and her game is not a typical Harvard sport.

But through Matson's efforts, hockey's status has boomed over the past two years, and its position promises to be even stronger when she concludes her career.

Matson, who first played hockey in seventh grade, went out for the Radcliffe team two years ago and has been the goalie ever since. However, her greatest service to the sport has not been on the field but in promoting its status in the Harvard athletic hierarchy.

Organizing the team's pre-game meals at the Varsity Club, arranging for their new field behind Watson Rink, and obtaining their just-completed locker room in Palmer-Dixon are a few of Matson's accomplishments.

Although attendance has fallen off since last year, when the team played at the Radcliffe Quad, Matson says she prefers the new site.

"Here we have a regulation-size field. And Harvard bought us some legal goals. All of this has been the result of Harvard's taking over the Radcliffe Athletic Department as part of the non-merger," she said.

The hockey team practices only three times a week at most while Northeastern and other schools are more organized in their routine. Many of the Radcliffe players are unable to show up on some of the practice days, adding to the lack of team cohesion.

Matson does not see anything wrong with this lack of emphasis on the sport. However, she said she would like to hold a pre-school practice next fall for the first team members to eliminate some of the advantage gained by the earlier-starting schools.

Field hockey is not the whole of Matson's life at Harvard, however. Although she does not consider herself an intellectual like the many Harvard students she says "come here, put their heads in books, and emerge four years later," Matson enjoys her academic work.

"I am majoring in biology because I like it," she said. "It probably will be of no direct value to me when I graduate as I am not going into medicine or lab biology as a career."

Matson has no definite plans for her future past graduation in 1975. She maintains she does not plan to go to graduate school or do any scholarly work. At the same time, she said she realizes she will end her connections with field hockey after next fall.

"I don't want to coach field hockey or anything like that," Matson said. "I guess I really came to Radcliffe to find a rich husband but, failing that, I don't know what I'll do."

Matson has further objectives for field hockey right now, however. She said she hopes her next gain from Harvard will be varsity "H" letters for the hockey team.

"I guess that would make us officially Harvard," she said. "Maybe we could get on the Harvard fall sports schedule next year. But we have already gotten a lot for the team, and I don't know what will be next."

The season is not over yet as the team has games remaining with Wellesley, Princeton and Yale. "The game with Princeton will be the toughest, as they beat us 3-1 last year in a tough game," she said. "We have a grudge to pick with them, and we should be ready for that game."

With the end of the season, Matson will go on to other pursuits this winter, maybe even studying. But her efforts to elevate Radcliffe field hockey to the level of other Harvard sports will continue until she leaves Harvard with her diploma and a large debt owed her by future Radcliffe field hockey players.