Harvard Athletes React to Hard Times

The students on campus who participate in sports have mixed feelings about Harvard's athlete program. Many seem satisfied with the attempt of Robert B. Watson '37. Harvard's athletic director, to provide athletics for all. But others are dissatisfied with certain parts of the program. Still other students hold different opinions about what the present situation actually is from the opinions expressed by Watson.

For instance, Watson says that only a few of the top-notch high school athletes come to Harvard, Rob Shaw, a standout varsity football player disagrees with Watson. Shaw maintains that Harvard's raw athletic talent approaches the talent at some of the Big Ten schools and other "big-time" programs.

He says, some athletes at Harvard do not develop as much as those at "big-time" schools because the athletes here branch off into academics and other activities.

Shaw is a good enough football player to have been offered a tryout by a professional team in the Canadian Football League after he graduates next month. But he still says he likes the low-key atmosphere around athletics here and he has never regretted not having gone to a "big-time" sports school.

On the other hand, Bill Okerman, next year's cross-country captain agrees with Watson, saying that Harvard does not get many of the blue-chip high school athletes in cross-country and track.

But Okerman says that the coaches here are good and the academic work load is not too heavy. so if you work hard you can improve yourself and become a good intercollegiate athlete.

Further, "At Harvard there is not much external pressure on athletes to perform well. So, when you do succeed, you know you did it yourself and you have a feeling of accomplishment."

Okerman says he is glad Harvard is not pursuing the policy of recruiting hand-picked varsity athletes and cutting back sharply on J.V. programs, as some lvy League schools have done. "When you do that, sports becomes too much like a business," he says.

At Harvard, J.V. squads have been eliminated in baseball, basketball, soccer, swimming and golf in recent years. But the Athletic Department plans to bring back J.V. baseball and J.V. soccer in 1975-76. Also, a J.V. lacrosse team is a possibility for next year.

Brian Shea, a senior who played freshman soccer, agrees with Okerman that the J.V. programs should be maintained.

He points out that the J.V. programs serve several purposes. "Some guys need the experience at the J.V. level in order to become good enough to eventually make the varsity. Others play J.V. sports just for fun. There are a lot of good athletes on campus who can't make the varsity squads, but who can still find a good level of competition in the J.V. programs."

Robin Wynne, a senior who has played golf for Harvard all four years feels that the lack of freshman and J.V. squads hurting the overall golf program.

Only 11 of the 32 people who tried out for golf this year were allowed to play at all and the upperclassmen on the team do not search out the good freshmen since they are afraid the freshmen will capture some of the scarce playing spots, Wynne says.

As he says, "You don't get the best team this way."

On the other hand, swimming coach Ray Essick does "not feel the need for a J.V. program" in his sport.

He says that historically Harvard has had a J.V. swimming team, but just barely. The J.V. often had to scramble to get a full team and the competition was less than stellar. For these reasons, and because he has been able to work J.V. swimmers into varsity meets, he says the present varsity only arrangement in swimming is adequate.

Essick did say that the money crunch has been felt on the swim team's road trips. They often have to put three athletes into a hotel room meant for two people and they are no longer able to stay overnight on most road trips.

In addition, he says, "we are doing the Golden Arches more regularly," instead of eating in hotel dining rooms.

Essick says the pool time allotted to the men's team has been cut substantially due to the increased use of the IAB pool by the women's swim team.

He feels that Radcliffe is entitled to its time in the pool and says the one-pool situation is "something we have to live with."

Nancy Sato, a versatile Radcliffe athlete who has a national ranking in diving, says that women still have not been provided with the basics in many sports.

She points out that, in the past, women have not had full-time coaches, trainers, managers, or even practice gear.

Up until now, she says, the Radcliffe crew has been the only well-coordinated women's program on campus.

In other sports, such as field hockey and swimming, talented women lose interest because of the poor conditions under which they must practice and compete.

Sato cites one field hockey game last fall when Buildings and Grounds had not cleared the field of trash. The women on the team had to pick up the trash from the field a few minutes before game time. "It's like making McInally put up the goalposts before he plays a football game," she says.

Sato doesn't want to see any cutbacks in the men's programs, but she stresses that women's programs are still lacking the essentials. Right now, she says, most other lvy League schools have established better women's programs than the program on this campus.

She does note signs of improvement there are plans to organize a women's intramural program next year as well as a Radcliffe Varsity Club and an alumnae organization of "Friends of Radcliffe Athletics." Also, she says the Athletic Department has promised to give the women better equipment, better coaching and generally more support next year.

Other athletes on campus also have complaints about the condition of the facilities.

Bill Okerman is dissatisfied with the conditions under which he and other members of the track team must practice and compete.

Since the collapse of the Farrell Bubble in a windstorm in December 1973, the track team has been forced to spend the indoor season in small, dusty Briggs Cage. Okerman notes that it is especially important for a New England school to have a good indoor facility because the indoor season here lasts from November to the end of March.

The Bubble, which had a modern tartan track, was one of the best indoor facilities in New England. Okerman says it motivated Harvard trackmen to attend practices regularly throughout the winter months. But "nobody wants to come down to Briggs to work out," he says. In fact, Okerman claims some of the injuries suffered by runners on the track team this winter may have been caused by the poor quality of the dirt track in Briggs Cage.

Okerman believes that the coaches and athletes in the track program were "misled" by the Athletic Department about the situation with the Bubble. He says members of the Athletic Department gave the impression that there was a chance the Bubble might be put up again when there was actually no chance of doing this.

Watson says the Athletic Department has not acted in bad faith in this matter. He says he originally thought there was a fair chance the Bubble could be reconstructed. But it later became clear to him that money could not be raised to reconstruct the temporary Bubble facility especially since the Department plans to construct a permanent indoor track facility within the next few years.

Watson says it is possible that Okerman misunderstood the changing circumstances connected with the Bubble.

The comments made by these participants give an indication of the various interests which must be served by Watson and the Athletic Department. Also, the Harvard alumni, the Radcliffe alumnae, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the federal government and many other groups have their say.

This variety of interest groups would make the job of the Athletic Department difficult even if inflation were not eating away at its fixed budget.

So far, the Athletic Department has weathered the storm fairly well. It has started to provide a respectable women's program while continuing to achieve its basic aims in men's sports.

Not only has Harvard continued to allow "maximum participation" in men's sports, but its varsity teams consistently have done quite well within the lvy League. In 1973-74, Harvard's overall intercollegiate record for varsity contests was 155.78-3, for a total percentage of 663. Pennsylvania was the only Ivy League school with a better overall percentage.

But with the pressures it faces, financially and otherwise, can Harvard's athletic program continue to have it both ways? Can the school stick by its avowed policy of "athletics for all" and still field winning varsities?

Maybe.

This is the second of two parts of a feature on the Harvard athletic program. Part I was printed in last Friday's Crimson.