Managers: Unnoticed And Indispensable

Liz King, one of five managers for the varsity football team, describes the plight of Harvard's student-managers best when she says: "If all the travel, hotel, food, and equipment accomodations are running smoothly, nobody notices us, but when any problems come up, that's when we start getting attention." King, a three-year veteran who during the season works up to 40 unpaid hours a week as head manager for the gridders, adds, "managers often work three full years before they get a letter."

But take heart Liz, because your efforts and those of Harvard's 30 other student-managers really are appreciated--at least by those who toil in Dillon field house and 60 Boylston St. For example, Joe Restic, nead coach of the football team, said recently, "Managers play a very, very, important role in Harvard athletics. They are a vital part of our particular program."

Men's heavyweight crew coach Harry Parker--who is currently without the services of a manager--echoed Restic's remarks, saying, "Managers are extremely helpful--by arranging all our trips, they allow me to concentrate on my players and the race." Full-time equipment manager and locker-room sage Chet Stone, who works closely with managers throughout the year, said recently. "They make everyone's job around here a lot easier. I really don't know what we would do without them."

Despite this unabashed praise from the czars of Harvard athletics, however, there has been a steady decline in the number of managers over the last decade. Some sports--like football, basketball, and swimming--have had at least marginal success recruiting managers, but almost half of Harvard's intercollegiate teams--including the hockey, men's crew, and men's track and cross country teams--have either one or no student-managers. And considering that many managers work for more than one team, it is very apparent that there is a shortage of students in the program.

John P. Reardon Jr. '60, director of Athletics and a onetime Harvard football manager, had--with the aid of King and managerial "wunderkind" John Fenton--revitalized the Undergraduate Manager's Council (UMC) to spur interest and participation in the program.

Fenton, the undergraduate president of the UMC, says the council--which was formed in 1961 but which received University recognition just this fall--will provide a forum and a voice for current managers. Head manager for the baseball and basketball teams, Fenton adds that the group is "attempting to standardize procedures among the various managers, to establish a Friends of Harvard Managers alumni organization and, most importantly, to recruit new managers."

John Wentzell, assistant to the director of athletics and one of two faculty advisors to the UMC adds. "We are examining the whole system this year; we are working with current managers through the undergraduate council to discover ways of increasing participation in the program." Under the auspices of Wentzell, Fenton, and UMC vice president Tom Kardish '83, the council sent more than 400 letters to incoming freshment this year.

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Several different reasons may be responsible for the decade-long downturn. The determining factor is economic, says Wentzell. "Harvard does not offer scholarships or work-study programs to its managers like some of the bigger schools, so it is understandable that in our economic climate today, not many kids can devote that much time to an activity without getting paid for it." King, who maintains that there is a dearth of managers in all the Ivy League schools, echoes these feelings: "Managing is too much of a time committment for most students with large course-loads. Many big state schools get around this problem by offering course-credit to their managers."

But Fenton claims that the meager involvement in Harvard managing is largely an image problem. "People usually look down on their high school managers and then decide they will never do it in college--but being a college manager is totally different. It is a much more difficult and responsible job."

A manager's duties vary according to each sport and to each particular coach, but all of Harvard's student-managers fulfill several common functions. Most importantly, managers arrange transportation, food, and lodging for away games. In addition, they attend virtually every practice and game, keep statistics on the players, report scores and times after each contest, take care of refreshments and the medical kit for the players, and act as liasons between coaches, administrators, and Building and Grounds.

Why Not?

Just as individual chores vary for managers, their reasons for becoming managers are equally diverse. Some managers, like Fenton, were managers in high school, knew they would manage when they came to Harvard, and are even considering a career in professional sports management.

Most students, though, never imagined they would take up managing when they came to Harvard, Frances Hochschild, head manager of the freshman football team, says. "I wanted to play field hockey here, but I couldn't make the team, and because I like sports more than drama or music. I became a manager."

Margaret Gore, ex-manager for the men's fencing team says she started managing because, "I had lots of friends on the team, they needed a manager, and I wanted to learn about the sport." Senior Francesca Brockett, who manages the football team and believes her responsibilities and administrative duties as a manager have given her a solid background for the business world says, "I initially joined to get away from the library and to meet people."

And Clare Martin, a petite freshman who co-manages the freshman football team, answers the question a different--and more graphic way. "I was at this party once, when this guy started bothering me. All of a sudden three freshman football players came over, and the guy left." Martin adds, "I feel like I've got 82 big brothers."