The Harvard men’s soccer team has been reborn. After two years without a win, they started off the 2021 season with a 3-2-1 record, beginning with a 4-0 victory over Central Connecticut State University. What provoked this new beginning? After a year off the field, the team boasts a fresh coaching staff, goal-oriented upperclassmen, and […]
When I discovered that I had tested positive for COVID-19, I was preparing for my first competition for the Harvard Cross Country Team in Princeton, New Jersey. Fortunately, I was alone when I opened up the test results immediately after receiving them, as I had made a habit of doing. Minus the few hours spent […]
In addition to their sporting talents, Harvard’s student-athletes have a knack for games on the Cambridge side of the Charles River.
Harvard boasts 42 nation-leading Division I intercollegiate sports teams. Roughly one-fifth of undergraduates are varsity athletes, and almost 80% participate in some form of athletics on campus. This fall, after 17 months without Ivy League athletics, The Crimson will once again participate in competitions. Despite the prolonged absence of competition and on-campus training, many student-athletes […]
Pictures comparing the vastly different weight rooms for the men and women basketball players at the NCAA’s March Madness Tournaments recently sparked controversy. Here’s how I imagine a few potential scenarios that led to this difference, ranked from least likely to most likely: #1: Some of the athletes in the women’s tournament advocated for there […]
Erin McDermott had big shoes to fill when she took the position as the John D. Nichols ’53 Director of Athletics in May 2020. She replaced Robert L. Scalise, who had held the position since 2001. But the Hofstra University basketball star was unfazed. For the nine years before stepping into her Harvard role, McDermott […]
On February 18, 2021, the Ivy League Council of Presidents announced that the Ivy League “would not conduct conference seasons or conference postseason events in any spring sports.” If public health conditions “significantly improve and if permitted by an institution, local non-conference competition may be allowed,” according to the joint statement released by the Council. […]
The Ivy League’s recent decision to cancel spring sports has doused the hopes of student-athletes, who have now been unable to compete for four athletics seasons due to the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 continues to be a potent disruptor in the lives of student-athletes. The gathering, sweating, and physical contact inherent to athletic competition certainly are […]
Practice social distancing. Limit in-person contact. Zoom as much as you can. For the past year, health experts have advised us to fly solo. But for those who have spent the greater part of their lives on a team—such as Harvard’s varsity athletes—the concept of self-isolation has proven exceptionally difficult. In the fall, the College […]