Club sports storage space in QRAC squash court.
By JILLY CRONIN
Perhaps one of the best parts of attending Harvard is the opportunity for increased experience in cool and unusual activities. Physical activities, also known as sports, definitely qualify as some such activities. The college often boasts that over 80% of the undergraduate student population participates in some form of athletic involvement. A large portion of that percentage consists of members of one or more of the 42 Division I intercollegiate varsity teams. The rest of that percentage consists of members of one of the many and diverse club sports teams. These club sports include: aikido, archery, badminton, ballroom dance, basketball, bodybuilding, bowling, boxing, cheerleading, Crimson Dance, cycling, fencing, figure skating, hapkido, juggling, jujitsu, kendo, lacrosse, polo, rugby, Shaolin kempo, Shotokan karate, skiing, soccer, swimming, table tennis, tae kwon do, tai chi/kung fu, tennis, ultimate Frisbee, volleyball, and wushu. Readers may not even recognize a few of these sports! The list, though not exhaustive, showcases only a part of the range of student interests outside of intense and disciplined academic passions. It is a commendation to the unique character of this greatest of Ivies that the administration encourages and provides opportunities for the committed individuals who define the school through their diverse interests.
The facilities for athletics that Harvard owns and operates are aptly suited for the many sports that use and rely on them. The club sports also require some sort of space, though obviously not to the extent of most varsity sports. While some club sports are more visible than others, like the Crimson Dance team, others remain happily within smaller circles, like wushu! Any and all of these activities have some sort of spatial requirements to meet. Some of these club sports meet those requirements through the use of an old squash court in the lower floor the Quadrangle Recreational Athletic Center (QRAC). This hidden treasure of space and objects is depicted in the photographs in this article. The range of odd materials and surprising quantity of it is interestingly arrayed. Depicted are both the range of sports listed and the surprising quantity of material needed to play or practice. Items included are used by the polo, archery, field hockey, and tae kwon do teams. For example, the polo team, while keeping their live horses off campus, uses a wooden horse in that squash court for hitting practice. Strange-looking to the casual observer, but understandably necessary for such a team!
While the space looks quite crowded and unorganized, most of the club sports teams allowed access to the court seem to be able to use the space well. Tae Kwon Do President Memie Osuga ’20 states that, “Club sports does a good job providing us with adequate practice and storage space.” Who knew?!
Jilly Cronin (croninj@college.harvard.edu) would like to explore this hidden treasure trove of a squash court again!