Three JV Teams To Become Club Sports

Harvard junior varsity athletes said they were “blind-sided” Monday when the Faculty of Arts and Sciences announced that three JV men’s sports—baseball, basketball, and ice hockey—would be cut with the intent of transforming the teams into club programs next year.

“This was kind of out of nowhere,” said Matthew S. Coe-Odess ’12, a member of the JV baseball team. “Our captain told us that no one had contacted us.”

Nicholas P. Manzo ’10, a three-year veteran of the JV basketball team, said that he received no prior notification that his team had been eliminated.

“It wasn’t expected but it wasn’t surprising,” Manzo said. “There was no e-mail or anything and we didn’t know beforehand...I don’t think our coaches knew either.”

The cut was one of several made by the athletic department to reduce its budget as part of $77 million in reductions across FAS released Monday. Athletic department officials plan to meet with members of the JV teams in the coming weeks to assist with the transition to club status, the players said.

Director of Athletics Robert L. Scalise and other administrators in the athletic department did not return repeated requests for comment over the past two days.

At this moment, players say they are uncertain about what the future holds. Club sports, unlike JV teams, are not funded or managed by the athletic department, and students hold full operational and financial responsibility.

Turning a JV team into a club team requires several players to take on administrative duties, including fundraising, scheduling games, buying equipment, hiring coaches, and communicating with the athletic department to book facilities for practices.

“Personally I’ve enjoyed club better,” said Jocelyn G. Karlan ’12, treasurer of the women’s club soccer team, which voluntarily became a club team this year with encouragement from the athletic department. “I feel a lot more freedom as a club team. There’s a challenge but we have our own power to do things.”

Citing the success of other club sports, some of the JV athletes affeted by the announcement said they favored the planned change.

“We’re optimistic that the change is going to be a good thing,” said Daniel A. Sack ’10, captain of the JV men’s basketball team. “But we would have liked more warning...[We were] pretty much blind-sided.”

Other students were less hopeful about the pending change.

“I was very disappointed,” Coe-Odess said. “Harvard brags that it has the most sports. To cut JV baseball after such a long tradition is frustrating.”

Several athletes voiced their dissatisfaction in how the athletic department has treated JV sports. Players cited a short game schedule, administrative disorganization, and arms-length treatment by the athletic department. According to Kelly N. Bodwin ’11, the athletic department scheduled just a single game against a high school team for JV softball last year.

“It’s pretty clear [the athletic department] only cares about varsity,” said Bodwin, who has played for the JV softball, JV women’s ice hockey, and club volleyball teams. “It’s pretty frustrating how they’re trying to get rid of the JV program...They’re just kind of underhanded about the whole thing.”

Coe-Odess echoed Bodwin’s sentiments.

“I obviously wouldn’t want JV baseball to receive as much attention as varsity, but I think there’s a difference between attention and disregard,” Coe-Odess said.

The athletic department also announced plans to close the Malkin Athletic Center this summer, curtail facility projects and upkeep, increase energy conservation initiatives, and reduce team travel budgets in an effort to cut costs.

—Staff writer Jake I. Fisher can be reached at jifisher@fas.harvard.edu.