Behind each nice group are scholar managers. To the coaches and gamers, they’re indispensable, arriving properly earlier than the primary whistle and staying lengthy after the ultimate play. Their duties are broad and are continually evolving, from analyzing statistics to filling up water bottles. They embody the identical dedication and fervour because the athletes they assist. They’re the group behind the group.
To the managers themselves the position is greater than a job — it’s a technique to keep linked to a sport they love (and generally performed themselves), contribute to one thing greater than themselves, construct relationships, and for some lay the muse for a profession in sports activities.
Debora Ortega-Maldonado ’26
Ortega-Maldonado, who took her highschool supervisor’s job to Harvard soccer, is pleased with the 2 Ivy Championships the group has earned throughout her watch.
“Probably the most rewarding a part of my job is attending to see how all of the follow the group does and all their laborious work is transferred over to sport day,” she says.
Ortega-Maldonado is at each follow and sport. In contrast to the gamers, who comply with strict schedules, managers set their hours themselves, balancing their tasks with an equally, if no more, time-consuming dedication.
Michael Poirier, J.D. ’25
Males’s Basketball Workforce
“I’ve wished to work within the NBA since I used to be a child, so this has solely strengthened that dream,” says Poirier.
A former participant at Lakehead College, Poirier now performs a pivotal position within the internal workings of the lads’s basketball group whereas balancing his research as a 3L at Harvard Legislation College. His managerial work ranges from watching sport movies and monitoring statistics to helping with recruiting supplies. Even small issues like establishing chairs throughout timeouts fall to him.
“It’s considered one of my favourite elements of my Harvard expertise,” he says of his position as a scholar supervisor.
Tommy Amaker, the Thomas G. Stemberg ’71 Household Endowed Head Coach, emphasizes the very important position college students like Poirier play in this system: “Our scholar managers are as necessary as anybody in our basketball program. They work extremely laborious and present an unwavering dedication. Our success is instantly tied to our managers.”
Claire Pak ’26
Ladies’s Lacrosse Workforce
For Pak, the perfect a part of working with the ladies’s lacrosse group is the relationships she has constructed with gamers and coaches. She has “gotten extremely near many ladies on the group,” says the Quincy Home resident.
Pak helps the group “in each manner,” managing gear, filming practices, inputting and analyzing key statistics, and ensuring the snack bin is at all times full. The work requires sacrifice. She spends from eight to 12 hours every week with the group and sacrifices her weekends to journey to video games.
“It’s all value it,” she says.
Devon Wills, the Carole Kleinfelder Head Coach for Harvard Ladies’s Lacrosse, says, “Our scholar managers, particularly Claire, … are the spine of our group, making certain that each one the little particulars are taken care of at follow and on sport days so we are able to concentrate on performing.”
Andrea Tchinda ’27
Ladies’s Basketball Workforce
Tchinda had performed her sport in highschool and arrived at Harvard understanding she wished to work with the ladies’s basketball group. The summer season earlier than her first 12 months, she emailed Carrie Moore, the Kathy Delaney-Smith Head Coach for Harvard Ladies’s Basketball, to make certain she would have the ability to begin as a supervisor on her first day. She stresses the significance of believing within the group’s mission and dealing towards maximizing their objectives.
“Plenty of occasions this implies placing the group earlier than your self, despite the fact that you aren’t a participant or a coach,” she says.
Moore acknowledges this dedication, explaining that Tchinda “has a love for the sport of basketball, but in addition a real love for our gamers and workers.”
Andrew Arkow ’27
Males’s Tennis Workforce
As the lads’s tennis scholar supervisor, Arkow finds himself dealing with every little thing from video analytics and logistical assist to working the scoreboard and selecting up freshly strung rackets.
Arkow can be a member of the group, however his connection to Harvard tennis runs even deeper — his brother, David, performed for the Crimson from 2020 to 2024.
“Tennis has at all times been a giant a part of my life,” he says. The additional work as scholar supervisor is value it — to assist make the coaches’ and gamers’ “lives rather less anxious.”
