H-Club members Suzanne Besu '01 (left), Sarah Mattson '01, Stephen Tai '00, and Katie Duffy '01 get together outside the MAC. Mattson is president of the H-Club, the student sports booster organziation that is dedicated to bolstering student support for athletics to even greater heights. Founded in the spring of 1998, the College's only athletic booster organization has grown to a membership of more than 50. Photo by Kris Snibbe.

Athletics at Harvard has always been something to cheer about. Last year - perhaps Harvard's best ever - left Crimson fans with a host of memorable moments, like the women's basketball team's thrilling upset of Stanford in the first round of the NCAA tournament and the football team's Ivy Championship.

Harvard students have long been loyal, avid, and vocal supporters of the various Crimson crusaders: the rabid Harvard hockey fans of the 1980s contributed to more than one team victory, and any Harvard student can tell of Harvard-Yale weekend antics in both Cambridge and New Haven. Fan enthusiasm, in short, has been around Harvard since its first athletic event - now it's official.

During the spring of 1998, Assistant Director of Athletics Steve Staples, along with representatives from both the faculty and the Athletic Department, created the Harvard H-Club, an organization dedicated to bolstering student support for athletics to even greater heights. A year later, as the H-Club enters its second semester, the College's only athletic booster organization has grown to a membership of over 50.

The H-Club seeks to improve student support for all aspects of Harvard's athletic program through voluntary spirit and community service activities. Although originally organized by officers of the Athletic Department, the H-Club remains independent from the Department. A nine-member executive board conducts the Club's daily business and produces special events during the academic year; the executive board also works closely with existing "spirit" organizations like the Harvard Cheerleaders and the Harvard Band.

The H-Club officially kicked off its first year with "Welcome Freshmen Night," held during Freshman Week. The evening featured an introduction to Harvard's athletic facilities and the athletic program.

The festivities began in the Yard, where cheerleaders and the Band rallied freshmen at the John Harvard statue and led a rainy parade across the river. Scorning the bad weather, a few hundred hardy first-years braved the elements and were rewarded with virtuoso performances by the cheerleaders and Band, various presentations, and a much-needed lesson in the lyrics of "Ten Thousand Men of Harvard."

The H-Club then assumed responsibility for the planning of "Hockey Madness," Harvard hockey's annual kick- off event. H-Club Hockey Chair Suzy Besu '01 met extensively with head coach Ronn Tomassoni and secured dozens of prize donations from local businesses. The event drew nearly a thousand fans to Bright Hockey Center, many of whom went home laden with free T-shirts and various prizes. All the fans in attendance were introduced to members of the '98-99 men's and women's hockey teams and got to watch a men's intrasquad scrimmage. "Hockey Madness," certainly the most successful event of the H-Club's inaugural year, should prove an exciting annual event for Harvard students.

The '98 football season provided golden opportunities for H- Club events, which included several tailgates, perhaps most memorably a successful collaboration with the Undergraduate Council (UC) on Harvard-Yale weekend. Hundreds of students took advantage of the H-Club/UC free food and commemorative "rowdy rags." Although the sold-out student section couldn't quite rally the football team to a victory over the Bulldogs, their enthusiasm pointed toward a significant jump in student support for athletics.

The H-Club executive board is developing a secondary spirit organization to boost support for Harvard's basketball and hockey teams. The "Crimson Crazies," an all-student cheering section modeled after Duke's well-known Cameron Crazies and sponsored by the Harvard Cooperative Society, will debut in Lavietes Pavilion and Bright Hockey Center in February.

Undergraduates who commit to attend a certain number of games receive a free Crimson Crazies T- shirt and various promotions throughout the winter season to commend their spirited cheering. The H-Club hopes to recruit at least 40 Crimson Crazies each for basketball and hockey.

In addition to increasing membership and attendance at athletic events, the H-Club plans to publish and distribute a newsletter detailing its activities and providing athletic schedules. The group also hopes to obtain office space in the Yard to better meet the needs of the student body.

Interviews for '99-00 executive board positions will be conducted this spring. Students interested in joining the H-Club or being added to the H-Club e-mail list, which alerts students to upcoming athletic and special events, should e-mail H-Club vice president for membership, Katie Duffy '01, at duffy@fas. A membership fee of $10 includes an H-Club T-shirt and free admittance to various special events.