The Harvard Gazette

Campus & Community

Quidditch, anyone? Inside Harvard club sports

Kami Krista ’21 scales Harvard’s bouldering wall while members of the Climbing Club look on. — Kami Krista ’21 scales Harvard’s bouldering wall while members of the Climbing Club look on.

Photos by J. Graham Pearsall

Snapshots of student athletes in motion

By J. Graham Pearsall

DateJanuary 11, 2018November 8, 2023

Teddy Roosevelt boxed. Tommy Lee Jones played football. Neil deGrasse Tyson wrestled.

For generations, Harvard University students have turned to physical activity for a break from rigorous study.

Current junior Jack Deschler’s release is climbing.

“The climbing team has been a way for me to unplug from the stress of papers and problem sets,” Deschler said. “I come back refreshed and ready to work again.”

With 40 varsity athletic teams, 67 club sports, and 26 intramural programs at Harvard, there is no shortage of options for student athletes.

Shadows box on the mezzanine floor of Malkin Athletic Center. Brian Ge ’18 lines up a break shot during Billiards Club practice in Winthrop House’s Beren Hall.

Shadows box on the mezzanine floor of Malkin Athletic Center. Brian Ge ’18 lines up a break shot during Billiards Club practice in Winthrop House’s Beren Hall.

The Harvard Horntails circle up between games during a quidditch tournament at Tufts University.

Leverett House denies a Lowell House touchdown during an intramural flag football semifinal matchup.

Kyle Deeds ’20 grimaces through the sweat of a Boxing Club workout. Lowell and Leverett Houses battle under the Harvard Stadium lights for a place in the intramural flag football championship game.

Kyle Deeds ’20 grimaces through the sweat of a Boxing Club workout. Lowell and Leverett Houses battle under the Harvard Stadium lights for a place in the intramural flag football championship game.

Jesse Thue ’20 drives past members of Boston University’s quidditch team.

Elissa Taylor ’21 searches for her next handhold while scaling the bouldering wall.

Brian Ge ’18 lines up a shot during billiards practice. Christopher Robinson ’18 of Lowell House goes airborne to avoid Leverett House tacklers.

Brian Ge ’18 lines up a shot during billiards practice. Christopher Robinson ’18 of Lowell House goes airborne to avoid Leverett House tacklers.

Hannah Ades ’18 throws a punch during Boxing Club practice. Boxing was once a required sport at Harvard and is one of the College’s oldest pastimes.

There are no magical flying snitches in muggle quidditch, just a tennis ball in a yellow sock. Natalie Sherman Jollis ’21 lunges for it during a match at Tufts University.

Michael Chenevey ’20 secures Harvard’s victory over Middlebury College with a diving catch of the snitch. Tom McCarthy ’21 laughs with members of the Climbing Club during a team meetup in the Quadrangle Recreational Athletic Center.

Michael Chenevey ’20 secures Harvard’s victory over Middlebury College with a diving catch of the snitch. Tom McCarthy ’21 laughs with members of the Climbing Club during a team meetup in the Quadrangle Recreational Athletic Center.

Andrew Flannery ’20 celebrates a Lowell House touchdown.

Harvard’s Climbing Club fills the basement of the Quadrangle Recreational Athletic Center, where two squash courts were converted into a climbing wall earlier this year.

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Campus & Community

The objects of their reflection

Batak accordion book of spells. — This Batak accordion book of spells was used in rituals, spellcasting and healing, according to librarian Emilie Hardman. It was often worn draped across the body of the practitioner, she said.

Photos by Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer