"Definitely, for one, we don't get priorityover the swim team for pool time," says CliffordH. Chen '95, a goalie for the water polo team. "Wehave very little money, very little funding. Wehave to do all our fundraising on our own."

"It hasn't gotten really bad, but we've beenclose to broke," adds Chen.

Some athletes say the department's prioritiesare most visible when they seek medical attention.

"You see it in the training room," says RachelL. Schultz '93, who has played both lacrosse andsoccer at Harvard. "You have to wait for thefootball and hockey players to leave first."

Athletic department officials acknowledge thatthey spend more money on some sports than others.But they attribute this, largely, to theadditional employees required to workwell-attended sports such as men's hockey andfootball.

Still, constructing a detailed picture ofathletic money-flow is complicated by the factthat Harvard's teams receive funds from outsidethe Faculty of Arts and Science (FAS).

According to a three-year-old published report,the Department of Athletics has an annual budgetof nearly $10 million. But Toland and Cleary alsomaintain control over money received from"Friends" groups informal alumni organizationsthat make donations to the University earmarkedfor specific sports teams.

While these groups have specific names--Friendsof Harvard Hockey, for example--they have no legalstatus. Each sport has a Friends' group, althoughnone exist as legal entities, according the stateof Massachusetts.

Because there are no records of Friends'groups, their administrators are difficult toidentify. For that reason, no Friends' groupscould be contacted directly for comment.

Discrepancies in Financial Support

Coaches and administrators acknowledge that theFriends give in varying amounts. While the women'sswimming team collects $20,000 from Friends'groups, the women's tennis team gets $2,000,according to coaches.

Department administrators say that anydiscrepancies in financial support arise fromdifferent levels of contributions by the alumni ofdifferent sports teams. Coaches say women's teamsare particularly disadvantaged because manywomen's programs are new and, thus, have feweralumni.

"I'm very fortunate because we have a greattradition here," says Ronnie R. Tomassoni, coachof men's hockey. "Last year, we had our 1000th winand only one other program [the University ofMinnesota] has done that."

Tomassoni uses funds from his Friends' group topay for recruiting--a key element in assemblingthe team, which is currently ranked third in theUnited States.

But athletic department officials say they areworking hard to help Friends' groups that receiveless in contributions increase funding for theirsport. Henry, the senior associate director ofathletics, says the Harvard-Radcliffe Foundationfor Women's Athletics has helped level thefinancial playing field for women's teams.