The Falcon Files

Let’s get physical

Jaimie Fritz

July 16, 2021

The Falcon Files

Let’s Get Physical: Athletics and recreation through the years

Room to Throw

Bentley’s move to Waltham in the late 1960s was a boon for sports. The pastoral location had plenty of space for athletic fields, practice areas and courts. It’s difficult to imagine that this student would have had room for a javelin throw on our former campus in Boston’s Back Bay.

Lucky Strike

One sport that was easy to play on the Boston campus was bowling. A group of students organized a Bowling Club that competed against other schools. Of course, in true New England fashion, it was candlepin only.

Hitting the Slopes

The Ski Club was a favorite early extracurricular activity for Bentley students. Trips to the slopes offered a change of scenery and time for snowball fights, dances and bonding. Though skiing was a club-level sport, students’ recollections make it clear there was a competitive atmosphere.

Women Score

The early 1970s saw the advent of women’s sports at Bentley. At first, a few informal clubs organized — soccer, volleyball and basketball were popular early choices. Pictured here are the 1974 “Falconettes,” as women’s teams were called then. In this game, they outscored the women’s basketball team from Endicott College by eight points.

On Target

It may be hard to imagine today, but some students in the early 1980s practiced archery in the Dana Center. It wasn’t a formal sport, but that didn’t stop students from sharpening their bow-and-arrow skills.

Deep Dive

Swimming and diving are perennially popular in the Dana Center pool, but it hosted a new activity in 1985. In this photo, Bill VanderClock of the Computer Information Systems faculty instructs students in scuba diving.

Gridiron Strong

Getting a football program off the ground was a labor of love for Bentley students and staff after the move to Waltham. Calls to create a team and student-led fundraising made football a club sport in the 1970s. Here, Kevin Lucey ’90 plays during the team’s first varsity season, 1988-1989.

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