Head Coach: Kristin Capasso

Kristin returns to Harvard for her fourth year as coach of the cheerleading squad this 2009-2010 Season. She graduated from Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York in 2001 and is currently completing her MBA at Boston College. Kristin cheered all four years at SU, where she represented SU at bowl games such as the Orange Bowl and the Music City Bowl and at all Big East Tournament and NCAA basketball Tournament games. Kristin was a UCA staff member for three years, coached the Varsity squad at Canton High School in Canton, Massachusetts for three years, and was the Brown Univeristy Cheerleading Coach for two years before making her move to Harvard. She is a six year member of the Boston Cannons Dance Team that performs at all Home Boston Cannons Lacrosse games right here at Harvard University during the summer months.

Assistant Coach: Lucas Toffoli

Lucas joins Harvard Cheerleading’s coaching staff as assistant coach this season after two years as a member of the squad (one as co-captain)—years during which Harvard Cheerleading grew into a locally and nationally competitive team.  He graduated from Harvard University in June, earning a degree in History of Art and Architecture, and hopes to return to school eventually to work towards an M.Arch.  Lucas is a lifelong resident of Cambridge.

"One of my biggest goals when I came to Harvard was to get the cheerleading program on the map not only within the campus community but also within the competitive cheerleading community across the country. In the Spring of 2008, we successfully launched our program into competitive cheerleading and in April 2009 we made our National debut at the 2009 NCA College Cheerelading Championships in Daytona Beach, FL. In just three short years, we have transformed this cheerleading team into a nationally competitive program and the response we are receiving from younger cheerleaders, classmates, administrators, fans and parents has been amazing.

I have started two initiatives since coming on board four years ago in hopes of keeping you, our friends, family and alumni, more involved and connected to the Harvard Cheerleading program. We are in the third year of publishing our bi-annual e-newsletter "The Spirit of the Crimson" to keep you all informed of what is new and exciting with our team. More importantly, in the Fall of 2008, we hosted our first Annual Friends, Family and Alumni event for all of our supporters and past team members which gave us an opportunity to reconnect with our former teammates and strongest advocates. We plan to continue this tradition and are excited to invite more of you back to campus for our 2nd Annual Friends, Family & Alumni event on Saturday October 17, 2009 at 11:00 at Gordon Indoor Track. More details can be found on our Friends Page.

Through competition and alumni initiatives, I truly hope to grow the program and I hope the entire Harvard Community will begin to embrace the cheerleaders as the ambassadors for the university. In the coming years, I will continue to work with the goal of making our fans, friends, family, alumni, administration and student body continually feel part of our program objectives with the goal of improving the Spirit of the Crimson!" - Kristin Capasso

If you have any questions or comments, please email Coach Capasso at cheer@hcs.harvard.edu