The University’s most devoted football fans
usually stand out as painted, shirtless students with yellow afro wigs and duck noisemakers in hand – not as grandmothers.
But Jeanne Havercroft hasn’t missed seeing a game at Autzen Stadium since the field opened in 1967. At 70 years old, Havercroft is still an ultra-fan: wearing yellow and green every day from September to May, attending all but one of the Ducks’ bowl games and planning to be in the crowd for 11 of the 12 games this year.
Havercroft was awarded the Jeanne Johnson Alumni Service Award in 2001 and is one of the three women to receive the Order of the “O” Award in 2002 for her involvement with the Daisy Ducks, University Alumni Association, Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce and Looking Glass Youth & Family Services.
On Wednesday, just days after the Oklahoma-Oregon game, Havercroft taps her gold-painted fingernail on the table and bats her blue-coated eyelids. Her wrist is embellished with three yellow and green bracelets and she has a silver duck pinned to her jean jacket.
“I love sports,” she said.
Born in Hawaii, Havercroft graduated from Roseburg High School before attending the University for a year in 1958 to study journalism. She was present for the first meeting of the Daisy Ducks, a division of the Oregon Boosters Association, in June 1972 and today, Havercroft is still a proud member and said she wants to be recognized as one around Eugene.
“You’ve got to have the support of a community, and this community supports the Ducks,” Havercroft said. “People know who the Daisy Ducks are. The Pac-10 know who the Daisy Ducks are.”
The Daisy Ducks group was created by head football coach Dick Enright after he was tired of complaints that men couldn’t get their wives to attend football games because they didn’t understand the sport, Havercroft said. Around 250 women were expected to come to the first meeting Havercroft attended, but a surprising 400 were present, according to Havercroft.
Today, the organization consists of between 150 and 200 women, young and old, local and out-of-town, who, like Havercroft, attend games, bake cookies, raise money for the Athletic Department and love the Ducks, Havercroft said. The group works with all University sports, excluding club sports.
The women meet every Tuesday at noon in the Mallard Banquet Hall, where they plan events, discuss sports and often meet with the head and assistant coaches, who answer questions and explain plays, said Havercroft, who is in charge of the organization’s programs and invites guest speakers.
Daisy Ducks is looking to add to its flock this year. All students and community members who want to learn more about sports and support University teams are encouraged to join the organization, Havercroft said.