Joshua Crane

Polo Crane played polo for the Dedham Polo and Country Club, Point Judith Country Club, Meadowbrook Polo Club, Rockaway Hunting Club, and Cooperstown Country Club. He was a member of the 1904 Freebooters team that made it to the finals of the 1904 U.S. Open Polo Championship.

He also served as the referee and umpire for the International Polo Cup.

Football On March 14, 1907, Harvard Crimson football captain Bartol Parker offered Crane, who had never played football at the varsity level, the position of head coach. Crane's only previous coaching experience came in 1906, when he instructed the Harvard drop kickers during the team's practices. His one-year appointment was approved by the Harvard athletic committee on March 22, 1907. The 1907 team finished with a 7–3 and lost to Yale in that year's rivalry game. Before the start of the 1908 season, a committee of six Harvard alumni and captain Francis Burr was formed to hire a football coach and chose Percy Haughton over Crane.

Golf Crane appeared in numerous golf tournaments in the United States, France, and Great Britain. In 1963, Crane, at the age of 83, won his namesake tournament at the Dedham Polo and Country Club.

Yachting Crane competed in a number of regattas hosted by the Beverly Yacht Club. He won the Buzzard's Bay championship from 1907 to 1912.

Personal life On January 18, 1897, Crane married Ethel Hill, youngest daughter of William H. Hill and heiress to 1/6 of his $4,000,000 estate. They had six children. On March 30, 1913, Crane struck a telephone pole in Middleboro, Massachusetts while driving from his home, Fox Hill Farm, in Westwood, Massachusetts to his summer home in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts. Crane, his son Emery, and his nephew, weren't seriously injured, however Ethel Hill Crane was thrown through the windshield. She died from her injuries on April 16, 1913.

In 1914, Crane married Katherine Symes, daughter of George G. Symes, in her hometown of Denver. Her brother, John Foster Symes, was a polo teammate of Crane's. She died in 1956.

In 1914, Crane purchased No Man's Land for use as a summer home and fish and game preserve. During World War II the island was home to the No Man's Land Navy Airfield. In 1952 Crane sold the island to the United States Navy.

In 1933, Crane was a witness in the civil trial between Arthur Mason and Frederick H. Prince. Mason sought $50,000 in damages for injuries he suffered with Prince allegedly struck him with polo mallet. Although he was not present when the alleged attack took place, defense counsel James W. Sullivan called on Crane as an expert on the game of polo. The jury ruled in favor of Mason and he and Prince eventually agreed on a settlement of $15,000.

Crane was predeceased by all three of his sons. Joshua Crane Jr., was a noted aviator who died in a crash on August 28, 1935. Emery Crane, born in 1901, died in San Diego, California in an accident at the Willite Confection Company in 1924. Alexander Crane was a craftsman and artist who died in 1953.

Crane spent his later years in Santa Barbara, California. He died on December 7, 1964, at the age of 95. He was survived by daughters Priscilla Crane, Catherine Trowbridge, and Margery ter Weele.

Head coaching record