In the United States, a water boy or water girl (sometimes spelled waterboy or watergirl) was someone who worked in the field, providing water to farmworkers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, the name is given to those who work on the sidelines at sports events to provide water for athletes. The phrase has also been used to describe diminutive figures who serve another team or person in the business and political worlds, in a slightly derogatory manner (ex. "Bill is the CEO's water boy").
The position has a long history in athletics. In the 1869 Princeton vs. Rutgers football game, one of the earliest American football games, an unnamed water boy was documented giving aid to a Rutgers player.[1]
Several notable people served as water boys, among which being President Herbert Hoover, who was the Stanford Cardinal football's first water boy.[2]
- ^ Princeton Alumni Weekly 1968- Volume 69 - Page 6 "1869... J.E. "Big Mike" Michael... Princeton's first football hero... Not only did the Knights fall, a bleacher stand toppled to the ground after Big Mike ran into it while chasing a loose ball. Big Mike was responsible for football's first waterboy because underneath the pile of spectators was a Rutgers man, G. H. Large who had been foolish enough to get in Big Mike's way. The water boy helped a groggy Large off the field.."
- ^ Sweetland Karen E. Super Bowl by the Bay 1984 Page 80 "A noteworthy graduate of the first class was Herbert Hoover (the football team's first water boy), for whom Stanford's Hoover Institution is named. Since 1891, the private university has grown and prospered in all respects, with a 1983 ..."