Managing a sport is an excellent way to get involved in athletics, feel a part of a team, and contribute to the success of one’s student-athlete peers. Sports managers are crucial to a sports team’s ability to flourish.
One of Champe’s most successful sports programs is football. Notably, the football team has student managers, coaches and overall support from students and staff. Every year, students at Champe volunteer to be football managers and commit an abundance of their free time to make sure players and coaches are able to focus on their craft rather than tedious and necessary tasks.
“Practice is everyday either before or after school, as well as on Saturdays mornings, each being two to three hours long,” varsity football manager Madison Wilson said. “On Fridays, with prep and clean up, we spend around 7 hours on the field.”
Wilson and the other managers evidently support the team in ways that may go unnoticed to outside observers. Day-to-day the football managers busily work during and outside of football practice to ensure the team can practice and perform their best. The dedication and care that is required to help football practice and games run smoothly is significant and evident here at Champe.
“Generally what happens is students just come up to me and then I direct them to our athletic trainers, and they’re all set to do things like taping the boys, flying drones for filming, and just overall keeping practice timely and productive,” Head varsity football coach Lee Carter said, “Without our five managers, we wouldn’t have so many of the things we need done, I truly appreciate them and their hard work as much as I appreciate the players.”
Although being a manager is hard, it is a pretty simple recruitment process. After speaking with this year’s managers, one can become a manager by simply talking to the coach of said team one is interested in managing. Chances are, if the current manager or managers are graduating, there is availability, and if not, there is always more need for help. After talking to the coach and getting information from Champe’s athletic trainers and directors, you can begin the challenging yet rewarding work.
Varsity football manager Ayda Pannell shares what she loves most about managing, “My favorite thing about managing is being in the locker room, before the team goes out on game days, and doing team prayer,” said Pannell, “managers are there for the guys if they need anything. We make sure they always have enough water so they don’t get tired and we check up on them just to make sure they’re okay.”
Managing football has personal benefits too. It teaches the managers how to have better time management, as they are busy with their own activities as well as managing football. They also learn specific skills that can benefit them later on in their lives, like taping injuries.
“Being a football manager has been one of the most rewarding experiences ever, I have truly made such amazing connections with the coaches, trainers and players,” said Wilson. “I have even changed what I want to major in in college so I can continue what I do here throughout my future.”
