Team manager, it seems, is one of the hardest jobs in the business.
?Time-wise it can be pretty demanding,? freshman football head coach and wrestling coach Jason Planakis said.
Managers keep the same hours as any given Marshall team, without actually playing the sport. The myriad minor duties of a team manager ?would, in essence, make the job not worth doing,? varsity and junior varsity boys lacrosse coach Andrew Freeman said.
However, the meal preparation, drill setup, uniform washing and equipment maintenance is not lost on the team, nor is it for naught. While team managers must deal with all those responsibilities and ?whatever else comes up, which is a lot,? varsity football coach Bill Lapthorn said, they can receive both a varsity letter and hours for the IB program?s Community/Activity/Service (CAS) hour requirements.
In addition, coaches will write a graduating team manager a personal college recommendation.
?[It was] definitely an interesting experience,? varsity football manager and senior Kate Balek said. ?If I was going to be here next year, I would definitely do it again,? Balek added.
?In general I think [the managers] are pretty appreciated,? Planakis said. ?Managers are a huge part of the program. Any good program is going to have good managers.?
Almost all team managers are volunteers, though their motives differ wildly. Senior SuJung Kang originally became the softball manager because her friend had tried out for the team. This will be Kang?s fourth year managing the softball team.
?After the first year, I actually started liking softball,? Kang said about managing. ?That?s why I?m still doing the managing. I just fell in love with softball and baseball.?