Although athletes are the main facet of every sports team, there are many individuals who work behind the scenes to help the team be successful. Coaches and sponsors are two of the more substantial examples, but students fill smaller roles that contribute towards this. They are the managers.

Sophomores Brooklyn Bennett and Madison Harvey took on the responsibility of managing the 2019 Panther football team.

Both Bennett and Harvey admit that managing the team came with a lot of tasks and responsibility.

“Every day we had to get water for the team, and we did smaller jobs that the coaches would need throughout the practices,” Harvey says. “For example, going inside to get equipment, organizing things, filming games, and folding jerseys to either hand out or put away.”

Both girls agreed that it also took up a lot of space in their schedules, and neither had a lot of free time, if any at all.

“Football takes up the whole afternoon after school,” Bennett says. “So there isn’t much time for things in the evenings, or on Fridays because of the games.”

Although managing the team could be a very tiring and time-consuming task, Harvey and Bennett acknowledge the positives that come with helping out the team.

“I think the best thing for me was just interacting with new people, whether they were coaches or players, that I wouldn’t typically talk to or get to know,” Harvey says. “I learned a lot more about a lot of different people from traveling with them and watching them play.”

“I love seeing the boys grow and get better at things that they struggled with and just watching them get better at the sport in general,” Bennett says.

Bennett also manages the 2019-20 Panther wrestling team, alongside freshman Jordyn Dearcorn, sophomore Beth Brazelton, junior Payton Asher, senior Joey Mickelson and senior Lauren Lejeune.

Much like helping out with the football team, managing wrestling team requires several responsibilities.

“As a manager for the wrestling team we are responsible for mopping mats before practice and making Gatorade for the team every day after school, before and during tournaments,” Brazelton says. “We are also responsible for taking stats during tournaments.”

Several  managers say that there are many more pros than cons that come with helping out the wrestling team.

“The pros are getting to be a part of the management team, and work with friends every day,” Asher says. “The cons are few if any, just like with anything else managing the team does take up your time.”

Adds Mickelson: “The best part for me has been getting to know the team and having an amazing family to hang out with on the weekends.”