The end of the winter sports season at Stoughton High School approaches; most people know of athletes’ hard work and dedication to sports, but managers? Not so much.

Both athletes and managers support our school and hold school spirit, taking on with many responsibilities that go unseen. Managers put hours of their time into supporting our sports and helping athletes. Sports managers benefit from being part of the team in a number of ways, getting an insider view of the team, building relationships with coaches and also getting to joining in on events like senior night and themed games.

People know of the more common tasks that come with managing a sport, such as getting water, taking photos, and helping run drills. However, a lot more goes on behind the scenes.

Rylee Campbell manages the girls’ basketball team alongside a number of her other extracurriculars.

“This year, I’m a senior, and I was able to participate in senior night and youth night,” she said.

Experiences like these are valuable for managing a team, Campbell explained, and they help her build relationships with athletes. The girls spend time with each other outside of practice, trying pottery in December, and they recently attendeding the annual Pops concert together to support Campbell as she performed.

Besides just helping the team out, Campbell pointed out that getting to watch all the games is another perk that got her into managing.

“If you enjoy watching sports, then it’s definitely something you should consider getting into,” she said.

Many different sports programs at SHS mean many different athletes, competitions, and responsibilities.

Rochelle Metz is a junior and football manager, and she works to help the team through a number of unnoticed tasks.

“[People don’t understand] how much effort it takes to film games and work on how cameras work and make sure to get everything on film,” she said.

For every game, Metz devotes herself to the team and has gained a number of skills from her involvement, including leadership, communication, time management, responsibility, and teamwork.

Time management is not just running the game clock in a basketball game, but also showing up to help with drills and practice while simultaneously getting schoolwork done. Even though managing is a commitment, the trade-offs outweigh the cons for the dedicated managing staff.

Challenges a manager might face include balancing schoolwork and long games, staying organized, and keeping the team motivated even during close games. When a team consistently has someone cheering for them, it can lead to better results than without a manager to cheer them on.

“I appreciate having water during games,” said junior basketball player Jackson Kies.

Even though this is a simple thing, managers do all they can to make athletes’ lives easier, and it’s great to see them be appreciated by players of all sports. When you ask any athlete about a manager in their sport, they can always find a positive impact a manager has had on team culture and the positive impact they’ve made.