The spring sports season is abuzz with purple jersey-wearing players, electric coaches and a peppy panther mascot raising the roof. Standing attentively on the sidelines of the gym, sitting around the track and cheering by the tennis courts, team managers stand unseen. Although relatively hidden, team managers are important members of every Masters athletics program.
Depending on the sport’s intensity and needs, team managers can play a large role at practices and during games. The co-sports manager for varsity girls lacrosse, Willow Lovett ‘26 said, “Before every practice, I get the equipment out, get the music out, and during practice, mainly assist the coach if they need a timer for some drills and you know, calling out like, ‘Oh, two minutes left,’ ‘30 seconds left,’ so everyone has a sense of timing.”
She continued, “At the end of practice we put the equipment away. And then during games, keeping score in the score bug, ground balls, like all the technical stuff for the coaches.”
Sometimes members of a team that are off season will manage a team in order to maintain their skills. John Petrie, the coach of the masters tennis teams said, “The most important thing [managers] do is sometimes they will hit in with the other team to keep their skills intact. And I tend to select players who I want to develop year round as year round players. So it’s good for the teams, too.”
Unfortunately, many students who are well-versed in athletics at Masters are still unaware of the opportunity to become sports managers since the Google form to sign up for sports does not include manager as an option. Lovett did not want to play lacrosse in her sophomore year, but wanted to remain a part of the team. She did not know about the position until speaking to her coach. She said, “The coach told me that it was an option to be a manager, and that I could either be a manager and still play, or just be a manager, and that’s how I found out about it.”
Beyond their work, managers are also valuable team members. A team manager for last season’s varsity girls volleyball team, Sophie Ricks ‘27, said, “If you’re non-athletic like me, it’s a good way to still feel that kind of team atmosphere, and you can make really great friends.”
