When many high schoolers think of football, their minds immediately go to Friday night games under the night lights, including the teams playing, the starting line-up and the theme for the game. Another key aspect of these Friday night games is the football team managers and their role on the team.
Senior Ariana Karapetyan has been a manager on the team for 4 years.
“[At the beginning] I didn’t even know the difference between a receiver and a tight end; I just enjoyed managing [knowing] that I can support the players in many different ways,” Karapetyan said.
The football team’s managers’ jobs include keeping the team on track with practice schedules, filming the players on the drone, washing the uniforms and getting the players water when needed. The managers are crucial for the team’s practices to run smoothly and to help the team remain organized on game days.
Another important part of their jobs is making sure the players are all working together as a team. The managers show up to every practice to continue keeping the players mindset positive and prepare them for the upcoming game. Senior team manager Taylor Anderson, helps explain why this is so important.
“On the sidelines, we always just keep a positive spirit. Even if we’re losing, we are just watching, talking and always just doing our job to help out in ways we can,” Anderson said.
When on the sidelines, the managers must remain calm to the players to help the team flow correctly. In addition to the important tasks at practice, the managers also play a huge role in helping the coaches remain on track.
“I like just helping out Coach Molinari, especially because he has so much going on in his life. Like I literally walk his dogs because he doesn’t have the time to walk his dogs,” Anderson said.
Throughout their time as managers, they have developed a bond with the players and each other. These bonds allow the managers to help boost the players’ spirits when they are down and get them excited for the games.
Senior manager London Lee said, “Everything in football stays in football. We see everything that the boys have to go through before Friday hits. It’s just a community.”
The football managers are excited to see where the rest of this season takes them and the growth that will occur within the players. The Mustangs next game is the homecoming game on Sept. 19 against Willowbrook. You can catch the managers on the sidelines throughout the game, hyping up the team and helping them in any way they can.
“My favorite part about being a manager is the relationships and friendships we’ve made throughout and knowing that we can give [players] positive talks,” Karapetyan said.
