View from the Sidelines: The Life of a Football Manager

If you are reading this article, you might be wondering what a football manager is and what they do. If you are, don’t sweat it because I was in the same boat before interviewing some of the football managers of Heritage High. 

I started off by asking what a football manager does, and the responses really clarified what exactly a football manager is. “It’s someone who manages the operations of a football team and makes sure that practices and game days can run smoothly for the coaches and players,” said Senior Football Manager (and Journalism staff member) Paige Johnson. The managers spend about seventeen hours a week, for about twelve weeks, volunteering. Game days are the biggest commitment days: “we typically spend about seven hours with the team every Friday, sometimes more if we’re traveling, from the time we get dismissed until about 11:00 at night,” Paige noted. For every practice, the managers make sure that waters and the equipment are out on the field. “We also have to get all the film stuff and cameras to work and coordinate correctly with Flickos, which basically means making sure that Flickos is there and having everything right on their end,” said Paige.

Now that you know what a football manager is and does, you might be wondering how you, the reader, can become one.  All you need to do is ask a football manager or speak with Coach Slaughter, the head football coach. “Speak with the coaches, especially Coach Slaughter, if you’re interested,” Football Manager and Junior Kylie Shepherd said. Now that you know how to become a football manager, you might be wondering, “Is being a football manager hard?” The answer is, according to Paige, “No.” “It’s just common sense stuff,” she said, “and it’s just a matter of attitude and effort.” Though it can be hard at times, as a football manager has to set up a lot of things and make sure everything is working well, “it’s still fun,” said Kylie. For instance, “there was one time,” Paige Johnson said, “I think it was my sophomore year, Mera, Kendall, Emma and Zoey Bell, who was our filmmaker at the time, all went to Walmart to go and buy towels, and me and Emma were pushing Zoey around in the buggy in the store. Mera and Kendall were hiding from all of us, and they all were hiding behind toilet paper and didn’t find them for awhile. That’s probably my favorite memory just because we were always together outside of school and stuff.”

 Some of the best football managers have only recently graduated or still go to school here. Paige Johnson, Emma Walther, Kylie Shepherd, Bella Jones, Sophie Bone, and Bailey Wiggins are all football managers currently. Being a football manager gives people many opportunities later in life. Our own Paige Johnson is considering being a manager at UTC after she graduates, and many of the other seniors are looking to do the same thing. Overall, being a football manager is very fun and gives students opportunities that are important later in life.