Sophomore Everett Classen has managed the boys basketball team for two years, and said he enjoys spending time with the boys on the team.

“I wanted this role because a lot of my friends are on the team,” Classen said. “You have a lot of fun with the boys at team dinners.”

Alongside Classen, junior Piper Marcom also manages the basketball team, and thinks the team’s bond has gotten better as the years have gone on.

“I think the team this season is pretty united. They’re all really good friends, so all the team dinners are super fun when they’re all close,” Marcom said. “We’re definitely closer with the players this year than we were last year.”

Teamwork is essential for managers. Classen said he appreciates all the work the other managers put into managing so the team is successful.

“I would describe the other managers as an A+, because they’re always on topic and always doing their role,” Classen said.

Being a manager comes with a lot of work. For Marcom, a typical game day gives her many tasks that need to be done.

“For game days, if it’s a home game, we get down to the bench, we set up the towels, we get all the waters, make sure they’re filled up. And then once the game starts, we get their warm-ups, and we organize those,” Marcom said. “Throughout the game, we just give them [their] waters when they need it. We help set up for timeouts and keep track of some of the scoring for games.”

Classen said being a manager requires a lot of skill and responsibility. Luckily for the managers, Classen has these traits.

“I decided to manage boys basketball because I think my strong suit is managing,” Classen said. “Something people don’t think [managers] do is keep the coach organized and get them snacks.”

Furthermore, Marcom said a lot of the work the managers do is behind the scenes.

“At practices, a lot of the time we do stuff on the computer. This week, we’re getting stuff ready for senior night,” Marcom said. “We write the scripts, we do the brochure that goes out on senior night, so we do a lot of the background stuff everybody sees.”

With every responsibility come ups and downs. Classen said he does not enjoy the hard parts of being a manager.

“The hardest part is probably going on the bus [after] a loss,” Classen said. “It’s pretty quiet. It’s pretty depressing.” 

There are also benefits to every responsibility as well. Marcom encourages others to join the management team.

“I would say they should do it because it’s super fun if you need something to do,” Marcom said. “You meet a lot of new people, you make connections and it makes me feel like I have something interesting to tell people about.”