Managers are the bread and butter, the backbone, the glue of every team.

They are there to keep the players clean, hydrated, spirited and relaxed; to do everything they possibly can for their athletes. This includes being honest even when a player performs less than his or her best and coming up with creative cheers to chant during their games. They create a warm, strong and safe presence. They cheer them on, pick up the pieces when they lose and turn that frown upside down, so the players can bring home the big “W.”

Thinking that managers just sit there and look pretty is an easy misconception to make – a false stereotype – but regardless, an easy one to make. Their love for the sport that they manage truly shows when they attend every practice, cheer every single game and bake goodies every now and then to let the players know that they are appreciated and loved.

One of the boys soccer managers, Caroline Boatz, would bake delicious treats for our undefeated, state champions. Leading goal scorer Austin Dewing says, “Caroline’s treat are probably the best thing to happen to the team, they are so good,” he then continued to taunt me with one while saying “I bet you wish you could have one.” Legend has it that the boys talent and Caroline’s treats are what lead them to a 20-0 season.

Our football team finished their season with 2 wins and with 6 out of 4 games away, they were in their white jerseys a lot. Do you think the boys washed those clothes themselves? Their parents? No. This season’s managers, Maddy Flicker, Heather Morhman and myself (Nikol Podlacha), had to wash the whole team’s jerseys after every game and had to hand wash the the white jerseys to get all the tough stains out. We would travel to every game, cheer them on, win or lose, and run them water during the games; all while trying to keep the boys who were on and off the field energized even if the scoreboard wasn’t. Win or lose, the football managers loved those boys. Manager Maddy Flicker says “even though the job wasn’t pretty all the time and I tended to complain from time to time, I enjoyed every minute of it and made some great memories.”

What also comes with the manager title is a coaching title. From time to time managers will help an athlete out by pulling them over and giving them tips or suggestions to try and better their performance. Girls swim and dive managers Miles Coker, Jack Dangremond and Michael Lloyd will help give swim sets to the girls and help them with certain aspects of their strokes. This sometimes includes compliments; Miles Coker once said to me “Nikol, your butterfly looks awesome!” If that doesn’t make your day better I don’t know what will.

But what managers really do that means a lot is when they go to their early morning practices. Just imagine waking up at 4 o’clock to go to practice and seeing the glorious sight of your managers strolling in with food. Nothing makes you feel warmer inside. It’s also a known fact the way to an athlete’s heart is by food, something your mother, grandmother and great grandmother would tell you. And that is what girls swim and dive managers, Miles Coker and Jack Dangremond, do every morning practice, they keep stealing our hearts when they walk in with 4 boxes of donuts at 5:30 am.

Hockey Managers Jessica Hendricks, Hailey Peterman and Molly Ebmeyer do the same thing. More often than not, they wake up at the crack of dawn and head over to where their team is practicing and watch them while doing homework they might have missed the night before. Hailey Peterman is known for bringing little donut holes to practice and pushing them through the holes in the glass so the players can eat them, that’s what I call innovation.

So on behalf of every Air Academy team, thank you managers- we love you!