Every successful collegiate basketball program is often praised by the players who got them there or the coach who reshaped the game to make a deep postseason run. The training staff is usually overlooked in these runs. However, they play critical roles in keeping the team healthy, so they can pull the upset when March Madness comes around.
“Our student managers do all the behind-the-scenes work that people don’t see,” former FGCU head coach Chelsea Lyles said. “They took a lot of workload off me and our staff. Managers are the heart and soul of any successful program.”
For many students, being a student manager is a no-brainer for experience in athletics. However, it’s not for the faint of heart, as complex hours, demanding travel and being unpaid have been a significant drawback for those involved.
“Our managers are gaining real-life workforce experience,” Lyles said. “They have to manage their time, and they’re scheduled just like our athletes do. They have to learn to work in a team environment and have to be good problem solvers.”
The FGCU women’s basketball team has five different managers who serve in various roles. Senior student manager Joseph Crum is a practice player, studying film in addition to his traditional student management roles.
“[I] have to be prepared daily for whatever situations the coaches have me in,” Crum said. “Tasks on gameday are a little different as it’s short practice time in the morning, and behind the bench for games.”
Grace Greco, junior student manager, focuses on getting practice set up before players and coaches arrive on the court. Her role also directly involves getting players’ and coaches’ gear during practice and games.
“I’ll get the area 30 minutes before and get everything set up: shot clocks, defensive pads, snacks, practice jerseys, like whatever they need,” Greco said. “If there’s specific stuff, coaches will let me know ahead of time and kind of just make sure everything’s set up and ready to go.”
Both students got their start with FGCU through the connections they had in athletics.
Crum started with athletics when he reached out to his sister, Brooklyn Crum, who had managed the FGCU women’s basketball program for four years. Greco got her start by attending FGCU basketball camps and soon moved to a ball girl position in eighth grade. They used their sources to get in contact with Lyles for manager positions on the team.
“I transferred here my junior year, and I knew I wanted to do something with sports,” Crum said. “My sister gave me Coach Lyles’ number, so I reached out, and she got me on as manager.”
While Greco and Crum found their spots as student managers through their connections, the process for applying for a student manager position relies heavily on the women’s basketball social media account. For many students, the lack of promotion for these positions had them unaware they existed.
“It would be nice to know how to reach out to them,” Julianne Grassi, exercise science student, said. “I don’t know if I would reach out to the coach or the SID or anybody like that. I’m not sure how I’d be able to get myself involved.”
Nicole Foster, director of operations for women’s basketball, is behind the interview process for student managers. FGCU athletics did not respond to her interview request by the deadline.
For students in exercise science, one of the majors’ essential job markets stems from collegiate and professional sports. These opportunities are those that Grassi and her peers insist will be beneficial after FGCU.
“Just to kind of be around the environment, probably be helpful,” Grassi said. “[I need to] get some internships and experience within sports here, so that I have experience when I get to grad school.”
As for Crum and Greco, they look to use their experience as student managers to launch their careers in athletics, in an athletics ticket office and on a collegiate or professional athletic staff, respectively.
“I want to work in athletics, specifically women’s basketball or hockey. So I would love to work for a professional team of either sort,” Greco said. “ I could work in social media, or photography, anything in that realm, would be a goal.”
With the FGCU athletics season coming to a close at the end of May, students interested in applying for student management will receive more information in August when the fall sports season begins.
