Story Links
Jan. 11, 2007
A look at the people behind the scenes who are pertinentto Virginia women’s basketball success
Title: Athletic Equipment Manager
Years at UVa: Fourth Season
Education: West Virginia
B.S. in Physical Education/Sport Management, 1996
M.S. in Athletic Coaching, 1998
Family: wife Tracey, daughter Brianna (1 1⁄2)
What are your responsibilities?
To order, maintain, and inventory athletic equipment for men’s and women’s basketball, and men’s and women’s swimming and diving.
Favorite part of the job:
Being around the players. Watching them come in as lost freshmen as a student and as an athlete and watching them grow over their career.
Least favorite part of the job:
Stinky underwear.
Where were you before coming to UVa:
I was in the Army. I was the assistant operations sergeant for the 299 Engineering Company. I handled all individualized training in the Garrison setting which meant that I made sure soldiers were ready for any classes they were getting ready to go to; made sure they met all of their prerequisites, they were up-to-date on their Army physical fitness tests and scores; I made all of their travel arrangements; I enrolled them in classes. Those were my major functions.
Where were you based:
Fort Belvoir, Va., outside of Washington, D.C.
I know you did some tours of duty yourself:
I was in Kuwait and Iraq for about seven months during the initial part of the war from November 2002 until June of 2003.
What did you do over there:
We had train-up for three months and then we staged for war for about three weeks, which meant we moved out from our base camp to a designated location south of the Iraqi border in the middle of the desert. Then we waited for the war to start. Once we moved forward, our company installed three bridges in Iraq- two over the Euphrates River and one up north.
What were the conditions like:
Sandy and hot. That was it. It rained every now and then.
What was the worst part:
The dust. It was just in everything. You couldn’t keep it out. We had guys who had electronic devices and would keep them in two or three ziplock bags, but with the sand blowing around so much, it would get into everything.
What’s the best part of working with Debbie Ryan and the team:
The games are the reward of the job. I have work before the game and after the game, but during the game I can sit and relax and watch all of their hard work and practice efforts come together.
You’re named the head women’s basketball coach for one year.
What’s the first thing you’d do:
Make sure the game plan revolves around Sharneé.
What do you like best about John Paul Jones Arena:
The game atmosphere.
What do you like to do for fun:
I have fun at work. Outside of work, spending time with my wife and child is fun.
Is there something you’d like to accomplish that you haven’t done yet:
Professionally I would like to eventually be a director of equipment, similar to Matt Altoff’s position. Maybe possibly being a director of operations in an office setting.
What are some of the bizarre things you do that most people don’t know:
Laundry. We did laundry all day for the Cavalier Classic (for all teams). Those are some of the things we do that people don’t realize. During a tournament, that’s expected, because you’ll have teams here for several days. Occasionally, like American needed clean laundry, because they were leaving here for another game. A lot of people don’t think there’s a whole lot to basketball equipment, because you get shorts, a jersey, and a ball. That’s what they see. They don’t see the sideline apparel, the warm-ups, sweats, etc. We provide towels and drinks to the officials. Every now and then there’s an oddball request, but not too frequently.
Do you travel with the team:
Any time there’s a multiple-game or potential for multiply-game trip, I like to go. Obviously there are a lot of trips I can’t go on, because there are teams at home who need my attention more than teams on the road. Both basketball teams take enough managers to do what I would do on a road trip.