The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

The Student News Site of Harvard-Westlake School

The Harvard-Westlake Chronicle

She’s the manager

When Katie Reynolds ’07 first contemplated the prospect of being the manager for the football team, she approached it with nervousness. After all, she would be the lone girl among brawny and sweaty boys.

But the idea grew on her and became a reality in the summer of 2005. Reynolds has always been an athletic girl. She played soccer and field hockey and danced outside of school.

But when she hurt her ankle during the soccer season and then re-injured it later, she was told by her doctor that she could no longer participate in contact sports. As a result, Reynolds longed to find another way to take part in athletics.

“I found out about the new football program and how we were trying to make the football team better and I wanted to stay in sports, so I joined,” she said. Reynolds’ primary responsibilities as a manager vary from simple things such as filling the water canisters and filming the football team’s practices, to taking stats at games and using the complex “sports edit” program.

“I use the sports edit program to separate plays and to make highlight reels of the best plays on special teams, offense and defense,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds skill at editing videos and managing is unique and her contribution to the team is greatly appreciated by the coaching staff.

“Reynolds has impressed all of us in her commitment, enthusiasm and knowledge of her support role of our team,” Coach Vic Eumont said.

Coach Scott Bello, who taught Reynolds the sports edit program agrees: “[Without Reynolds] we would be a lot less organized. She helps us as coaches perform better because she gets things in place for us.”

Reynolds works harder than the average manager, as football is almost year-round and summer practices are the most important.

“For the first five weeks of this summer, I put in about three hours a day,” Reynodsl said. “But during hell week I was here from 7:30 in the morning until 9 at night.”

“She has handled many roles that are often manned by four or more people,” Eumont said. “She also has a sharp eye on noticing problems of players that we, the male species, often times overlook or don’t care.”

Despite the amount of work she puts in, Reynolds claims that she is never overwhelmed and even calls her work “fun.”

“Last year in [training camp] was really rough, but because I was expecting it this year it was a lot easier, and I can definitely handle it,” Reynolds said.

“It’s a lot of work but it’s rewarding. The guys are always really nice and grateful, and the coaches appreciate what I do.”

Her job also comes with its perks, as there has been interest from colleges.
“Since I’m interested in doing [managing] in colleges, I have talked to a couple of coaches,” Reynolds said, but she downplays its importance, stating that a college coach would probably prefer to “recruit a good running back.”

Although Reynolds puts as much time into the football team as the football players, she doesn’t consider herself apart of the team.

“There is a big difference between being a manager and actually being one of the players,” Reynolds said. “We can share inside jokes and stuff, but sometimes out of the loop.”

Reynolds never expected that managing the football team would take her so far.
 
“It’s a surprise to me because I never thought I could do this much work, but it’s extremely rewarding,” Reynolds said. With the first game of this season already under her belt manager wise, Reynolds looks to the future and predicts the rest of the year. “We’re going to dominate!”

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She’s the manager