Dedicated Managers Have Unique Opportunity With FGCU Staff

(Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson)

For a moment, tear your eyes away from Marc-Eddy Norelia's ecstatic celebrations and look just behind the bench. A few college students with FGCU polos occupy the small space between the team's bench and FGCU's fans. At a second's notice, they're ready to grab a whiteboard, a water bottle, a mask, or accomplish any task needed for Dunk City's program to run at it's most efficient level.

Some might know them as @FGCUManagers on Twitter. Looking through the multitude of tweets still won't do their dedication justice. From cleaning up prank wars in the athletic office, to manning the food counter at the athletics banquet, the managers do it all.

It's a thankless job to say the least. The six man manager crew is ready at practices, games, and almost around the clock.

"[We do] late night rebounding for the guys, go to the office when we can," said FGCU sophomore manager Chase Goldstein. "During practice, we’ll have a manager on the clock, a couple on the court with a ball and a towel. If someone falls we’ll wipe out the sweat, hop into a drill if coaches need us to."

They also assist video coordinator Tyler Schwab with taping and cutting games. With this, the team has comprehensive opponent breakdowns.

Duties increase further when away from Alico. The managers take care of the laundry, drinks, etc. and for the first time in program history, FGCU sent a manager on every road trip this season.

Usually everything goes as expected, but once in a while plans go awry. It was just a few hours before the Eagles' game against Florida State in the NIT, and mangers Chase Goldstein, Chris Ramos, and Dylan Waxler started to sweat; Marcus Blake's jersey was nowhere to be found.

"We we’re going crazy looking around. It took a while and we found it when we shook it out of Kevin Boyle’s jersey," Goldstein said. "We were just really happy and relieved."

Blake donned his jersey and fortunately the mishap didn't phase the managers as they went on to defeat the Seminole managers following the NIT first round matchup.

Being a manager means long hours on the road, some worrisome few minutes, and a dedication to the game of basketball.

But it's also a gateway to a very sought after profession, coaching. For Florida Gulf Coast sophomore manager Chase Goldstein, he realized early on, as most of us have, that playing Division I basketball wasn't a realistic option. Managing proved to be the next best choice.

"I want to be a coach, real bad. I was an assistant coach in AAU and the coach I was with got me in contact with FGCU," Goldstein said. "I really liked it here and I’ve got to start somewhere since I’m not playing college basketball."

With the Eagles, Goldstein has a chance to learn from experienced coaches whose willingness to teach stuck out to the FGCU sophomore.

"Anytime I ever have a question, even in a practice running a drill or play, they’ll come up to the office, run up the play and explain it to me," Goldstein said. "They’re very open and understand that I want to learn. The coaches are just awesome. Compared to other programs, they really embrace us, and use us a lot here."

But, it wouldn't be Dunk City unless the manager crew snuck in a little fun between the hours of assisting the program. It also wouldn't be Dunk City unless that fun came on the national stage.

"We had an open practice before one of our NCAA games, and there were fans there. That was my first time managing in front of a thousand fans," Goldstein said. "Right when someone hit the ground, I ran over wiped that sweat as fast as I could and gave a nice wave to all the fans."

As well as waves to the crowd, their escapades at the NCAA Tournament also included being mistaken for players and consequently being bombarded with autograph requests.

But now over a year removed from March Madness, the managers are back behind the bench, managing - in hopes of one day sitting on the bench, coaching.

For more on the managers, make sure to follow them on Twitter (@FGCUManagers)