On a recent Saturday morning, Brandon “Suds” Devie was up at 6 a.m. After a 10-mile run rounding Diamond Head, the Boston Marathon finisher was off to his job.
It wasn’t until Sunday morning that he and seven other University of Hawaii equipment staff members, including six students, celebrated completion of the longest workday in college football with slices of cold pizza.
Devie is certainly not alone in working weekends, especially among those with jobs in the sports world. But on game days, those assigned to manage equipment for UH football put in up to a 15-hour shift that doesn’t end until after the next day has started.
Hours before the coaches start coaching and the players start playing, the managers put tons of equipment in place at Aloha Stadium. Hours after the vendors finish vending and the ushers finish ushering, the managers continue to work. They clean out the Rainbow Warriors’ locker room and coaches’ work areas at the stadium and pack up everything from towels to high-tech communications equipment.
They’re not done until everything is trucked back to UH, cleaned and returned to where it belongs. After some games, the sports bars have washed the last dirty glass before the managers have washed the last dirty uniform.
They report for work at 10 a.m., eight hours before kickoff, and finish anywhere from 12:30 a.m. to 3 a.m. the next day.
One of the student workers, Alexis Glimpse, will return to UH a few hours later for her Sunday equipment room shift.
“The trainers come close, but, yes, the managers have the longest day,” Hawaii athletic director David Matlin said. “They’re also the most invisible.”
And, for the most part, that’s how they like it.
“People have no idea what our job is — that is, until we don’t do it right, said Clif Perry, head equipment manager at Princeton.
They are what stagehands are to a play. They’re anonymous grinders without whom the show couldn’t even start, much less go on.
They are what roadies are to a band, except they fix face masks instead of guitar strings. Jackson Browne could have been singing about them in “The Load-Out.”
Pack it up and tear it down
They’re the first to come and last to leave
BY THE NUMBERS: AT HOME
>> 10,000 pounds of equipment transported from the University of Hawaii to Aloha Stadium and back each home game
>> 200 containers/pieces of equipment for home games
>> 600 towels taken to home games
>> 450 pieces of laundry per typical weekday
>> 50 footballs used at practice
>> 26 footballs used at a game, including 6 game balls
>> 15 gallons of laundry detergent used per month during the season
Speaking of the road, the equipment managers are among those whose jobs would be easier if UH had an on-campus stadium. Aloha Stadium is 10 miles from the school and the equipment room.
“Every game is a road game for us,” Devie said.
It’s not so much a complaint as a statement of fact.
“THEY WORK ENDLESS HOURS”
A truck is loaded and unloaded twice so an empty locker room can be set up completely for more than 100 players and coaches, and disassembled afterward. The trainers do the same with their gear.
They have seen how much easier it is at schools with stadiums close to the campus locker room and can’t help but be envious.
So has Shay Yanagi. The owner of SKY Painting is a UH football booster and volunteer equipment manager.
His son, Skyler, was among 16 football equipment managers at Oregon.
MANAGING GAME DAYHere’s what went on for the UH equipment staff for the Oct. 20 game:
9:30 a.m: Two athletic department employees and seven student workers arrive at the University of Hawaii athletic department to start work as the football equipment manager team.
10:04 a.m.: Two trucks arrive. One is for the football equipment for today’s game, the other for the medical trainers’ gear.
10:22 a.m.: Tons of equipment, everything from the uniforms for players to towels to communications equipment to the Bowzooka is loaded quickly onto the equipment truck. The trainers do the same with their supplies. This is the ninth game of the season, and the process is efficient. “Now we’re in the groove,” says assistant equipment manager Brandon “Suds” Devie.
10:31 a.m.: The loaded trucks and a van full of workers leave campus for the 9.7-mile trip to Aloha Stadium.
10:50 a.m.: The trucks and van arrive at the stadium.
10:55-11:07 a.m.: Even faster than they were loaded, the trucks are unloaded at the stadium. Most of the equipment will be set up in the locker room; some will be in other parts of the stadium, including the coaches press box.
11:09 a.m.: Using maps of the locker room showing where each player will be, the managers begin placing each player’s bag at his locker. After the bags are placed, the managers empty them and place helmets, pads, shoes and other gear precisely at each locker.
11:16 a.m.: Student manager Kirk Muranaka points out a player’s number has changed, and the necessary adjustments are made.
11:17 a.m.: Muranaka reminds the others to face the backs of the helmets out so the numbers can be seen while setting up, and that the helmets will be reset sideways later.
11:35 a.m.: Devie makes the rounds through the locker room, asking, “Anybody forget anything?” So far, so good.
11:39 a.m.: Muranaka works on tightening jerseys to shoulder pads with double-sided tape. Different players prefer different levels of tightness, so this is a time-consuming, custom job. “(Cedric) Byrd, for example. His jersey is a little loose, so we tape it tighter (to the pads).”
11:57 a.m.: Devie is displeased because a large plastic tub was not washed the day before. “It smells bad. Real bad. Don’t use it.”
12:17 p.m.: While Genier Cayabyab continues to tape jerseys and shoulder pads, others are now outside of the locker room setting up things on the field, such as the kickers’ net. Also, the coaches’ locker areas are set up, with caps, ironed shirts and a pack of gum for each coach.
12:24 p.m.: There is now plenty of activity on the field, even though the game is still nearly six hours away. Shanelle Kapaona and Greg Salas of the IMG marketing crew set up the A-frame of sponsor ads that rings the field, while trainers erect the sideline medical tent.
1 p.m.: Student manager Mike Hokama leaves due to illness. “He was sick from the day before but came in and toughed it out,” Devie says.
1:25 p.m.: Volunteer manager Shay Yanagi tapes the pads and jersey of star linebacker Jahlani Tavai, since injured and out for the season. “I only do Jahlani’s, it’s kind of a tradition thing and his is the most taped, so it takes time. But you see how he leaves it all on the field, and it’s worth it.”
1:40 p.m.: The band is on the field practicing. Head manager Al Ginoza has arrived with lunch. While most take a break, Devie and Skyena Antolin install and check the coaches’ communications equipment up in the press box.
2:05 p.m.: Ginoza and Devie are happy; the managers are ahead of schedule, there are just a few details to wrap up before game-time, there have been no major problems. Nothing was forgotten at UH.
6:06 p.m.: Kickoff. The managers have changed into their white game shirts. Some, like Alexis Glimpse, have game-ball duty. Glimpse, working the visitors side of the field, makes sure the referee has the correct ball to place when Nevada is on offense.
6:48 p.m.: Devie and Sady Ancheta stand near the 50-yard line, observing. They and others keep an eye out for equipment problems like broken face masks. There are none in this game. “During the game, all we are is emergency people,” Ginoza says.
9:05 p.m.: With 3:50 left in the game, Ginoza wheels a cart into the locker room and the managers begin to prepare for the team’s exit.
9:21 p.m.: The game ends, and it’s back to work for the managers.
9:32 p.m.: The trucks have arrived, and the 500 pounds of communications gear is the first equipment wheeled to the loading dock.
9:40 p.m.: Players begin to bring their equipment bags to the truck.
9:50 p.m.: Salas and other IMG staff carry heavy sandbags to a storage room near the lockers.
10:15 p.m.: Three baskets full of dirty laundry are the last items loaded into the truck.
10:32 p.m.: The trucks leave Aloha Stadium.
10:55 p.m.: Managers and trainers unload the trucks at UH.
11:01 p.m.: “Oh my god, it stinks!” says Ancheta, who is in her fifth year as a manager, as she enters the football team’s campus locker room. “You never get used to it.”
11:10 p.m.: Managers return pads to players’ lockers, and game helmets go into a big bucket.
11:20 p.m.: Muranaka hangs helmets on pegs while naming which player they belong to, and Ancheta checks off the names.
11:28 p.m.: Glimpse goes through every pair of game pants to make sure nothing is in the pockets before they are washed, while Olivia Garabadian wipes down every pair of cleats.
11:31 p.m.: Ginoza does the laundry. While washing uniforms, he gets soap in his eye, and it takes several minutes for the irritation to subside.
12:07 a.m.: With the laundry done, final details are wrapped up and the managers eat cold pizza.
12:24 a.m.: “We’re done,” Ancheta announces. “You’re lucky. We’re here ’til 2 a.m. after some games.”
“And I think Army had 22,” Shay Yanagi said. “For Oregon, their stadium is right across the street. They travel five (student managers).”
UH has three student managers specifically assigned to football, supervised by Devie. He and head equipment manager Al Ginoza work closely with football, but also handle other sports as needed. Kyle Tateishi is the assistant equipment manager assigned to the equipment room servicing the arena sports, and returns the favor to help with football, especially during crunch times.
At Arizona, there are three full-time staff members, plus 15 to 20 students exclusively servicing football, said equipment manager Wendell Neal. Overall, the Wildcats have seven full-time staffers for 500 student-athletes.
“We basically have four full-timers (for all 450 athletes in 21 sports),” said Teri Wilhelm Chang, UH’s assistant athletic director for facilities and events. “We depend heavily on students. During football it’s a grind for everyone. There’s a huge amount of work they do, especially when you factor in the travel.”
Said Yanagi, the volunteer manager:
“These kids, they work endless hours. When the team gets off the plane the players go to the hotel and take a nap. These guys are still working.”
Senior defensive lineman Zeno Choi says he has “nothing but praise” for the managers.
“They’re at luggage claim, not us.” he said. “They make our lives easier with the amount of work they do for us.”
Ginoza and Devie have plenty of administrative duties, such as ordering equipment. But they are often in the trenches with the students, too, sometimes handling the most mundane chores. It is partly by necessity, but also empathy. Both were student managers at UH.
“Al takes care of the kids,” Yanagi said. “He knows how it is.”
THOUSANDS OF DETAILS IN PLAY
No job is too small for anyone on game day; the marketing detachment is an example of this, also, as Shanelle Kapaona and former UH and NFL receiver Greg Salas set up the advertising lining the field, despite their job titles of “coordinator” and “account executive.”
Devie went to a small high school in Nebraska, where he participated in football, basketball, track, speech, drama and band. He has three bachelors’ degrees from UH: in business, information technology and communications, but said he is happy working a job he describes as “a glorified laundryman on some days.
“I used to like traveling a lot more, but I still find it fun,” said Devie, who has a 2-year-old son. “You have to be super flexible and accommodating, because the plan always changes. … Ultimately, it’s not about me, it’s about them.”
That’s especially true for a team with the unique geographic challenges of UH.
“To be honest, everything the guys in Hawaii do is special,” said Perry, who is also president of the American Equipment Managers Association. “If you have to load up a plane eight times a year and sometimes stay two weeks on the road, thousands of miles away, you’d better not forget anything. All I have to worry about is driving four hours.”
With the thousands of details that are in play, it is inevitable that things do get forgotten and things get broken and need to be fixed.
“Two weeks ago we had to find Super Glue for somebody’s shoe,” Devie said. “We’ve had to find detergent and (dryer) sheets on the road.”
CULTURE OF DEFERRING CREDIT
Opposing coaches might be friends before and after the week their teams play, but not during. The culture for support staff is always cooperative, and Ginoza is among the most well-liked and respected people in his business because of his willingness to help others far from home.
“They wear green and white and we wear orange and black,” Perry said. “But we do the same thing. If there’s something I can help with I do it because I know someone will do it for me down the road. Al and his staff take it to another level. We’ve had teams out there and they volunteer to do our laundry and refuse to take money for it.”
Consistent with his personality and the managers’ culture of embracing the shadows, Ginoza declined to talk about his role and deferred all credit to others. “Talk to the kids,” he said. “They do the work.”
“If you don’t like Al Ginoza, you just don’t like people,” Matlin said.
There was a time when Ginoza was the star. But even when he made the game-winning shot with five seconds left in a high school basketball state tournament game, he downplayed his role and credited someone else.
“The play wasn’t designed for me. Scott Martin just saw me open and threw it to me and I got it off,” Ginoza said in 1986, when he was a senior at Baldwin High on Maui.
Ginoza is not in the van full of managers that heads to Aloha Stadium after the truck is loaded at UH on Saturday morning, eight hours before kickoff.
He hangs back in case the baseball team, which is practicing, needs equipment help. He is also stationed at UH in case the crew headed to the stadium discovers something is missing.
On this day, all is well for the managers. When Ginoza arrives around noon, the most important thing he brings with him is lunch.
“We were 40 minutes early,” Devie says, as the students finished setting up the individual lockers and attending to other duties. “We’ll have some down time before the players get here. It’s a good day.”
When the players arrive, the managers are busy again. They take care of any adjustments the players and coaches need when they get to their lockers, and help them warm up, mostly by shagging balls.
LONG DAYS CAN GO BY FAST
During the game itself the managers are mostly idle, except for those with the duty of shuttling footballs to the referee. They all keep an eye out for equipment problems like broken helmets or shoes.
Upperclassmen Sady Ancheta, Kirk Muranaka and Skyena Antolin have earned the title of equipment manager and the tuition waiver that comes with it.
Students typically start out as part-time employees in the equipment room, and with experience can apply for football manager. Three other students working the game are equipment room workers.
“In high school I did stats, but nothing even close to this before,” Ancheta said. “You don’t think of stuff like this when you watch football.”
Antolin lettered in volleyball, basketball and track and field at Moanalua.
Glimpse is a junior communications major who was on the cheer squad at her high school in Glendale, Ariz. She is in her second year working football games.
“I’ll do this until I graduate,” she said.
Olivia Garabadian is a freshman from New Jersey who had hopes of playing college basketball. Two serious knee injuries ended that dream. As a rookie on this crew, she often is assigned the most mundane tasks, such as wiping down shoes after the game. But she smiles through everything and likes being part of a team.
“You really have to rely and depend on each other because there’s so much to do. I’ve met more people doing this than I have through my classes,” she said in the equipment room at UH, as Saturday turned to Sunday. “I think it’s a lot of fun. It’s a long day, but when you enjoy it, it goes fast. I like that I’m still around sports.”
It’s not for everyone, though.
Genier Cayabyab, who played football and ran track at Waiakea High, is a Marine Corps veteran and now a UH student. He worked as an equipment manager for two months; the Nevada game was his last.
“I wanted to focus more on school instead of two jobs,” said Cayabyab, who works at a veterans center. “We had long days in the Marines, but I’m not into a 15-hour workday anymore.”
