Behind the Friday Night Lights A manager’s dedication to the game Katie Creveling Contrubuting Writer
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mid all the corona chaos in the fall of 2020, you may have overlooked a new addition to our decorated football team. Emma Stasiak (‘22,) a transfer to Bolles from St. Johns Country Day, brought her experience with the game to the field. Stasiak is the only female member of the football team or staff. One might wonder if this presents any challenges, but Stasiak says that she doesn’t even notice it. Stasiak said, “Once I am around them, my mindset just entirely changes. I just go into football mode, and it’s like Emma does not exist anymore.” Stasiak has been intrigued about football ever since she was a child, which led her to become the team manager at her previous school.
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When transferring to Bolles, Stasiak wanted to continue to manage football. On top of that, she knew managing would be a great way to meet friends, “It was very very helpful in the beginning because I didn’t know anyone.”
“It’s so fun just to interact with people and know that you’re doing something that is helping them.” — Emma Stasiak (‘22) Stasiak points out that being a new student in a time of hybrid learning could have been challenging, “Like I came into Bolles knowing one person, and so it was really helpful to have...especially with the blended thing.”
Stasiak refers to her position as, “a little bit like a glorified watergirl and mechanic. But I absolutely despise being called a watergirl. I do more than that.” Which makes sense because her responsibilities as a manager are endless. She attends all practices for both JV and Varsity, attends both JV and Varsity games, helps hydrate the players, tapes up injured wrists, fixes broken equipment, disinfects surfaces, and pretty much everything in between. Some of Stasiak’s challenges have included cracked hands from wearing gloves, dodging in and out of the locker room, sprinting to run errands for coaches and going through canisters of Clorox wipes. “Anytime anyone tells you that you don’t have to actually work to be a manager,” Stasiak said, “They’re lying.”
