Most of the athletic hype around Wilson revolves around seeing what happens on the field. However, many people don’t know that Wilson’s success is due in large part to what happens behind the scenes; behind every lay-up, touchdown, and home run is a team of student administrators that keeps the paperwork flowing and the engines running. Meet the sports managers.

Whether it’s running the scoreboard or setting up a warm-up drill, sports managers have a myriad of responsibilities. Since a team’s roster size can vary from about 15-45 players, many coaches turn to the sports managers to speed up the paperwork verification process. The sports managers are the messengers that communicate between coaches and athletic department.

These students are responsible for coordinating with the coach at any given time and performing the task at hand. When the responsibilities are done and everything is running smoothly, they are supporting the team on the sidelines as if they were in a uniform. Two of Wilson’s managers, Ryan Carnota and Eliana Rosenthal, know just what it takes to get the job done.

Senior Ryan Carnota earned the role of the boys varsity soccer team manager because he was unable to try out for the team due to a pre-existing injury. Carnota’s “love for the sport” heavily influenced his will to still have a role with the team. Since moving to DC at a young age, he has seen the importance of soccer on the District’s culture. Carnota has played for the JV soccer team in the past and plays recreationally in his free time.

Similarly, junior Eliana Rosenthal’s experience on both the JV and varsity girls lacrosse teams enabled her to be the best person for the managing position. While finding that playing lacrosse would conflict with her rigorous academic schedule, Rosenthal found that being the team’s manager would still allow her to be close to the team. “With so much schoolwork, I didn’t think I would be a fully committed member of the team,” Rosenthal said. “I still wanted to stay connected to the team and help out.”

Although Carnota and Rosenthal aren’t with the team on the field, they believe that their managing role allows them to have a closer relationship with the players. “I like the closeness of the team and the aspect of brotherhood,” Carnota said. Constantly working for the team gave Carnota the opportunity to see hard work from all members of the team. “I enjoy taking away any extra stress that the team has to deal with that they otherwise wouldn’t have someone designated to do the business or organization side of running a team,” he added.

Athletic Director Mitch Gore hopes that more students follow in Carnota and Rosenthal’s footsteps. “It’s good to get more students involved in the program,” said Gore, “that’s always our main goal.” With a little bit of help from its students, Wilson’s athletic program has become more organized and focused on catching Ws.