When you tune into the game tonight, you'll see your Gamecocks, decked out in their familiar attire (this week, white jerseys, garnet pants) ready to hit the field against the Gators. What you won't see is the hundreds of man hours and pounds of stuff it took to get them there.
As a former Athletic Trainer, I know the operations and behind-the-scenes work of athletics pretty well, but even for me the full scale logistics of football equipment operations seems daunting. The football equipment room stays in order thanks to the experience and work of Director of Equipment, Chris Matlock, along with full-time staffers Joe Sumter and Jake Corbett and fourteen student equipment managers.
Corbett oversees packing the 20-foot Gamecock-themed truck that transports what basically amounts to a portable equipment room: 11 rolling trunks (sometimes more depending on weather) containing back-up sets for just about everything. In addition to standard replacement clips, screws, buckles, etc. the trunks also include:
- one of each size for three different styles of helmets (a total of nine extra helmets)
- three of each size of pants
- three different styles of shoulder pads (Size M - 3X in all three)
- two of each size for five different styles of cleats
- several back-up jerseys for a wide variety of position numbers
Other miscellaneous items such as the kicking net, dry erase boards, Port-A-Cool fans or heaters depending on weather all have to make it on the truck. Then add in all the players' travel bags (which hold their pads, gloves, laundry bag, game cleats, girdle, etc.) and several more rolling trunks, coolers, and medical equipment from the Athletic Training staff and that 20-foot truck is getting pretty full. There's a specific order and system to how it all needs to go on the truck to ensure everything fits. I compare it to a game of Tetris. Ha!
Sample Weekly Timeline:
- Tuesday: restock trunks from previous game
- Wednesday: receive dress roster, pull travel bags & contents for those players, pull appropriate color jerseys, pack as many trunks as possible on to the truck
- Thursday: travel warm-ups distributed in players' lockers, pack any remaining items on to the truck, truck typically leaves Thursday night
- Friday: meet the truck at the opponent's stadium to set up the locker room - coaches gear, players uniforms and equipment, etc., which takes approximately two hours
- Saturday: arrive at the stadium about five hours before kickoff, clean helmets and set up the sideline... then pack it all back on to the truck after the game (hopefully a Gamecocks W!)
Matlock and Corbett are accompanied on away trips by ten student equipment managers whose assistance is crucial to keeping the show rolling. They help pack trunks, double check travel bags, set up the away locker room and sidelines, run footballs during the game, and basically assist wherever needed.
It's a long process and a long checklist of items, not even the smallest of which we can afford to leave behind (would you want to be the guy who didn't pack the back-up cleats that happen to be Marcus Lattimore's size?) Keeping track of it all takes a well organized crew, especially because, as explained by one of Jake's favorite sayings, "no one knows what my job is unless it doesn't get done."
- Brittany Lane, Spurs Up Blog
As a former Athletic Trainer, I know the operations and behind-the-scenes work of athletics pretty well, but even for me the full scale logistics of football equipment operations seems daunting. The football equipment room stays in order thanks to the experience and work of Director of Equipment, Chris Matlock, along with full-time staffers Joe Sumter and Jake Corbett and fourteen student equipment managers.
Corbett oversees packing the 20-foot Gamecock-themed truck that transports what basically amounts to a portable equipment room: 11 rolling trunks (sometimes more depending on weather) containing back-up sets for just about everything. In addition to standard replacement clips, screws, buckles, etc. the trunks also include:- one of each size for three different styles of helmets (a total of nine extra helmets)
- three of each size of pants
- three different styles of shoulder pads (Size M - 3X in all three)
- two of each size for five different styles of cleats
- several back-up jerseys for a wide variety of position numbers
Other miscellaneous items such as the kicking net, dry erase boards, Port-A-Cool fans or heaters depending on weather all have to make it on the truck. Then add in all the players' travel bags (which hold their pads, gloves, laundry bag, game cleats, girdle, etc.) and several more rolling trunks, coolers, and medical equipment from the Athletic Training staff and that 20-foot truck is getting pretty full. There's a specific order and system to how it all needs to go on the truck to ensure everything fits. I compare it to a game of Tetris. Ha!
Sample Weekly Timeline:- Tuesday: restock trunks from previous game
- Wednesday: receive dress roster, pull travel bags & contents for those players, pull appropriate color jerseys, pack as many trunks as possible on to the truck
- Thursday: travel warm-ups distributed in players' lockers, pack any remaining items on to the truck, truck typically leaves Thursday night
- Friday: meet the truck at the opponent's stadium to set up the locker room - coaches gear, players uniforms and equipment, etc., which takes approximately two hours
- Saturday: arrive at the stadium about five hours before kickoff, clean helmets and set up the sideline... then pack it all back on to the truck after the game (hopefully a Gamecocks W!)
Matlock and Corbett are accompanied on away trips by ten student equipment managers whose assistance is crucial to keeping the show rolling. They help pack trunks, double check travel bags, set up the away locker room and sidelines, run footballs during the game, and basically assist wherever needed.
It's a long process and a long checklist of items, not even the smallest of which we can afford to leave behind (would you want to be the guy who didn't pack the back-up cleats that happen to be Marcus Lattimore's size?) Keeping track of it all takes a well organized crew, especially because, as explained by one of Jake's favorite sayings, "no one knows what my job is unless it doesn't get done."
- Brittany Lane, Spurs Up Blog
i love to see this. would love to see behind the scenes at our cheerleading,and band practices and game days.also would like to see what goes on for home games at our football games and pics of our men's and women's basketball lockerrooms.
Great article. You said 11 trucks - 18 wheel trucks? I must have missed what you ment..
Or did I?