Behind The Scenes Of Mens Basketball

     When you hear about the Bloomsburg Men's basketball team all you hear about is the coaches and the players you never hear about what happens behind the scenes. When people talk about the basketball team they love to say "How great that player is" or "Wow that coach did a great job preparing them for that game", but who does all the work behind the scenes? The work that goes unnoticed is the work of the team manager. The Manager does all the dirty work, the stuff the coaches, and the players don't have the time to accomplish. Being a Manager is not an easy job you have to do a lot of things that people would never expect. Josh Tanner, the teams manager, puts his free time and effort to better the team and players. His heart and passion are one hundred percent involved in the team, and he loves what he does despite how frustrating it can be at times.




Figure 1

 " I have to help with every practice, most of the time I sit and do the clock but I also jump in and throw passes to the post players." Josh is very enthusiastic during the practices. He likes to get the guys riled up and gets them motivated for the rough practice ahead. When one of the guys would miss a shot he would always say thing like "don't worry man you will make the next". He is always using his encouraging words to keep up the team spirit. he always knows how to stay positive and put a smile on their faces. Sometimes he would stand up and start to clap and yell just to pump them up. Before each practice he has to get everything ready. He had to grab the balls out of the small gloomy white and grey room with some tall metal cabinets(See Figure 1). Then grab the gold jerseys out of the chilly maroon, white, and grey locker room. So that during practice if coach wanted three teams there would be a maroon, white and gold.

Figure 2

     The huge gymnasium known as Nelson Field House beginning to get filled up and all ages coming into the court (See Figure 2). It was game night the huskies practiced all week preparing for this game. There are four sides of the bleachers two on each sideline, and two on the baselines they are all maroon. Josh in his position at the top of the bleachers on the one sideline preparing to film. "I do this so that after the game the coaches can see what mistakes the players have made and what they have done right," Josh said. If it wasn't for his film how would the coaches and players know where they need to improve? Josh is a huge asset to the team , he isn't just the manager, he's the heart of the team.
     Film is one of the toughest things that Josh has to do because it consists of so much movement and parts of it. Not only does he film the game, but after the game put it up on this website that is orange, black, and grey. Not the happiest looking website online, it has a symbol also that looks sort of like a fan with three fins and it is orange. It is a website just for sports either basketball or football are the most common it is used for. Josh has to go anywhere he can to get a computer to use to add the film to that website, and share it to all the players. If he doesn't do that none of the players can watch the film without the coaches.
     No matter if it's a game or practice you will see Josh Tanner there cheering on the Men's Basketball Team. He will be the first up cheering yelling whether the men are winning a game or even finishing a simple drill in practice. Some days more then others when the team needs him more he will be yelling and trying to get the men to smile. He truly is a huge contribution to the team many people don't know how much he does, and he doesn't get the recognition deserves for the hard work he puts in. So next time you are at a game take a look up at the top of the bleachers, and you will see Josh doing his behind the scenes work.