BY: JESSICA E. GARCIA, LIVING SPORT BARCELONA ‘17 ALUMNA, ALUMNI BOARD MARKETING LEAD & OPERATIONS AND MARKETING MANAGER AT NEW YORK LIZARDS
“Behind every great group of guys, is a set of great young women.” This is a quote from one of my High School assistant coaches, Jason Hoover, and has stood out to me for the past ten years. At the time that he said it, I knew it was meaningful, but I didn’t know how powerful his words would be to me, until now. Ten years ago, if you asked me if I knew that I was about to start a journey that would lead me to my career. I wouldn’t have believed you.
As a young girl, back in 2010, I made the decision that I would manage my high school football team. I had a passion for sports, especially football and two loving parents, who wouldn’t sign a permission slip for me to be the kicker on the team. My health teacher in Middle School, Mr. Rado, suggested that if I had a passion for football, I should be part of the team in a non-traditional form. I took that advice and for 4 years, I moved with my class and managed the junior varsity, and later, the varsity football teams. When I first started, a lot of people would call me the “Water Girl”, but I was more than just the water girl. I wrote down stats on game day for our defensive coach, I handed out all the equipment, assigned uniform numbers, I assisted with the Athletic Director to make sure all players had up-to-date permission slips and physical documentation. I also ensured the were not on academic probation, which guaranteed that they could practice. I also coordinated our traveling for away games and secured everything that was needed in our medical supply bag for the trainer. For just a high school student, I had a played a fairly large role, and I loved it.