Friday Night Faces: Student Managers Fill Big Role At Rogers High

 Staff Photo J.T. Wampler Taylor Coberly, Rogers High School football student manager, fills water bottles during the Mounties game Sept. 5.
Staff Photo J.T. Wampler Taylor Coberly, Rogers High School football student manager, fills water bottles during the Mounties game Sept. 5.

ROGERS -- High school football is a male dominated game.

On Friday nights, the sideline at Rogers High games are filled with almost 100 male athletes and 10 more male coaches.

The chain crew, stat keepers and the officials are also generally male. Same goes for the game management personnel.

But two Rogers female students play big roles for the Mounties' football team, although most of their work goes unnoticed by those not on the playing field.

Taylor Coberly and Kimberley Wiltgen are the Mounties' varsity student trainers-managers. Assistant coach Rob Bray, who supervises the trainers, said the two are an invaluable asset to the football team.

The managers put in long hours preparing the team for both practices and games. They do everything from making sure there is adequate water and training supplies, preparing jerseys for the players and making sure the video equipment is ready. They even fix broken helmets.

They put in as much time as the players, maybe more.

"After games, we wash the jerseys," Coberly said. "The players make a pile for their pants and jerseys. Then on Monday after they are washed, we will sometimes hang them up."

Bray said having dedicated managers like Coberly and Wiltgen makes the coaches' jobs all the easier.

"They are almost like assistant coaches," he said. "They generally find us because they like sports, or the training aspect of it, and they want to get their foot in the door. They spend a lot of time up here in the spring, summer and fall. We have games on Monday and Friday nights. It's the same time commitment as a player, but they don't get the reward of playing on Friday night."

Before being selected to be a student manager-trainer, prospective candidates have to go through a background check. Coberly is in her second year with the team, while Wiltgen is in her first.

"Coach (Flannigan) sent out an email to all of our teachers asking how we behaved in class and what our grades were," Coberly said. "I had so much fun last year, I decided to do it again this year. Being on the sideline with the players, coaches and the crowd is just so much fun to be around."

Bray said Coberly and Wiltgen are also assigned tasks when the team is not preparing for practice or games.

"They run errands and do some computer work in the spring," Bray said. "They really are a jack of all trades. Taylor has kind of taken the lead role. She makes sure that everything that needs to be done gets done. They really work well together."

Coberly enjoys the variety of work she and Wiltgen are called upon to do.

"I've counted T-shirts, I've filled out paper work, I've done spread sheets for the coaches," Coberly said. "I've done a little of everything."

Flannigan said finding good student trainer-managers is a plus for the team, and the coaching staff.

"I have fired more than one over the years," Flannigan said. "We have had a couple student managers that were not in it for the right reasons. I tell them up front what the duties are, and what the expectations are. We give our managers a letter at the end of the year because they put in the same amount of time as the players do. We feel that they deserve that."

Coberly said being awarded a varsity letter as a sophomore was one of the highlights from last year's football season.

"Last year, I was one of the few sophomores that lettered," Coberly said. "It was cool. I enjoy it."

Sports on 09/19/2014

Upcoming Events