A Day in the Life of an Equipment Manager

He wanted to stay connected to sports anyway he could, even if that goal required him to take an unglamorous position within the athletic department. But something happened in the process: Nolan O’Meara came to love his job.

O’Meara, a freshman Athletic Training major, works as an equipment room assistant in the Nutter Center. His job is to clean, organize and distribute gear to Wright State athletes. It’s a part of athletics fans may not be aware of, but equipment managers make sure teams have what they need to compete.

“People come to support the team, and we get stuff ready for them so the players can focus on the game,” O’Meara said. “They don’t have to worry about doing any laundry and they don’t have to worry about losing any of that stuff. They just bring it to us and we can take care of it.”

After games, players take their uniforms, towels and other gear to the equipment room and set them in a basket. O’Meara and his co-workers wash, sort and fold the items for the players, who stop by later to pick everything up before the next game.

An avid WSU fan, O’Meara enjoys the opportunity to get closer to Raider sports than the common fan does. When the lights come on and the games start, however, he’s like any other student: proud to have a school to support.

“Growing up, my family had season tickets to the basketball games since before I was born,” O’Meara said. “So I’ve been coming out to support the Wright State basketball team as far back as I can remember—since I was four or five. It’s been really fun to support them and see the players come and go throughout the years. Now that I’m a student here, I can sit in the student section, dress up and cheer the team on.”

His interactions with those teams are what O’Meara cherishes most about working in the equipment room. Though he admits being intimidated by the basketball players’ height, O’Meara is excited to see athletes he looks up to—literally and figuratively—on a daily basis.

“They’ll talk to us for a little bit if they’re not in a hurry, and we’ll talk about the game or match if they won or lost,” O’Meara said. “They’re really friendly about it, [and] they’re just fun to be around.”

A former baseball player for Dayton Carroll High School, O’Meara enjoys talking to Wright State’s baseball team. As the players ready for the season, O’Meara can hear what they experienced on the field, what their emotions are or simply talk baseball. Those moments keep him close to the game he loves.

“I’ve just been a big sports fan my whole life,” O’Meara said. “I wasn’t able to play baseball in college, so being around all the athletes and the equipment brings back good memories, and it’s really cool. It feels like I haven’t even left sports out of my life.”