PHOTO BY SARAH OLENDER Isberg, who played basketball through high school, plans to remain in the sport post-graduation. He would like to either coach high school basketball and use his business major, or coach college basketball full time, depending on where life takes him. In his position as a student manager, Isberg has worked extensively with video clips for the team. “I’ve considered myself basically an assistant video coordinator in terms of how much I interact with the coach, the film and stuff like that,” Isberg said. He has also been able to use his role to network when applying for co-ops. “I was applying to co-ops last semester and one of the coaches had a former player who was working at one of the places I was applying to, and he helped me connect with him and talk to him, which was really nice,” Isberg said. “So I think just the relationships you build there are kind of irreplaceable if you use them right.” The relationships Isberg and Ryan have formed through managing the basketball team extend past those formed with coaches. Junior forward Jason Strong, who is also one of Isberg’s roommates, says that he thinks of both Isberg and Ryan as members of the team. “I don’t look at it as like a manager relation,” Strong said. “It’s like they’re part of the team.” Isberg said that the networking and career aspects are a huge benefit of becoming a student manager, but he also believes that the memories he has made are once-in-a-lifetime experiences. “My favorite things are definitely the traveling and just learning from everybody. The stories you hear or the things you get to see or learn about are irreplaceable. I’ll never have opportunities like this outside of Northeastern for sure.” Traveling across the country also stands out for women’s basketball team manager Ana Ozuna. Last year, the team FALL 2020
THE SWISS ARMY KNIVES
traveled to Oregon to play the top ranked team in the country. “You’re playing probably one of the best teams in the U.S., when it came to college, and it was really cool to experience that court side,” Ozuna said. “You’re seeing the game up close, getting to experience a different style of game, while also doing the job.” You won’t find Ozuna, Ryan, Isberg, Gosselin, Martin, or any of the other student managers listed on any rosters, but that doesn’t mean their work goes unnoticed or unappreciated. For women’s basketball, Ozuna keeps the team organized and on task. Junior guard Katie May believes that Ozuna has the ability to make sure everybody’s in game needs are met and to keep the team focused. “[Ana is] always very on top of things and a very organized person so I feel like the coaches appreciate that as well, but we definitely appreciate that,” May said. “We can definitely be a scatterbrained team, and I feel like she pulls us together and makes sure we’re always on top of things.” Glavine echoes that statement. “They are sort of the unsung heroes,” Glavine said. “They don’t get any credit or anything, but I know every day when they get off the bus or when they show up that we’re always like ‘Oh, Chloe and Jarred are here, that’s great!’” In Isberg’s eyes, being that unsung hero is imperative to the job. It’s what makes a good manager great. “Not caring about getting recognized, that’s one of the biggest things as a manager. You do a lot of things that nobody really sees, nobody notices and it goes unrecognized,” Isberg said. “But you have to know at the end of the day, everyone really appreciates what you do, and you’ll get those moments here and there that you do get recognized and it feels great.”