The unsung heroes of CU Boulder's move to the Big 12

 In the quiet early hours on the CU Boulder campus, inside the Events Center, basketball team manager CJ Armitage is getting ready for the day ahead. Whether it is getting ready for the big game, practice, or just a team meeting, Armitage is the pointman for the players and coaches. 

Being a collegiate student athlete takes dedication, and so does being any moving member of the team. Armitage is a picture-perfect example of teamwork, dedication, and sacrifice. Arriving at any event hours before the players, he has seen every aspect of the world of college basketball and how to create a seamless experience for the coaches and players.

As the CU Boulder Board of Regents voted on a possible conference switch, Armitage imagined what life would be like with this change. 

The Board of Regents announced the university would make the move to the Big-12 Conference. Football would not be the only team being affected by this decision, but it was the main team talked about in this move with the largest amount of funding. Basketball, however, has games throughout the week throughout the late fall and early spring semester. The increase of travel time and distances to school’s could have a big effect on the academic lives and well-being of athletes and student staff. 

And at the University of Colorado, now in the bright lights of the Coach Prime Effect and the Big-12 funding, the job of being part of the student staff is becoming a whole lot busier. 

“The most rewarding part is probably, well, I get to do something I love which is great, but then I get to meet some very cool people doing this,” said Armitage. 

However, Armitage voiced his concern of traveling farther with the move to the Big 12 and the implications for teams who do not charter planes and have the same funding as football.

“In terms of our team specifically, we'll be traveling more, and we'll be in the air longer,” said Armitage. “The Big-12 change will be a great thing for the school, but primarily it changes who we will play and how much time we spend traveling.”

 If everything is not in order beforehand, the players will not have the seamlessness and resources to have a successful game. These students are not exclusive to making only one team run smoothly at CU. No two jobs are the same and no two teams function the same. From equipment managers to student media, as well as everyone in between, they have been the backbone of every team and the department would suffer greatly without them. 

“The game itself is probably the easiest part for me,” said Armitage. 

As Armitage will be graduating in the spring, he will spend more time focusing on the game itself than juggling his job with his school. He noted some positives and challenges that the change will bring. 

 “Positives will be more TV money brought in for the school, for basketball it means a very challenging conference schedule with a very tough Big-12 Conference,” said Armitage.  

Players throughout the different departments have seen firsthand what an integral part of the process managers are. 

“They do it all,” said senior Jack Seavall. 

As a senior, Seavall has seen the transition between coaches, players, and staff, including student support staff. He, along with all the other players, has felt the pressure of the move and changes, but have never had to worry about not having gear or any logistics behind the game, just performing. 

“They do everything behind the scenes. Every morning we walk in, we have our cubbies, we open our cubbies up and the clothes are washed for us, and we have towels in there for us for later. They do everything behind the scenes that you wouldn’t even think about. Setting up the field for games as well and having everything set. They do all the headsets for the coaches, so they do everything that you could ask for.”

However, this does not come easy. These students have dedicated their lives to CU Athletics and have decided to make this job a high priority and could help them post-grad. 

“Having this opportunity allows me to gain first hand experience in the field, which hopefully will help my future career as I want to be a college coach myself,” Armitage said.

CU Boulder student athletes are feeling for the first time in over a decade the popularity of being a student athlete. The recent media attention and popularity is not the only thing that has come with Sander’s move. The news of moving to the Big 12 has put pressure on the athletes to perform well, which translates directly to the students behind the scenes. 

The student staff does not only affect the athletes and coaches, but the entire university. On an average game day, social media floods with graphics of teams and players posted by the university and team social media. These graphics and real-time updates come from somewhere. Jack Giura spends his weekdays editing football footage and spending his Saturday’s down on the field in the midst of the action. 

“A lot of professors are really easy to work with, but managing school, personal life, and school takes a lot of work. We also have to be very organized when dealing with hundreds of gigabytes of footage. It's all about organizational skills and this will benefit you whether you want to work in sports or not,” said Giura. 

Director of Football Equipment, Luke Westall, has seen first-hand what these students endure with heavy school loads and making sure to prioritize the team with packed schedules. In his professional career, he has spent hours with CU Boulder students and has learned what qualities are needed to have a successful equipment manager. It is a major time commitment for student managers, and Westall ensures that they must pick their managers strategically. 

“There’s just a lot of sacrifices. It’s awesome, but we really have to filter out who we think can handle it or not,” Westall said.

The CU Boulder basketball team has been one of CU Boulder’s best teams in history, bringing in some of the top athletes in the country. The basketball schedule is integrated throughout the year and school weeks, while the football team only travels on the weekends. The increase in travel time with this conference move could have an impact on the mental health, social lives, and academic success of all the students involved: athletes and staff. 

“There is an added stress with it and there are things that get cut down, like my social life and spending time with parents,” said Armitage. 

In order for the team to have a successful season, their players have to be available for all games and practices. However, school is also a priority for these athletes. Therefore, athletes on the football team, and likely other teams, have the opportunity to be prioritized when it comes to selecting classes for the semester. The student staff is also extremely important to having a successful season, as well as making sure they excel in school. The priority treatment is reserved for only certain roles throughout the staff and is prioritized off of need. 

“I get to register for classes a week before anyone else does,” said Seavall. Along with this, Seavall is provided with an on-campus advisor through the athletic department.    

Athletes that get to pick classes first have the opportunity to get the best and most desired classes that the university offers. Oftentimes, these classes are offered online with limited capacity. However, there is also a distinctive price difference between online and traditional classes with online classes. Athletes who choose these online classes have the opportunity to get this cost covered due to scholarships and their need to travel, while staff does not have a scholarship opportunity. 

 “Having priority enrollment really makes that fairly easy for all of us. We have specific equipment managers that just report to basketball. We have two of them who are fantastic, and they’re on the court with us. They get the same priority enrollment,” said Armitage. 

It is rare that students behind the scenes of athletics at any university are a topic of conversation when it comes to how to balance school, but still work the long hours required to sustain this position. Even though the student staff does not get all the same accommodations and guidance the athletes get, the game is just as important. 

 “We’re not in it for the glitz and glam. We’re the team behind the team and our job is to help these players reach their potential, not necessarily our potential,” said Giura. 

It is a goal of the student media to get the opportunity to travel to away games with the team, as they can only take a limited amount of staff. However, CU Boulder students pick classes for the semester at least six months in advance and the staff doesn’t know whether they will travel until a few weeks before the season. While a good GPA and attendance record may be feasible for some teams, it takes a lot of planning and sacrifice for others. 

“It’s a lot throughout the season. We try to give at least one day off to all of our managers, which we’ve been pretty successful with. Six days a week is a lot on anybody and then having to juggle classes on top of that. It’s a lot to try and make work.” Westall explained.

Players and staff have had mixed feelings about the school’s big decision to move to the Big-12. The major changes it has on travel, classes, and overall lifestyle is drastic, as games will now be across the country rather than just states away. 

“Most of the Big-12 Schools I haven’t been to before. So, it’s gonna be all new. It kind of feels like I got a new job at a different school.” said Westall. 

The move to the Big-12 will have its perks along with the possibility of struggles. Giura feels as if this switch will overall bring in more revenue and make a better athletic department and student experience. He believes it will also make the travel aspect have more of a collegiate feel. 

“When you’re talking about college sports, Big-12 is where it's at,” said Giura. “A lot of these cities have a lot of tradition and legacy which brings the college feel.”

With all the changes CU Athletics has seen, it is now more important than ever to understand and respect the work that is put in by the athletic staff. These students have dedicated their undergrad career to the athletic department and are going to be an integral part of a smooth transition into the Big 12. 

“We’re the team behind the team,” said Giura. 

It is clear that college athletics takes an army for everything to be successful and have a smooth season. The students who are not athletes, but still dedicate the same time to the program are the unsung heroes of the CU Boulder Athletic Program.