Behind the scenes in the equipment room
Each time St. Joe’s athletes take the field, they do so donning their sleek crimson and grey uniforms. What fans don’t see are the student equipment managers who put in hours of work behind the scenes to set the Hawks up for success.
Athletic Equipment Manager, Xaviar Dantzler, employs a staff of 12 students, who work between the hours of 6:30 a.m. and 9 p.m. in one of the two equipment rooms, located in Hagan Arena and O’Pake Recreation Center.
“My primary responsibility moving forward is to make everything seem effortless,” Dantzler said. “We all work together to make sure our teams can get out there and win games.”
Dantzler’s staff takes care of all 18 Division I varsity teams as well as select club teams such as men’s and women’s rugby. The managers make sure each athlete is prepared for every game and practice. Dantzler is the head of the operation.
“He’s vital,” said Assistant Athletic Director Joseph DeLacy. “He serves our student athletes, the teams and the coaches. He’s really elevated the service to them. The position has grown over the years and has expanded.”
Alexander Bell ’19, one of the students who works in the equipment room, agreed, pointing to Dantzler’s communication skills as a characteristic that makes him a leader in the equipment room.
“He’s very important,” Bell said. “He’s easy to talk to and if any of us have any questions, he’s there to answer them. He wants what is best for the athletic teams and wants people to understand that we’re not working, we’re helping the athletic teams.”
Dantzler and the equipment staff’s responsibilities are not limited to just the student athletes. They also take care of the coaches, the strength and conditioning staff, as well as the sports medicine staff. The first thing fans see at a sporting event are the teams’ uniforms.
“Athletics is essentially a marketing arm of this university,” DeLacy said. “It’s how people get to know St. Joe’s and it’s our job to make sure we present our teams, our facilities and ourselves in the best possible light. It’s all encompassing really.”
For an important responsibility like this, Dantzler relies on his team of students to help him run the day-to-day operations in the equipment rooms. Whether it be washing loads of laundry, hanging each jersey in numerical order or receiving and organizing packages, the students are crucial to the equipment room.
“They’re an integral part of getting things organized,” Dantzler said. “I’m only one person. They are the lifeline of making sure that everything is done and done accordingly.”
Bell said he realizes the importance of his job working under Dantzler and understands the punctuality in this business.
“The most important thing is to get it done,” Bell said. “A lot of nights we’ll be working late because the teams have practice in the morning. It’s on us to make sure that everything runs smoothly.”
The key to making sure each uniform is done in time for practice is organization in the equipment room. With so many teams and hundreds of athletes, the equipment room staff is systematic in keeping everything in the right order.
“Being organized and being meticulous about the job that I do helps me a lot,” Dantzler said.
DeLacy pointed out that Dantzler’s leadership in the equipment room is key to organizing what could feel like an overwhelming amount of equipment.
“It’s really up to Xaviar,” DeLacy said. Each athlete has up to a couple dozen pieces of team gear and practice gear, to travel gear. And Xaviar is on top of all of that.”
With dozens of pieces of gear for each athlete and hundreds of student athletes who compete and practice year-round, Dantzler has a tall task in front of him everyday.
Each time the Hawks take the field, they’re not only representing the university, but they’re also representing the long hours Dantzler and the rest of the equipment staff put in to prepare them to look and play their best.
“Those are our marks,” DeLacy said about St. Joe’s uniforms. “They’re billboards for the university and it’s Xaviar’s job to police that.”
