Senior wrestling team manager Kaden Judge trains a new wrestler in table work.
Behind Aragon’s wrestling team is a crucial, but often overlooked member of the team: the wrestling team manager. For the past four years, senior Kaden Judge has been managing the team and keeping the wrestlers organized.
Judge originally earned her job as wrestling team manager in freshman year, not expecting to be involved in sports at all during her high school career.
“A family friend had previously managed Aragon wrestling and recommended that I [join] because her kid was joining … and I’ve been there ever since,” Judge said.
In order to become an effective team manager, one must have a sense of leadership.
“You have to lead your team through any challenges they face and you sometimes have to take over for the head coach,” Judge said. “Wrestling management also requires a lot of collaboration and communication skills … [and] it’s really important to … fine tune those skills in order to be the best wrestling manager possible.”
While we’re on the mat, she’s making sure that we’re all cleared, that we’re all safe [and] … don’t end up with broken … collarbones
Judge is present at practices and meets with the team as much as possible.
“She wants us to do things quickly so we don’t forget,” said sophomore wrestler Lueni Georgievski. “She helps … manage our time well to get things done as soon as possible.”
In addition to helping manage time and responsibilities of the wrestlers, Judge is in charge of ensuring the wrestlers’ safety in an intense sport.
“While we’re on the mat, she’s making sure that we’re all cleared, that we’re all safe [and] … don’t end up with broken … collarbones,” said junior wrestler Caleb Richmond. “Just yesterday, we had a home game, and [Kaden set] … up the mats [and] the chairs. Mad respect.”
A challenging part of being a team manager is dealing with paperwork.
“We have a lot of paperwork, whether it’s weigh-in sheets [or] mat sheets,“ Judge said. “It’s just an extremely important part of wrestling.”
Despite these demanding responsibilities, Kaden has still returned to her position each year.
“The best part about being a wrestling manager is seeing your teammates whom you’ve been helping through this really tough sport win and be happy,” Judge said. “[A] core memory is definitely the conversations that we have as manager [to] athlete. We are really like a family and we definitely have a lot of long talks about … why we joined wrestling. It’s always really great to hear that.”
It is not common for students to take the role of team manager in Aragon athletics, even though other sports could possibly benefit from someone like Kaden.
“I’m not sure why other teams don’t have one,” Georgievski said. “I really think they could benefit from it since it is a very [good] way to have communication from the team to the team manager and then to the coach, with the trust it can build throughout the team.”
The best part about being a wrestling manager is seeing your teammates whom you’ve been helping through this really tough sport win and be happy
Team managers can be helpful in any sport, but wrestling might be a special case in which having a team manager allows the team to run extra smoothly.
“We’re too close to each other, so we goof off a ton,” Richmond said. “Kaden is sort of necessary for us to make sure that we’re on task.”
Given that Judge is a senior, this is her last year with the team and they will soon need a new team manager to take her place.
Next year, Judge’s presence on the team will be missed by the wrestlers she has supported. As the wrestling season comes to a close, a new wrestling team manager, who is yet to be determined, will resume her role and continue to drive the team forward.
