As the clock counts down, you hear the bouncing of the basketballs and the squeaky shoes of the athletes as they begin to warm up. This is just a typical game night for most spectators, but definitely not for one spectator who sits behind the bench.

That person watching from behind the bench that I am talking about is a student manager for the Wayne State men’s basketball team.

That person is me, Asia Berg, a senior here at Wayne.

I am not the only student manager for the men’s team—there are three others. Not a lot of people know what we do for the team. Some people assume we fill their water or just run the clock during practice, but we do more than just that.

There is a typical routine we have on game day. Some of our daily activities consist of getting cones out, towels, taking stats, doing laundry, filming and, like I mentioned before, running the clock. On game day if we are traveling, we have to pack jerseys, warm-ups, the cooler and anything else that has to go onto the bus.

When people ask me what I do: they question: “You do all of that. Why? Do you get paid?”

Some people are surprised when I tell them that I don’t get paid and that I do it for the learning experience. You may think, what can you get out of watching practices, or games, day in and out?

It’s hard to explain exactly what all I get out of doing this. It’s an experience you have to see and do for yourself to understand. Some people may think it sounds boring, but to me it’s something great that will help me in my future.

There’s a lot that you don’t always pick up on as an athlete at the time. When I played in high school I didn’t notice all the film that my coaches watched and all the long hours they put into helping us become better players.

I have learned a lot from head coach Brian Dolan, and I feel blessed to have gotten the opportunity to be a part of their team.