{"id":79299,"date":"2025-02-28T12:13:26","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T19:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=79299"},"modified":"2025-03-03T08:03:02","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T15:03:02","slug":"unsung-the-life-of-a-college-equipment-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2025\/02\/28\/unsung-the-life-of-a-college-equipment-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"Unsung: The Life of a College Equipment Manager"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Ethan Sawatsky, the SAIT Trojans equipment manager, looks after the Trojans mens hockey team after practice at WinSport in Calgary on Feb. 12, 2025.<\/p>\n

(Photo by Kaiden Brayshaw\/SAIT)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The doors to Calgary\u2019s Markin MacPhail Centre open at 5:30 AM. By that time, Ethan Sawatzky is already there. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sawatzky, or \u201cE-Dog\u201d as most of the team calls him, is the equipment manager for the SAIT Trojans Men’s hockey program.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Head coach Tyler Drader calls Sawatzky the team\u2019s \u201cunsung hero.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe title is equipment manager, but he does a lot more than that,\u201d said Drader. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before practice starts at 6:15, Sawatzky, wearing his signature basketball shorts, fills 24 water bottles, sets up dry erase boards and sharpens skates, among other tasks.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The 23-year-old believes that the one-minute walk from the car in the cold is not worth wearing pants. “I just enjoy the mobility of [shorts] more than pants,\u201d he said. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Practice, once it begins, is the \u201ceasy part\u201d of the day for Sawatzky.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou could just watch for an hour. Sometimes the guys needs skates done.\u00a0 Today was probably a more eventful day, just with (Trojans’ player Zach) Cain, he needed his skate sharpened,\u201d Sawatzky said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Zach Cain (left) and Ethan Sawatsky look at skates during the SAIT Trojans Mens practice.
(Photo by Kaiden Brayshaw\/SAIT)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to practices three times a week, Sawatzky joins the team for games.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI do every game; I haven\u2019t missed one yet,\u201d he said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While on the road, Sawatzky schedules the meals for the team and keeps note of players\u2019 equipment and preferences so that he can accommodate their needs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI’m in charge of (our) big travel trunk and skate sharpener and all the waters. They bring their skates and helmets, and I’ll bring the jerseys and everything else,\u201d Sawatzky said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before being hired as Trojans equipment manager, Sawatzky completed a hockey GM and scouting course but had little practical experience playing or working in the sport.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy hockey background was pretty brutal. I got a one-day training lesson from the last equipment manager, and then I was kind of just on my own,\u201d he said. \u201cThe first few months were pretty rough, but I’m pretty dedicated to learning.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After he was hired, Sawatzky had help from SAIT’s previous equipment manager for home games, but was alone for practices. The first year came to a tough end, with a loss in the playoffs. \u201c<\/span>Seeing how upset he was really stood out to me about how much he loved being a part of the team and just didn’t want it to end,\u201d Drader said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, Sawatzky is finishing his second season as equipment manager with playoffs on the horizon.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe first year, if the guy needed a stick on the bench, he\u2019d (Ethan) slowly walk back to the equipment room and get him the stick. Now, he knows that guy needs a stick right now\u2014you could have a breakaway,\u201d Drader said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sawatzky says he feeds off the players\u2019 patience and acceptance of him, and that makes the early mornings easy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe guys are so great and thankful for what I do,\u201d he said. \u201cI try to work hard for them.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ethan Sawatzky is in his second season as the SAIT Trojans equipment manager. Read more about his career outlook, passion and job. [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":921,"featured_media":79303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"KB SAIT Equipment Manager","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-79299","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sait-trojans-hockey"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/921"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79299"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79400,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79299\/revisions\/79400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}