Student Managers: Coming to the athletes’ aid

Though many would argue that an athlete’s success is solely dependent on his or her hard work and determination, there are actually certain individuals who commit to the same struggles and responsibilities in order to help these athletes reach their goals, yet they are rarely given credit.

Some of these extraordinary individuals are the student managers of the Office of Sports and Development (OSD), individuals who would even go beyond their responsibilities to accomplish their duties to DLSU’s athletes.

The program’s function

Established last 2006, the Student Manager Program aimed to look after athletes who begin to struggle with their academics due to the demands of training and tournaments.

“There are four tasks: you monitor closely the student athletes, you submit reports, then you provide intervention like tutoring, or you can tutor them yourself, only if you can, and assist in any OSD non-academic matters like year-end thanksgiving, Animo year-end rally, and other events,” says Diemmy Alexi Tatlonghari (V, BS-ENT), the manager for the DLSU Volleyball teams.

Initial steps

Many students join organizations partly out of curiosity and partly as a way to boost their resumes. This holds true to the student managers too as they gain valuable experience with the program.

“At first, credentials lang , like wala lang, parang nag join ka lang, to add something to your CV [Curriculum Vitae]. Pero eventually, parang na learn mo rin yung perks of [a] student manager”, says Julianne Khristina Beltran (III, AB-DSM) who is the student manager of the DLSU basketball teams.

Though their initial intentions were not that grounded on commitment, having to experience the program itself led to a change of purpose for these student managers. Virginia Therese Soriano (VII, PSM-BSA) was one of those who had a change of heart towards the program saying, “What kept me there was the love for the athletes themselves, ‘cause when you see them fired from training and they still have academics to deal with, you would want to help and to avoid letting them fail.”

Aside from improving their credentials and trying out new things, there are other unique stories of student managers that are not dependent on those reasons, like that of Tatlonghari.

A DLSU Lady Spiker for two years, Tatlonghari battled through injuries that led her to stop competing in collegiate volleyball. Though she was no longer part of the squad, her love and dedication to her teammates led her to become a student manager. “So if I can’t help them on the court, I can still help them in their studies, so they got me to be a student manager for the team,” exclaims Tatlonghari.

The student manager experience

The athletes are not the only ones who benefit from the program as student managers also receive incentives for their work. One is that they are issued free lockers at the Enrique Razon Sports Complex, have free-access to the weight rooms, and are given free UAAP tickets by the OSD.

Though the benefits look enticing at first, the student managers are quick to say that the responsibilities outweigh the perks.

“It’s not for everyone”, said Timothy John Zamora (IV, BS-MGT).

“You can encourage people [to become a student manager], pero pag ‘di talaga sila dedicated, they’re not into an organized kind of job, they’re not for the job,” Tatlonghari adds.

Nevertheless, the experience of being a student manager is simply one of a kind. “‘Cause in my case, yung athlete ko kasi medyo delikado, tapos yun natulungan ko na maging okay yung grades niya and na-clear siya for UAAP, then yun nahabol pa siya for the lineup. I can say na I helped him na makalaro, best moment for me yun.”

Lastly, the student managers hope to bring down the wrong connotation that student-athletes are lucky that they have student managers to help them with their studies. They added that they are limited only to monitoring the student-athlete, informing them of their status for each subject, and encouraging them. At the end of the day, it is only aid that they can extend and nothing more.