AEMA Certification

For the third consecutive year, Helmet Tracker is offering its AEMA Certification Exam Scholarship to Equipment Managers.

We have one applicant so far (see below).

The scholarship reimburses the cost of taking the exam and the study book to one Equipment Manager who passes the test in the 18 months prior to July 1, 2019. Most will take the test at the AEMA Convention in Indianapolis in early June.

Benefits of Certification

Sam Trusner, Office Manager for the Athletic Equipment Managers Association, says the certification provides benefits to both the Equipment Manager who holds certification and the college sports program which hires certified Equipment Managers.

“The AEMA Certification program offers Equipment Managers the opportunity to attain a new level of professionalism,” Sam said. “No longer is the Equipment Manager the ‘towels and jocks’ guy. Equipment Managers are responsible for the proper fitting of protective equipment, maintenance of this equipment, accurate accountability for all athletic gear, and other important duties.”

The school athletic department benefits, too.

“As the importance of liability becomes a concern for Athletic Directors at every level, it is important for them to seek individuals truly qualified for these positions. Many schools, and professional teams, are now requiring this Certification as part of their job requirements,” Sam said.

There are usually three times during the year the test is offered. The first is in Raleigh, North Carolina early in the year, then at the AEMA Convention, then when NFL Equipment Managers gather in the summer.

Not everyone passes. However, 14 people took the test in Raleigh and all 14 passed!

Scholarship Qualification

To qualify for the Helmet Tracker scholarship, start with the online application here. Applicants must simply be:

• a current member of good standing with the AEMA
• prepared and registered to take the certification (or have passed it within 18 months of July 1, 2019)
• the subject of a published Helmet Tracker profile
• the subject of a recommendation letter from an AEMA-certified Equipment Manager (or Supervisor).

The winning candidate will be chosen at random to have his/her test fee and book cost reimbursed upon successful passing of the AEMA certification test.

Last year, Southern Mississippi Assistant Equipment Manager Harley Warren won the scholarship after passing the test at the AEMA Convention in Phoenix.

 “I like all of the behind the scene stuff – getting everything ready, working with uniform designs – I like all that,” Harley told us.

The prior year, Eddie Hardin, now Assistant Equipment Manager for the Birmingham Iron, won it.

“Being certified has been a big step in my career as an equipment manager because with the certification I’m able to express that I can do my job to the best of my ability all while ensuring the safety of the players and staff come first,” Eddie told us. 

K-State GA Jumps In

Now comes Michael Schlitz, Equipment Graduate Assistant for Kansas State Football and our first scholarship applicant this year.

“I was hired in July last year and help to oversee our 11 student managers,” he said. “I make sure the crew sets up the practice fields and make sure everything, including them, works properly.”

Spring practice begins in less than two weeks at K-State.

Michael grew up just north of Des Moines, Iowa and rooted for the Hawkeyes until he graduated from Ankeny High School, went to community college and ended up a Cyclone at Iowa State.

“I wanted to be involved with football in some way and a buddy from high school was on the staff at Iowa State and he got me the contact information,” Michael remembers. “ I was with the Cyclones for the football season in 2014 and for spring 2015, then stepped away to get grades up. After I graduated I was fortunate to get an internship with Arizona Cardinals in 2017 training camp.”

“Being around football is the number one thing I love.”

Now he studies Academic Advising at K-State when he’s not in the equipment room.

“I am proud to have been able to get know, work with and teach Michael,” said Al Cerbe, Head Football Equipment Manager for the Wildcats. “Michael has a very open and humble work ethic where he comes to work each day willing to do whatever is needing to be done and in any way.  I believe being able to adapt and learn different things in multiple situations is an important equipment managers’ skill that Michael has shown throughout his time here with us at Kansas State. “

“He is more passionate than ever to continue to grow as a manager both within the equipment room and classroom as well.  Michael is pointing his focus towards June and his AEMA Certification Exam in Indianapolis,” Al wrote us.

While studying for the exam, Michael keeps in mind his future.

“Hopefully I will be able to land as an assistant working with football – I want to stay in this,” Michael said. “I love the hands on stuff about it. I have no problem getting my hands dirty. Being around football is the number one thing I love.”

When he’s not wrestling the equipment or the student managers in shape, Michael is pursuing his dream of attending games in all the Major League Baseball stadiums.

“We’ve got 11, so we’ve got some more to go.”

That wariness she notices from football players when they encounter their first female equipment manager dissipates quickly when they learn something about her.

“When they start talking to me they quickly realize I know football,” says Alanna Widman, who served with the Tiffin University Equipment team for four years. “That helps a lot.”

She grew up not far from the Tiffin campus, attended Calvert High School where she played softball for a time but found she liked the supporting role better.

“I realized I really didn’t like softball, so I decided to just help them,” she told Helmet Tracker. “I enjoyed that more than playing.”

Alanna liked being part of the team, being around the players, and around sports. She served the volleyball, basketball, and softball teams in high school, then went across town to Tiffin.

“Dad told me to find a job,” she said. “I got an email from the football department and they needed help.”

Laundry, Face Masks, and Nike

Soon she was learning more about football—and more.

“Some of her job duties include doing seven loads of laundry a day, setting up the fields with all the football equipment, filming practice, fixing helmet bladders, face masks, and chin straps, organizing the equipment room, inventory of all equipment, registration for camps, ordering of football gear through Nike, and much more,” writes Adam Neugebauer, Tiffin’s Offensive Coordinator and Head Equipment Manager.

“Alanna makes my job so much easier. I know that if I give her a task, the task will be done right away. Most times I do not even have to ask her to do something because she has the job done already.”

Neugebauer’s reliance on her spread to other staff and players.

“They never had a female in that position before, it was a learning experience for everyone,” she remembers. “I was the only female with the guys at practice. It was different. The atmosphere is different. What helped me is I know a lot about football—my Dad is a football coach.”

Players and Staff Trust Her

The players learned quickly to trust her, and to call on her for help. Soon, during games, players would start calling her name as they ran from the field with an equipment problem.

“This was my dream job even before I knew it was what I wanted,” Alanna says. “I want to do what I am doing now—in football.”

She’s always been around the game, around sports. She has two brothers and attended all their games. Then, she was part of it herself.

“Suddenly I had 150 brothers,” she said.

Alanna will take the Equipment Manager’s certification exam at the Athletic Equipment Managers Association national convention in Atlanta next month. She is a candidate for Helmet Tracker’s AEMA Scholarship.

She has graduated with a degree in Sports Recreation Management and is looking for a job in an Equipment Room. As far as being a female in a male dominated arena, she says it’s a non-issue.

“I’m just there to do the job I love,” she says. “I want to see the athletes excel in what they do.”

She follows the nearby Cleveland teams—the Indians, the Browns, and the Cavaliers, plus the Miami Dolphins.

Division I Dreams

“I want to work for a DI school in the Big 10 or another major conference, or at the NFL level,” she admits.

Neugebauer knows she will be an asset to any team she works with, and the other staff as well.

“Her drive and motivation is contagious. She makes others around her work even harder. Since she has been working for our football team, she has recruited and brought on five other managers,” he wrote.

When she isn’t working or looking for work in sports, she is hanging out with her family—and that usually involves sports as well.

“I’m okay with that because I love it.”