Mr. Justin Whittaker hands out a CRH athletics t-shirt. Photo by Jenny Guo/The Choate News.
With countless athletic activities to choose from, a majority of Choate students will participate in various sports and activities throughout their time at Choate. In doing so, it is likely that they will stumble upon the athletic equipment room at one point or another. The athletic equipment room, better known as “the cage,” is located on the ground floor of the Worthington Johnson Athletic Center (WJAC) and is an essential part of Choate Athletics.
The cage is responsible for distributing basic athletic equipment, including socks, shorts, and shirts, for those participating in athletic programs. However, the cage’s responsibilities go beyond handing out the iconic grey “CRH Athletics” T-shirts to athletes before practice. “Our main duty is to provide the uniforms and equipment for all interscholastic and intramural sports offered at Choate,” explained Mr. Justin Whittaker, the Head Equipment Manager and WJAC Supervisor. “However, we also assist with game-day management, which includes setting up fields, making sure scoreboards are working, and providing assistance if anything goes wrong during a game-day.”
In addition to providing the uniforms and equipment to Choate athletes, the cage also launders these items so that the clothes are ready for the next practices and games. Most competitive interscholastic Choate teams have team items or create team stores where athletes can choose team specific apparel to purchase, and the cage helps to coordinate those efforts.
With hundreds of student athletes and a myriad of equipment, completing day-to-day tasks efficiently is a feat in itself. Organization is a key aspect of the cage’s operations, and the cage’s coordination with athletic groups on campus is what keeps Choate Athletics running smoothly. “We are the one area that everything needed to successfully run your athletic team is stored. All the equipment, practice gear, and uniforms are stored in our area, so if we are not on our game or organized then all of the athletic teams will be affected by that,” Mr. Whittaker said. “My staff and I do a lot of organization and try to make all of the processes in place as efficient as possible, so the teams can just focus on the practices and games while we focus on all of the rest to provide them with a successful atmosphere.”
The cage will sometimes deal with issues outside of the athletic season. For example, the cage is tasked with assessing the resources offered to all Choate sports teams with the goal of providing the same services to teams at all levels. The cage is also responsible for cleaning up any equipment or clothes left behind in locker rooms each term and reissuing lockers the following term, once students return to campus.
