Did the football team just show up and hit the field this season? No, it’s not quite
that simple. There are actually weeks of preseason preparation for the team and athletic staff before the first kickoff.

According to groundskeeper Al Alexander, it starts with the field itself, which is mowed two days a week to keep it in gameday condition. The field lines are usually painted on the day before the game.

After a few months of use, the field starts to show some wear and tear at which point it is off limits to anyone not involved in the physical education classes in order to give it time to recover Alexander explains.

In addition to the field maintenance, bathrooms are stocked, garbage cans are emptied, team rooms are cleaned and the ticket booth is set up. The booths and snack bar are set up by athletic teams according to Mitch Campbell, the athletics Division Dean.

“Individual teams will sign up to run concessions at various games, the physical education, health and athletics divisions help run all the expenses,” Campbell said.

On the day of the game, groundskeepers are also responsible for raising the flag before the game begins.

Athletic attendant David Whittington, who goes by DW, has been at City College for 17 years. During the week before a game, Whittington launders the players’ uniforms and repairs any damage to the equipment that may have occurred with the players’ helmets, or protective pads. Whittington gets to the game about an hour and a half before the players do to prepare for these equipment and uniform issues.

“We hand out all our uniforms on Friday or Thursday--it all depends on when we are playing,” Whittingon said, “We examine the helmets for the right amount of air and we tighten all the screws for the face masks and chinstraps. We also adjust the shoulder pads straps so the pads fit correctly.”

Occasionally, he has a stadium issue on his hands, as hedid before the Panthers’ Nov. 1 game when he came to work and found that the locker room had been flooded by heavy rain.

The athletic trainers and their assistants are a very important part of the pregame preparation for the players. Trainers such as Arnoldo Garcia tape up the players with athletic tape and take care of medical needs.

“My student athletic trainers are a big key in assisting me in getting everything ready to go for the game day,” Garcia says.

Garcia also has to report any injuries to the head coach, clean up all medical areas, water coolers, benches, cut tape off of athletes and triage injured athletes.

At the conclusion of a game Garcia has a game day checkoff sheet to go through which includes treatment of injured athletes, whirlpools, icing, care and stretching muscles.

Head football coach Mike Clemons begins preparing the City College football team a whole week before game day.

The Monday before a game, the coaches have a meeting with all the football players, during which the team watches game films of upcoming opponents and starts to plan for the next game. More film is watched throughout the rest of the week before the game.

The team also practices about two hours a day with various drills, passes, and exercises. On game day, the team arrives three hours before game time to get dressed, taped up and to prepare mentally for the game. You can see them listening to music, jumping through the hallways, hitting teammates on their shoulders, and bumping helmets. The team then prepares for about 45 minutes out on the field doing various calisthenics.