When Audryana Gonzalez started Cienega High School in fall 2007, she was looking for something fun to fill her spare time. Soon, she began working with the football team as an equipment manager.
By her senior year, Gonzalez was working with Pima College’s football program.
That’s when Jeff Watson, who created the equipment management program at Flowing Wells High School and at Pima, asked the high-schooler if she wanted to find a way to take her newfound love to college. Gonzalez received a scholarship to attend the community college and work in the equipment room.
Gonzalez now runs the program herself, with help from student equipment managers.
Saturday marks the final home game in program history for Pima, which is cutting the football program for budgetary reasons. The 1 p.m. kickoff — and the three hours after — will be emotional for players, coaches and fans.
Support-staffers like Gonzalez will feel it, too.
“Everyone keeps talking about this being our last home game and I’m like, ‘Oh, but next year.’ But then I’m like, ‘Oh wait, not next year because we don’t have a next year,’” she said. “I don’t know how to feel, because it’s never been the end, but I definitely feel like on game day, there’s going to be a lot of emotions.”
Pima coach Jim Monaco said he’s never worked with an equipment manager who found his or her calling as quickly as Gonzalez did. Gonzalez gets to the equipment room hours before practice to sort through laundry and get a head start on the day. Once players start showing up, she distributes any gear they might need.
During practice, Gonzalez is on the sidelines — and on-call for any equipment issue. She typically deals with pads and helmets. After practice, Gonzalez gets everything checked back in and gets the dirty laundry back in the washer.
“She is so appreciated by our staff, it’s not even funny,” Monaco said. “She’s really tough with the guys — and I love that — but she’s just so good-hearted, she’ll do whatever she needs to do for the team. She’s amazing.”
Having someone like Gonzalez on staff alleviates coaches’ headaches.
“If you don’t have an equipment staff, coaches usually have to make up that aspect and try to figure out their equipment — especially if they have multiple different helmets,” she said.
“It’s one less worry that they have to worry about. You know for a fact that they’re going to be there and they’re going to be on top of everything and everything’s going to get done when you need it to.”
Gonzalez said she isn’t sure what her future will hold after the football program is eliminated. There’s been talk of extending her services to the soccer, cross country and track and field programs.
Monaco hopes that, even without football, Gonzalez still stays at Pima because she would be a strong asset to the other teams.
“I just hope she just enjoys working at Pima still and handling all the other athletic teams, because she’s just so good at it,” Monaco said. “She’s so good at it. She’ll do anything you ask. If you need something, she gets it; if she wants something, she’ll get it.”
Gonzalez, who has lived in Tucson her entire life, said she’d consider leaving town only if she could find the right job. She’d eventually like to make it to the NFL.
“Even if it’s just for one season, I would definitely love to get some experience on that and see how it truly is in the big leagues,” Gonzalez said. “I mean, I have somewhat of an idea, but they have way more staff, way more stuff to include and they travel way further.”
Every year, the Arizona Cardinals offer an equipment management program that begins after Pima’s practices start. Gonzalez’s job with the Aztecs has prevented her from applying.
With the program coming to an end, Gonzalez might just send her résumé to the NFL team.
“It would be nice to experience that at least one time,” Gonzalez said.
