Some of the SDSU equipment staff following the big win over Boise State. From left to right: Sonny Sanfilippo, Mark Kellogg (student manager), Angie Garza, Rich Hodgkinson, and Lindsay Degnan (student manager)

Helmets, shoulder pads, jerseys, cleats, gloves – all of these, amongst others, are necessary equipment for a college football team.

With a team of over 100 players, purchasing, fitting, distributing and laundering all of this equipment is no easy task. Add that to overseeing over a dozen other sports, and you’ve got yourself a thoroughly demanding job, one that can not be done by just one person.

Luckily for Angie Garza, director of athletic equipment services at San Diego State, she has help, and lots of it.

Garza, who worked as a student equipment manager when she attended SDSU from 2001-2004, was the assistant director of equipment services at SDSU from 2004-2009. She then accepted a job to become the head equipment manager at the University of San Diego, but was hired again by SDSU in 2012 when the head position opened up.

Garza’s staff includes Ben Harman (assistant director), Dennis Brown and Sonny Sanfilippo (equipment attendants), and nine student managers. Rich Hodgkinson, a current student at SDSU, is the head student manager.

Sanfilippo, also a graduate of SDSU and former student manager, is pleased to see former Aztecs on the equipment staff. With the everyday stresses an equipment staff member faces, it would be difficult to stay motivated if they worked for a school that they did not attend.

“We take a lot of pride in working for our former school,” Sanfilippo said. “It would have been tough to leave here after being a student manager knowing that someone is running the show who didn’t go here. I feel that the program is in good hands now.”

For their commitment to assisting all of the athletic teams and providing them with everything needed to compete at the highest level possible, the SDSU equipment staff members are this week’s Wednesday Warriors.

Be sure to check out the official Facebook page of the SDSU football locker room for exclusive photos and information directly from the equipment staff!

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by Hunter Hewitt

GO AZTECS