By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
For Stephanie White, her involvement with the Benson Bruins youth football program started as a mother watching her son take the field. Her son joined Benson at age 6 on the 6U team, and what began as a way to support him eventually grew into a larger role within the organization. Although he has since moved on from Benson and is now in high school, White has remained with the program and today serves as its equipment manager, helping make sure players have properly fitted and safe equipment before they step onto the field.
“I believe three years ago, our current equipment manager stepped down, and I had been kind of helping her out and helping already, so when they finally decided to step down, I kind of just got voted into the role,” said White. “I also live really close to where we store our equipment, and so they wanted somebody who lived close, and that was a part of the organization.”
White’s role becomes especially important as the football season approaches. Before players can take the field, there is work to be done behind the scenes to make sure the equipment is ready.
“At the beginning of football season or preseason, I am getting the helmets recertified. Cleaning them out, packing them up, sending them off to be reconditioned, and then also handing the helmets and shoulder pads and gear to the players,” White said. “We have several handout distribution times that we set up, and they come to our shed where we also store our equipment, and we give them sizes for their helmets and their shoulder pads.”
White’s responsibilities extend beyond simply handing helmets and shoulder pads to players. Making sure equipment is properly maintained and fitted is central to how she approaches the role.
“The family atmosphere at Benson keeps me around. I just love interacting with the players, especially the younger ones and the brand new ones. Making sure that they’re safe and that the equipment is safe is important,” said White. “Having the right equipment helps with confidence. When you have good equipment, and the players don’t feel the impacts of the hits as much, then they feel more confident when they get on the field.”
While White may be the person handling much of the equipment, she knows the responsibility does not fall on one person alone. Youth football programs rely on a network of people, fundraising and community support to provide players with what they need.
“I wouldn’t be able to do it without help from our vice president. He secures a lot of sponsorships for our organization, and those sponsorships help contribute to us being able to afford the equipment if we need to purchase new equipment,” said White. “Also, parents and fundraising. If it wasn’t for a combination of those two things, we wouldn’t be able to run our equipment.”
For White, however, Benson has become about much more than football. With two sons who have gone through the organization, the relationships she has built with other parents, coaches and families have continued even as her children have gotten older and moved beyond the program.
“We are a really tight-knit group, especially when I have two sons that have gone through the organization. My 16 year old goes to Lindbergh, and so a lot of the players that have gone through Benson with him went to the same high school,” White said. “Just being able to be out in the community at different events, at high school football games, and sitting with all the Benson parents and organization members, it extends beyond just our organization. It extends out into the community.”
As a woman handling equipment in a sport traditionally dominated by men, White said she has sometimes encountered questions about her recommendations, particularly when it comes to player safety.
“Sometimes, as a woman, your suggestions, especially in the football world when it comes to helmet safety and/or safety in general with the equipment, or something we might need, there is a little pushback,” said White. “And they will say, ‘You are extra safe because you are a mom; do we really need it?’ But when you explain that it is just for the players’ safety, then everybody in the end is usually receptive to that. And that is all I am here for.”
For White, those experiences also carry a broader message about the roles women can hold in football and the knowledge they can bring to the sport.
“I think just showing that women can be in the same roles and be just as knowledgeable as men is important. I do get people who are a little shocked when they realize that I’m doing equipment. I’m a woman. I’m not very tall. I’m not very huge or anything like that. I personally never played football, and so I know I come across as, oh she doesn’t know,” said White. “So, I’m glad to be able to show them that anybody can do any role in the football world. It doesn’t necessarily have to be guys, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be people who have played football, depending on your role.”
