With the ice hockey season having just come to a close and the varsity team finishing with a 9 -10 -1 record, Vista students have seen plenty of action on the ice this season. However, not many people know what goes on behind the scenes to help the team succeed. 

Hockey manager, junior Sydney Cutright, has been working for the team off the ice since her freshman year.

“My friend had a brother on the team and she said that they needed help,” Cutright said, “I thought it would be fun and I wanted to make some new friends.”

Although the players do the majority of the work to lead the team to victory, Cutright and the other managers do their best to make things run more smoothly for them when they’re off of the rink.

“Usually we get there about an hour early, we fill up the Gatorade, we get the pucks iced, we put up the banner that says ‘Mountain Vista Varsity Hockey,’ we make sure all the boys have their water bottles filled up and that everything is ready to go for the game,” Cutright said. 

However, it’s only after the game preparations that Cutright’s favorite part about being a manager begins.

“[The most fun part is] spending time with my friends and hanging out on the sidelines and watching the games,” Cutright said.

Cutright especially enjoyed traveling with the team and the other managers for away games this season.

“Going to the far away games with my friends [was exciting], we just hang out in the bus and listen to music, it’s a lot of fun,” Cutright said.

Even though they have lots of fun together off of the ice, the collective hard work and determination of the players, coaches and managers paid off this season as the team made it to the playoffs.

“They had a pretty good season,” Cutright said, “unfortunately they lost in the second round [of the playoffs].”

Despite this tough loss, Cutright plans to continue being a hockey manager in her senior year and remains excited for the upcoming season.

“Go Eagles!” Cutright said.