For junior and basketball player Mackenzie Woods the adrenaline of playing basketball in front of a large, cheering crowd is one of her favorite experiences.

“Usually a big crowd gets us more pumped up and it just helps us lock in and focus more so I’d say a big crowd is definitely more fun,” Woods said.

While Woods said she enjoys the big crowds which come to her games, she doesn’t typically think of the work that goes on behind the scenes which allow the crowds to exist.

“I don’t really think about what goes into (hosting sporting events),” Woods said. “I know it takes a lot from the athletics directors, and they do a great job to make sure we can focus on playing basketball.”

While according to USTravel.org, over 150 million individuals attend sporting events in the United States, the people working those events often go overlooked, despite the fact that around 100,000 people work with sports clubs, according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Assistant Athletics Director John Hester said a lot of preparation goes into basketball games such as conducting sound checks, turning on scoreboards, cleaning, setting up media stations, making sure everything is safe for the students and putting up tables for ticket takers.

“This is my 21st year so I kind of have it memorized but with basketball games,” Hester said. “Also with getting out at 4:05 p.m., there’s kind of a small window to get everything done.”

Hester said football, much like basketball, requires a lot of work to make sure everything runs smoothly.

“Football is one of our biggest events because of the amount of people who come, so that’s going to require more ticket-takers, more security, people working in the press box, your announcer, your scorekeeper. Then you have the chain crew who’s working the chains and then obviously the officials,” Hester said. “With football, I’m typically out at the field by 11 a.m for a 7 p.m game. Then there’s a lot to do there so I’ll typically be out from 11 a.m to 11 p.m just for one home game.”

Woods said while she rarely thinks about the effort that goes on behind the scenes, she realizes that it is a large job requiring hard work from multiple people.

“I know (the athletics department) has to set up ticket booths and janitors have to set the chairs and clean the floors, the athletic directors have to organize where the team stays and athletic trainers have to get everything ready on the sidelines,” Woods said. “So the more I think about it, the bigger deal it sounds like.”

Students also help with sporting events while not being on the field. Pep-band member Addie Smock said she and other pep-band members put in effort to memorize songs in order to help make the atmosphere more energetic.

“Usually our call time is about 6:30 p.m., so we come (in the band room) and rehearse a few songs, and we then make our way down to the gym,” Smock said. “Then we just watch and wait for one of the directors to tell us what songs to play.”

Woods said she enjoys hearing the pep-band play and it makes her feel more motivated on the court.

“Pep-Band’s really fun because they definitely make the environment a lot louder, and it just makes (the atmosphere) feel a lot bigger. The varsity gym can feel pretty big and they make it feel like it’s filled up,” Woods said. “Hearing the pep-band play and the fight songs and all that feels natural.”

Smock said she enjoys the positive reactions she sees from the fans to her and the pep-band’s music.

“It’s always fun to see people dancing along in the stands or singing along to music that we’re playing,” Smock said. 

While traditions such as pep-band have been a part of sporting events at Carmel for a long time, Hester said digitalization has helped him and the athletics department speed up their organization processes. Hester said the GoFan website in particular has made the process of selling tickets more efficient.

“I think (GoFan) has made the process, for the most part, quicker, if the technology is working properly. Now that most people are used to it, people are buying their tickets ahead of time and they’re getting into the venue quickly, so our ticket-takers aren’t dealing with change,” Hester said. “So now that everything is done digitally it’s done almost instantly so that’s a great thing for the athletic departments.”

Hester said digitalization has also helped with finding ticket takers and other jobs necessary for sporting events.

“For our ticket takers, we have a software we use called Eventlink, and that’s what pretty much every high school athletics program department in Indiana uses,” Hester said. “So that’s how we schedule our events, officials and workers.”

Woods said she is thankful for the people who work behind the scenes at her sporting events, as they help her create memories she hopes to cherish her entire life.

“(My favorite part of games is) just creating memories I’ll be able to remember for the rest of my life,” Woods said. 

Hester said he enjoys running sporting events and making sure that everyone has a fun time, whether they’re working, in pep-band, on the court or just watching.

“My favorite part is just doing everything I can to give the athletes, coaches and spectators a good time,” Hester said. “I want them to walk away from an event thinking it was well executed and went off without a hitch. Just having an experience where even though it is at the high school level, just wanting (everyone) to feel like (the game’s) the most important thing everyone is at.”