Walking with a confident swagger among the overwhelming shadows of the Cornerstone women’s basketball team, the team manager follows as the players enter Caledonia high school’s court.

With roars of allegiance from fans, the players are greeted as the coaches sit in the reserved seating on the sidelines. Players are spotlighted by the announcers, and the coaches do not give a second thought to the likelihood of anonymity.

The team manager, freshman Hannah Strauel, majoring in journalism, walks to the end of the sidelines toward a water cooler sitting on a cart. One by one, she fills the tiny cups and aligns them.

Taking her seat at the end of the sidelines, she rushes to get up as players are being alternated. One by one, she grabs a cup and hands it out.

Focused on the game, players take the cup without eye contact or ignore the gesture altogether. After drinking, players throw the cups to the floor in haste as Strauel walks behind the chairs to remove them.

Earlier in the morning before the game, Strauel traveled with the players to a different high school for shooting practice. Later, the players and Strauel drove to Quiznos for lunch and liberated Strauel from the morning walk to the cafeteria before every away game to collect lunch boxes, place them on a cart and roll  them down the bumpy sidewalk.

“I get good momentum going,” Strauel said.

Returning to the Bernice Hansen Athletic Center, Strauel grabs the game bags that she assembled the night before. She also grabs the towels that were washed but took a while to dry.

After each basketball practice, the pungent aroma of sweaty jerseys, shorts and dirty towels is what Strauel inhales as she washes in the laundry facility of the BHAC.

“She takes on the responsibilities and jobs that no one would enjoy doing,” said Jill Peterson, captain of the basketball team, through e-mail. “From the outside, it would seem as though Hannah was only helping us in a ‘clean up’ sort of way, but in all reality, it went beyond that.”

During practice, she usually runs the basketball drills for the 10 player team or operates the game clock.

Strauel said that appreciation is something that occurs “not very often.”

“I know that she probably doesn’t hear the thanks she deserves, but I hope she has felt welcomed into our basketball family and felt the love that we desire to share,” Peterson said.

Strauel found out about the paid position after taking the career direct test in Student Development and talking to John Warren, director of career services. With previous managerial experience in high school, she qualified.

Clean towels, medicine kits, clip boards, jump ropes are all put into bags and placed on the cart with the food as the team manager heads to a bus for loading.

“If we have a nice bus driver, he helps,” Strauel said.

For this game, no bus is needed. Instead, the players drive their cars with Strauel hitching a ride.

Dressing in sweat pants, sneakers and a huge shirt, Strauel walks into Caledonia High School. She heads to the locker room with the players.

Inside, she places the travel bags on the floor and sits down for a moment to eat the Quizno’s sub she ordered but did not eat because she ran out of time. Then, she changes into professional clothing with heels to better represent her title.

She sits down on the bench with her head propped over her knees and bites her nails, waiting for the game to start. The coach enters the locker room, goes over the game plan and players rush out in enthusiasm.

During halftimes, the players crowd around the coach to learn new game tactics. Strauel stands outside the huddle trying to listen. She almost misses the team cheer as she attempts to squeeze between the players for the encouraging hand clap before the game resumes.

Strauel sits back down, takes her shoes off and massages her feet. She puts her shoes back on, gets up and stands off to the side cracking her knuckles. She looks into the crowd as the final minutes of the game conclude.

As the players and coaches walk back to the locker room after being defeated, Strauel collects the coats and towels that are scattered around, stuffs them into a bag and continues her walk through the shadows.