Insider Behind the Scenes with...Philip ShippTexas Brahmas Equipment Manager
One of the hardest working members of the Brahmas staff is Equipment Manager Philip Shipp. New to the Brahmas this season, I thought it might be fun to have a talk with him to learn a little more about him and what he does.
Q: After the demise of the Texas Wildcatters, how was it that you came to join the Brahmas organization?
A: I got a phone call from a trainer with Bossier. He actually e-mailed me and said if you wanted to be in hockey still, that there was an opening here. I talked to Fonger and he took me on; he called around to some people, I guess, and put me on. That was between here and Fairbanks, Alaska.
Q: What were you going to Alaska for?
A: They have the college there. The University of Fairbanks had an opening. I applied for that as well. Between the two, Fairbanks is a whole lot colder (laughing), so I ended up here.
Q: How long were you with the Wildcatters?
A: For two seasons.
Q: What did you do before that?
A: Before that, I was the assistant with Houston (Aeros) for two seasons under Rick Bronwell, who’s with the San Jose Sharks now.
Q: How did you get into this type of work?
A: I asked for hockey tickets from Steve Sumner with the Dallas Stars. I asked him for tickets one day while I was working at the rink in High School. He said he needed some help filling up water bottles and stuff, so I did that with him for four years and then after that I went to college for a couple of years and missed hockey so much that, I had the opportunity to go with Houston at the time, so I took it. I’ve stayed in it ever since.
Q: I’m sure everyone has an idea what an equipment manager does but can you briefly describe your responsibilities?
A: Mostly it’s the skate sharpening, repairing all of the equipment. It’s a rough game and things get torn up and you fix everything you can. You order everything. It’s hard to keep up with sticks and stuff so you’ve got to stay on top of ordering sticks and dealing with Sher-Wood. Other than that, there’s a lot of laundry. You wash everything; make sure everything is clean for the guys. Try to keep all of the bacteria out of that locker room and keep everyone as healthy as possible, especially now with that MRSA that a lot of football players get. It’s a big problem in sports now. Washing stuff is a big key.
A: I got a phone call from a trainer with Bossier. He actually e-mailed me and said if you wanted to be in hockey still, that there was an opening here. I talked to Fonger and he took me on; he called around to some people, I guess, and put me on. That was between here and Fairbanks, Alaska.
Q: What were you going to Alaska for?
A: They have the college there. The University of Fairbanks had an opening. I applied for that as well. Between the two, Fairbanks is a whole lot colder (laughing), so I ended up here.
Q: How long were you with the Wildcatters?
A: For two seasons.
Q: What did you do before that?
A: Before that, I was the assistant with Houston (Aeros) for two seasons under Rick Bronwell, who’s with the San Jose Sharks now.
Q: How did you get into this type of work?
A: I asked for hockey tickets from Steve Sumner with the Dallas Stars. I asked him for tickets one day while I was working at the rink in High School. He said he needed some help filling up water bottles and stuff, so I did that with him for four years and then after that I went to college for a couple of years and missed hockey so much that, I had the opportunity to go with Houston at the time, so I took it. I’ve stayed in it ever since.
Q: I’m sure everyone has an idea what an equipment manager does but can you briefly describe your responsibilities?
A: Mostly it’s the skate sharpening, repairing all of the equipment. It’s a rough game and things get torn up and you fix everything you can. You order everything. It’s hard to keep up with sticks and stuff so you’ve got to stay on top of ordering sticks and dealing with Sher-Wood. Other than that, there’s a lot of laundry. You wash everything; make sure everything is clean for the guys. Try to keep all of the bacteria out of that locker room and keep everyone as healthy as possible, especially now with that MRSA that a lot of football players get. It’s a big problem in sports now. Washing stuff is a big key.
Q: What is the worst part of the job?
A: Folding towels for sure (laughing). I probably fold on a game day, 300 towels. You break that down over 64 regular season games and that’s over 19,000 towels...that’s a lot of towels. On a normal practice day it’s probably 30 towels a day so throughout your career, you’re looking at a lot of towels. I’m going to reach my 300th game at the end of the season. That’s a whole lot of towels.
Q: What do you like most about the job?
A: Just being around the guys. Being a part of the team. I was little small to play hockey. I never had the size to play so being a part of the team is really the best part of it.
Q: What do the players razz you about the most?
A: Getting in equipment is what they give it to you most about. It’s hard to deal with as an equipment manager. You place the order but unfortunately you’re not the one who makes it. You’re not the one that delivers it. It’s hard, the best that you can do is place the order and give a follow up call and say hey, where is this? The players want it at that exact time so it’s just difficult to deal with.
Q: When you’re not with the team, when you’re on your days off, what are you doing?
A: Sleeping. You don’t get a lot of sleep. We get back from a road trip and I hang up all the gear. A lot of these teams in the minor pros, their equipment managers and others bring the whole team’s equipment to the rink and hang up all their gear. It’s Fonger’s philosophy and it’s always been mine that you need give players that extra couple of hours of sleep. It’s a big help to the game so we tend to take the guys to their apartments or to their hotels first and let them go to sleep and then me, Tom, Scott and normally Dan and Ronny will hang up all the gear for them. So if we get back, say at 5am, I won’t leave the rink until about 6:30am, then go home and sleep for two hours and then come back up here at 9am, so a lot of the time it’s sleep. Other than that, I stay at home with my dog and watch TV, get caught up on things, hang around and relax.
Q: You’re with a winning team that’s going to the playoffs and definitely has a chance of going to the championship series, does that stoke you up pretty good?
A: Yes, it gets you pretty excited. I’ve actually never been on a losing team. Maybe it’s the way I sharpen skates (laughing) – probably not. It is a lot of fun; that makes a big difference when you’re coming to the rink when you’re a winning team. You’re excited to come to the rink…guys are joking around, everyone’s smiling and the coaches are a whole lot easier to deal with. There’s no stress on a lot of guys at that point so, it’s good to be on a winning team. The whole time during the season you’re thinking you’re tired, you want a break, but during that playoff stint, you just don’t want to stop. It’s a lot of fun getting into the playoffs, it’s an exciting time.
A: Folding towels for sure (laughing). I probably fold on a game day, 300 towels. You break that down over 64 regular season games and that’s over 19,000 towels...that’s a lot of towels. On a normal practice day it’s probably 30 towels a day so throughout your career, you’re looking at a lot of towels. I’m going to reach my 300th game at the end of the season. That’s a whole lot of towels.
Q: What do you like most about the job?
A: Just being around the guys. Being a part of the team. I was little small to play hockey. I never had the size to play so being a part of the team is really the best part of it.
Q: What do the players razz you about the most?
A: Getting in equipment is what they give it to you most about. It’s hard to deal with as an equipment manager. You place the order but unfortunately you’re not the one who makes it. You’re not the one that delivers it. It’s hard, the best that you can do is place the order and give a follow up call and say hey, where is this? The players want it at that exact time so it’s just difficult to deal with.
Q: When you’re not with the team, when you’re on your days off, what are you doing?
A: Sleeping. You don’t get a lot of sleep. We get back from a road trip and I hang up all the gear. A lot of these teams in the minor pros, their equipment managers and others bring the whole team’s equipment to the rink and hang up all their gear. It’s Fonger’s philosophy and it’s always been mine that you need give players that extra couple of hours of sleep. It’s a big help to the game so we tend to take the guys to their apartments or to their hotels first and let them go to sleep and then me, Tom, Scott and normally Dan and Ronny will hang up all the gear for them. So if we get back, say at 5am, I won’t leave the rink until about 6:30am, then go home and sleep for two hours and then come back up here at 9am, so a lot of the time it’s sleep. Other than that, I stay at home with my dog and watch TV, get caught up on things, hang around and relax.
Q: You’re with a winning team that’s going to the playoffs and definitely has a chance of going to the championship series, does that stoke you up pretty good?
A: Yes, it gets you pretty excited. I’ve actually never been on a losing team. Maybe it’s the way I sharpen skates (laughing) – probably not. It is a lot of fun; that makes a big difference when you’re coming to the rink when you’re a winning team. You’re excited to come to the rink…guys are joking around, everyone’s smiling and the coaches are a whole lot easier to deal with. There’s no stress on a lot of guys at that point so, it’s good to be on a winning team. The whole time during the season you’re thinking you’re tired, you want a break, but during that playoff stint, you just don’t want to stop. It’s a lot of fun getting into the playoffs, it’s an exciting time.
Photo Credits: Robert Keith
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