Gina Miller hosts FC Dallas Extra Time airing 18 times this season before FC Dallas games on TXA21. Catch the next episode at 7:30PM on Saturday night before FCD's match against Montreal. This feature aired in last Saturday's edition before FCD's match at Houston.
Equipment managers are the heartbeat of any sports franchise. They ensure gameday uniforms are perfect. They fulfill sometimes nuanced orders for hats, shoes, gloves and other gear. They also provide much-needed coffee and chewing gum for the team.
But the contributions that equipment managers make go beyond supplying gear and gum. They’re de facto psychiatrists, ticket brokers, even parents at times.
FC Dallas equipment manager Marcus Owens is one of those men. He has been with FC Dallas since 2004 and has seen more than he cared to share with me on-camera.
That’s what so great about guys like Marcus - their loyalty. They’ve seen it all, heard it all and could write a bestseller. But won’t.
Why? Because they’re devoted. Marcus isn’t just loyal, he’s grateful. Every morning to start the day, he pays homage to the late Lamar Hunt, whose visionary ambition was, in part, responsible for bringing soccer to North Texas.
“I appreciate the opportunity that I have here,” he told me. “My job is a very unique job. There are only 16-20 guys doing it full-time.”
Marcus Owens, a man who gets it.
FC Dallas Fun Facts:
- Marcus used to supply breakfasts and other meals for the team. Now he simply supplies gum, four packs of four different flavors and Twix candy bars (one of my personal favorites).
- The team gets around 180 soccer balls at the beginning of each season with roughly 60 of them used per training session.
- Marcus is an outstanding tailor. He has his own sewing machine in his office. If a players tears a jersey or shorts, he can fix it.
- On a typical day Marcus will do five loads of laundry and anywhere between 30-35 loads a week. During the preseason, he does anywhere between 40-50 loads of laundry per week. The thought of that is enough to make any parent, like me, cringe.