Mothers don't wash students' laundry at Ohio, but many Bobcat athletes will tell you they're fine with that ' they have Ryan.
Ryan McFann, assistant director of athletic equipment, has been running the equipment room that lies deep within The Convo for the last three years. During that time, he's seen championships, coaching changes and ' most of all ' a lot of dirty laundry.
It kind of varies by the quarter
he said, but in the winter first thing I'll do is usually put three to six loads in (a day).
McFann starts his day at about 8 a.m., piling clothes from the previous day into enormous, stainless steel washers that resemble whirring, oversized diving helmets.
Every year, the equipment room does 5,000 loads of laundry at a cost of $9,000 in laundry chemicals, according to Wayne Horsley, director of athletic equipment. With so much practice one might think that laundry would wash and dry without a hitch.
Hitches happen.
Once, just after McFann had left for the day, a graduate assistant made a mistake that drenched the entire equipment room.
It just flooded the whole place McFann said. I'm actually really glad I wasn't in there that day.
Along with a few inches of standing water, the equipment room also holds just about anything: Uniforms, soccer balls, shoelaces and timeout stools.
The sight can be mind-boggling, said softball player Debbie Szalejko.
You're always down there for the little things and sometimes it's just a mess
she said, but he (McFann) always knows where stuff is.
The organization of it all begins with a cubby-hole system that provides each athlete with a place for his or her belongings. Beyond that are sets of closets and stacks of boxes that all carry masking-tape labels explaining what can be found inside.
The equipment room decides how this gear is doled out. Basketball players might go through four to five pairs of shoes in a season, but only get a new set when the equipment room gives the okay.
The staff tries to use its resources wisely, but Ohio wrestler Terry Jackson said athletes will try to bend the rules when it comes to laundry.
If you throw T-shirts
shorts and stuff in there they can't really tell you that it's not workout gear
he said. I think someone put a pair of jeans before and got in trouble.
McFann has a simple solution.
I don't wash that stuff
he said. I put it back in their cubby ' dirty.
The problem items that fall into the laundry bin are usually clothing. Usually.
One time
I guess the volleyball team had taken a phone receiver from their hotel on a road trip
McFann said. Don't even ask me how it ended up in the laundry cart.
No matter what oddities are put in the bin, the relationship between the equipment room and the athletes stays set on the gentle cycle. McFann often attends softball games, much to Szalejko's delight.
Working all those hours
why would you want to spend the extra hours at the game? Szalejko said. That's on your own time. So you do almost build a friendship. I would say that's something special.
