Since 4-years-old, Stavros Sardella, a sophomore in the College of Communication, has been playing soccer. Following soccer from Rhode Island to Marquette University continues his journey with the Marquette men’s soccer team.
Last year, Sardella was hired as the assistant manager for the soccer team. Now, he is the head manager, equipment manager and runs the team’s social media account.
“I played soccer my whole life and being able to get this position was definitely a privilege and a lot of fun. I’m happy to be around these guys and enjoy the game I love every day, ” Sardella said.
Sardella is typically at every practice and game. In the spring, the teams practice Monday to Friday. After each practice and game, Stavros spends about an hour and a half doing the team’s laundry.
“Managing it with school and just my social life is difficult. Obviously, school comes first, then this, and my social life comes last. At first, it’s definitely hard to manage, but once you get in the flow of things, time management gets going a little bit,” Sardella said.
Sardella said that choosing not to play soccer in college was a difficult decision, but he took this position to be around the game and to help build connections for a future job.
“Stavros has had a big impact on the team. He’s always there every day, almost every day, except when he has classes of course. He’s helping anywhere on the team. Laundry, other logistic stuff, getting us down to practice. He’s been very helpful to everyone on the team,” Luka Sunesson, a graduate student and striker on the soccer team, said.
Outside of laundry and transporting the team, the logistical things that Sardella does include organizing food for pregame and postgame meals. He also books hotels for the team when they are on the road.
Harvey Read, a junior in the College of Business, is center back on the soccer team. Read said that Sardella is important to how the team runs.
“Stavros is basically behind the nuts and bolts of the team. Without him, everything we have to do each day wouldn’t really get done. He drives us down to training, gets us food on the weekend, he’s definitely a big part of the team,” Read said.
Read and Sunesson both said that Sardella positively affects the team’s culture and gets along with everyone.
“In the morning, if it’s a bit dark and gray outside, having him pick us up puts you in a good mood already,” Read said.
Sardella said that he meets with the coaches at the end of each season about what he did well and how he can continue to improve. Sardella said that he wants to build the team’s and the player’s social media presence.
“All the guys you talk about how they want more followers on Instagram or Twitter or like they want to be verified. So, basically, it’s like getting their name out there more. One of the things that I want to do is get a TikTok for the team because people like seeing that stuff goes on behind the scenes,” Sardella said.
Not only is Sardella a manager for the soccer team, but players like Read consider him a team member.
Read said, “He’s just a good character, he is always in a good mood. He’s got good spirits and we see him one on the team, as a part of the lads. He’s literally just one of us.”
This story was written by Hannah Hernandez. She can be reached at hannah.hernandez@marquette.edu.