It’s game day and the stadium is filled with screaming fans. A cloud of smoke from the fireworks still lingers in the air and for a second, all is calm. As the minutes wind down to kickoff, the Terrapins football team prepares for its battle.
The fans may have come to see the Terrapins football team play, but the real stars of the show are on the job hours before the first half even starts, preparing the field and fireworks and engineering the perfect game-day experience.
But for Josh Kaplan, the university’s assistant athletics director, and the rest of the facilities, operations and events team, the day is already well underway. Kaplan, who oversees game-day operations at the university, and his crew start hours before kickoff to get the game’s gears in motion for the Terps to take the field.
Wind the clock back nine hours, and all is quiet on the campus.
“There are these peaks and valleys in a game day; the events sort of ebb and flow,” Kaplan said. “When you first get there, it’s the calm before the storm, but then the next thing you know, you’ll be in full operation — answering calls, getting reports — then it’s another valley.”
During these valleys, staff members busy themselves with traditional game-day preparations.
For Kaplan, that means a lot of talking, as he checks in with the staff to ensure all operations are running smoothly.
Some parking lots will open six hours before kickoff. But before that, Kaplan checks in with police, parking lot attendants and staff. When the lots open, everyone swings into motion: The parking lot attendants direct traffic, the police monitor tailgates, and Kaplan moves on to the next task.
A conference-mandated meeting with game officials takes place 105 minutes before kickoff. Operations directors for both teams meet with the officiating crew, the crews in charge of clocks and chains, office members and sometimes a conference representative.
In this meeting, Kaplan said, officials discuss any issues pertinent to the game, including the weather, a postgame celebration plan and evacuation plans, in addition to answering concerns about coaches’ headsets or replay protocol.
Two hours before game time, ticket takers arrive at the stadium and are briefed by Kaplan or another staff member. With 90 minutes to go, they’ll begin scanning tickets and admitting fans. Their job isn’t just to let fans into the stadium; it’s also to greet and welcome them, remind them of stadium policies and procedures and maintain safety.
After the first half, employees stop scanning tickets and head to another task, Kaplan said, such as ushering or managing a gate.
“It’s very hard to pigeonhole anyone into one thing; each person has a role or a sense of responsibilities that can change over the course of the game,” he said.
For the grounds staff, responsibilities don’t end with taking care of the field. Instead, staff are often in charge of the nets, communicating with the visiting team or assisting with equipment moves.
Game-day preparation takes months of planning and “hours and hours” of meetings and discussions, Kaplan said.
“We start coordinating efforts for the next season from the second the last one ends,” Kaplan said. “Sure, we’ll concentrate more on the game at hand as the weeks or week lead up to it, but really, it’s a fluid motion all the way through.”
Preparations for Saturday’s Family Weekend game have been in the works for weeks.
A number of promotions will be going on in the stadium, requiring organizational efforts from the maintenance staff. A host of functions planned to occur on the mall and throughout the university will involve parking and traffic coordination, in addition to the all-important inclement weather preparations, Kaplan said.
“The biggest loop being thrown right now is, of course, the inclement weather,” Kaplan said. “We still will follow the normal routine; we have a plan in case these scenarios arise.”
Kaplan added that at the time of the interview, discussions were taking place with regard to moving events off the mall and into Cole Field House for the weekend’s celebrations.
“It’s all about evaluating things as it relates to each piece of the cog — we just make sure all of the wheels are turning and keep things running as smoothly as possible.”
