BYU women’s basketball managers help team on and off court

The BYU women’s basketball team continues to roll this season after a 70-48 win over San Diego Monday night to move to 16-1 on the season. With an eight-game win streak and jump to No. 16 in the recent AP poll, it’s clear this team has put in the work to be a potential tournament contender. 

While it’s easy to see the players killing it on the court, what you don’t see is the effort by those off the court, specifically by the team managers. 

Annie Christofferson and Hailey Higgs, both juniors at BYU, are part of the four-person team that is the managers of BYU women’s basketball. With responsibilities like practice preparation, noting in-practice stats and setting things up for games, Higgs explains their main job responsibility as “just taking care of the team.”

“We’re just doing our best behind the scenes to help this team be successful and it’s a lot of little things and I hope it helps them,”Christofferson said. “They’re doing well right now so I’d say we’re doing a good job.”

While the majority of the manager’s main responsibilities focus primarily on helping the team play, one way these managers have helped bring attention to the team is through their social media presence.

Launching their first Instagram post on Oct. 5, and TikTok the day after, the BYU women’s basketball managers’ social media presence is a considerably young endeavor. They’ve grown to over 1,000 followers on Instagram and over 7,000 on TikTok in just three months. 

The initial idea for a social media presence came after seeing the University of Oregon women’s basketball team managers start social media accounts of their own. The BYU managers figured their content would be something people could enjoy, but according to Christofferson, they had no idea it would become this big.

Multiple videos have gone viral so far, including one TikTok hitting four million views. SportsCenter even reached out to use the BYU content on their account recently.

“It’s honestly all thanks to the girls, they’re the ones who provide all the entertainment,”Christofferson said. “We’re just lucky enough to capture it.”

With their phones ready to film at any moment during practice, it’s not just the dancing these managers are trying to capture, they also want to show the culture that surrounds the team.

“We want to show how fun this team is and why they are as good as they are,” Higgs said. “I think that’s really what sets the team apart, everyone really loves being there.”