Blue Bombers Head Equipment Manager Brad Fotty
It’s another busy morning in late April in the equipment room at Princess Auto Stadium and Brad Fotty — the long-time Winnipeg Blue Bombers equipment manager — is seated at his desk staring at a massive spreadsheet on his laptop which features the names of over 100 football players.
To his right are dozens of blue and gold jerseys, Blue Bombers helmets, face masks, and chinstraps. Behind him and to his left, a collection of tools for his craft that would make any handyman envious. And just down the hallway is a storage room stacked top to bottom with shoulder pads, cleats, and other gear — enough to outfit an army.
Fotty scrolls through his spreadsheet, pauses, then confers with one of his assistants.
“Another size 44. Okay, go ahead.”
Fotty then checks off another box on his laptop and scrolls down to the next column.
Right now, he and his staff are in a time crunch, as over 110 football players will arrive at the stadium ready to raid his equipment room for all their needs with the opening of rookie camp on May 8th and main camp on the 12th. Organizing a training camp can be compared to piecing together a jigsaw puzzle as players travel to Winnipeg from all over North America to either secure their current roster spots or take advantage of a new opportunity.
And while making the camp run smoothly will rely on several staff and coaches, three men in particular will be the busiest in overseeing the whole operation.
This is a look behind the curtain of how the Blue Bombers prepare for training camp…
BRAD FOTTY, HEAD EQUIPMENT MANAGER
Training camp is Fotty’s busiest time of the year and he is often in the equipment room 12 hours a day getting everything ready for the arrival of the players and then dealing with their needs as the practice sessions unfold.
This season marks his 35th working a Blue Bombers training camp, the last 25 as the head equipment manager. Even in a business stocked with ‘lifers’, Fotty is such a seasoned vet there are seldom any surprises.
“We get into such a routine but there’s always ways to get more efficient or more organized and better at how we can do things,” said Fotty. “There’s an old saying of, ‘Work smarter not harder’ because it’s just the way it is with that much stuff going on.
“You just try not to take shortcuts but just do stuff smarter and easier.”
Part of that comes from Fotty communicating with players and equipment reps to make sure they get the right gear for them in time ahead of time. This off-season, for example, he ran a questionnaire for every player coming to camp asking them which brands, sizes, and jersey numbers they prefer. That’s a much easier process for returning Bombers because he already knows what they need, but with rookies and newcomers, it can get a bit more complicated — especially when it comes to picking a jersey number.
“They get their pick between three jersey numbers but if those are already worn by guys, you’ll just get whatever you can for camp,” said Fotty. “If you make the team in going into Week 1, then we can switch the numbers for the new guys if they want and they’re available.”
Fotty says this can make for unhappiness with some players who don’t get the number they wanted. Those players will often have more time to decide throughout camp and the preseason as they are allowed a temporary number until they find out if they’ve made the final roster for the regular season.
With over 100 players attending training camp this year, one of Fotty’s biggest tasks will be keeping equipment squeaky clean for the players. Tucked away in the back of the equipment room lies the laundry area, where Fotty will spend many hours a day cleaning hundreds of uniforms.
In past years he was able to clean 45 jerseys at a time, but with three sets of game jerseys and practice jerseys to clean, the help of two more washers and dryers was a big boost to his system.
“We got lucky this year in adding them,” said Fotty. “Before we were working on two and three, but this is going to help us be more efficient this year.”
MATT GULAKOW, DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL OPERATIONS
Director of Football Operations Matt Gulakow
For months leading up to training camp, Matt Gulakow can be spotted talking on the phone while making notes into his computer. Gulakow is talking to passport offices, Bomber players, and even their families to make their season-long trips to Winnipeg go as smooth as possible.
Gulakow is entering his 10th year with the club and fifth as the club’s director of football operations, a job that he says is very detail oriented. Leading up to training camp, his biggest focus is on getting players to Winnipeg by May 6th — often his most time-consuming task.
This off-season he was thrilled with WestJet’s decision to add a new direct flight from Atlanta to Winnipeg, a development which will make shuttling Bomber players living in the southern United States much easier for him to manage.
“They could potentially be taking three flights to get up here, now almost every regional airport goes through Atlanta, so we don’t have too many double connections to get up here which saves a lot of time,” said Gulakow. “When there’s one less flight a player goes on, there’s one less thing that can go wrong.”
An issue he deals with frequently is getting valid passports for American or international players who need one before flying out to Winnipeg. Otherwise, their training camp opportunities can be derailed before they even board a plane.
“If we sign a player in January or February one of the first questions we ask them is if they have a valid passport,” said Gulakow. “If they don’t, we give them the validation to go get one as soon as possible.”
Once players actually make it to Winnipeg, Gulakow has dorm accommodations ready for them. He does this so players who aren’t guaranteed to make the team don’t have to rent or stay in a hotel while camp unfolds. Once training camp winds down and the roster takes shape, players are expected to figure out their own accommodations. Gulakow, however, still likes to assist them in finding a place to stay.
“I start providing players information about renting and potential housing information, and I have a few people who help out in that regard,” said Gulakow. “It is their responsibility to find the housing, but we try to help them out obviously because it can be tough with the quick turnaround after training camp.”
Gulakow will also help players’ wives get work permits so they can also have a job while they live in Winnipeg for half the year.
“It happens a lot more with veterans,” said Gulakow. “Some of their wives work in the United States and to know they can stay for five-six months, they would like to get a job as well let’s say. So, there’s some immigration laws and rules in that, but I try to help them.”
With training camp looming, Gulakow has the travel arrangements ready to go for nearly every player coming to camp this year. In past years it was more difficult with the USFL and XFL playing through April which caused many American free agents to wait on deciding to come to Canada.
Now with only one spring league in the United States, players are committing to the Bombers much earlier, which has made Gulakow’s life considerably easier.
“Right now, I’m caught up,” said Gulakow. “Now if we’re signing a player as a one off, it’s about accommodating their travel and stuff compared to having to deal with 20-25 players the last week before training camp.”
Getting the Bombers fully prepared and ready to go for the season is one of their biggest priorities so they don’t run into these issues. Another side of it is the earlier a player signs, the earlier they can come down to Winnipeg to get physically prepared, this is where Bombers head athletic therapist Al Couture steps in to help.
AL COUTURE, DIRECTOR OF HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE, HEAD ATHLETIC THERAPIST
Director of Health and Performance and Head Athletic Therapist Al Couture
Couture’s work environment is much different than that of Fotty and Gulakow.
He has an office where he can make a phone call in quiet or go through his player reports on his laptop, but the second you step out the door it’s a professional athlete’s recovery paradise with multiple massage beds, massive cold and hot tubs, and a state-of-the-art gymnasium.
Lately Couture, entering his 22nd season with the club, and a fleet of trainers can be found scattered throughout the area already working with Bomber players who are in town early to get some extra care done.
“Local guys are working with our strength and conditioning staff, so they’re here every day,” said Couture. “The guys that aren’t here yet, we send them the programming and the things they should be doing. They can see videos of exercises and many of them have personal trainers they are working with every day. We will emphasize, ‘Hey, that’s awesome, and please just make sure you’re also throwing in this and that to part of your program to at least make sure that you’re getting it because we think it’s important for injury risk.’”
The second players arrive for camp they will flood the room for treatment from Couture and his staff, some in need of athletic tape which he expects to go through over 30,000 yards of this year.
When players come in their most common injuries are often a variety of muscle strains in the hamstrings, groins, and back. He believes it comes from the transition from smaller American football fields to larger Canadian ones.
“It’s a lot more running than what you’re used to with the NFL or NCAA,” said Couture. “So sometimes that can put you at high risk.”
It’s understandable given the stakes, but for some new players coming in, earning a spot on the roster is sometimes more important to them then their health. Couture indicated he’s had to shut down players during camp because they are trying to play through injuries to avoid missing any action. Unfortunately, they are often decreasing their chances by doing this.
“Everyone is dealing with something in training camp and pain is very subjective,” he said. “For me, are you able to do your job or not? I see a guy out there who wants to be out there and doesn’t want to get cut, but he looks like crap because of his injury. I’ll shut him down because you’re not doing yourself any favors.
“Matter of fact, you’re probably helping yourself do otherwise.”
The opening of rookie camp on Wednesday is now immediately on the horizon. That means Fotty, Gulakow, and Couture will continue to work the long hours to make sure everything goes right.
That’s their job, of course. Still, while it may be work in the shadows or unnoticed by Blue Bombers fans, training camp doesn’t run smoothly without their hours and hours of planning and preparation.
Kieran Reimer is graduating journalism student at Red River Polytech.
Kieranreimer@gmail.com
