Equipment Services—housed in a room known to many as “the Cage”—is the unseen backbone of the Athletics Department, according to those who work there.

Equipment Services employees and volunteers are responsible for making sure the students have an environment to help them succeed.

Athletics assistant Betty Hession has been working in the gym at AACC for 32 years.

Hession oversees inventory and handles purchasing for the 10 sports teams at AACC. She also helps design the teams’ uniforms and assists with website sales.

According to Hession, AACC is the only college in its athletic region that washes the practice uniforms for its sports teams while in season.

Mary Moore of the Health, Fitness and Exercise Studies program has spent 13 years working in the Cage.

“Any equipment that [Health, Fitness and Exercise Studies courses] use for classes, from videos to yoga mats,” comes from the Cage, according to Moore.

“The athletes that I work with … are doing what they are supposed to do,” Hession said. “We want them going to class, putting in the study time, and ultimately moving forward in their education.”

Alesha Moses, a second-year business marketing major, has been doing work study in the Cage for a year under Moore, mopping floors and moving equipment alongside her. Moses said she has become accustomed to the humbling experience of manual labor.

“[We] are a team and a family,” Moses said.

Ray Mawanda, a second-year radiology technologist major who works in the Cage, said she enjoys helping other students be successful.

“Working in the Cage to me means family,” Mawanda said.