Always Working on His Craft

By: D. Scott Fritchen

Kansas State has a gem in Al Cerbe. This summer, the rest of the nation formally learned it as well, as the Kansas State head football equipment manager earned the highest achievement from the Athletic Equipment Managers Association (AEMA) and was presented with the Glenn Sharp Award at the organization's annual convention in Atlanta, Georgia.

"I'm a very goal-oriented individual and want to do the best job I possibly can for the football program, for my staff, for my students, and for our football players," Cerbe says. "If you're a football player, you'd love to win the Heisman Trophy someday. I wanted to win the Glenn Sharp Award one day."

The Glenn Sharp Award recognizes the Equipment Manager of the Year by AEMA. The organization was founded in 1974 and emphasizes the importance of service, leadership, and excellence in the profession of equipment management.

Cerbe enters his 19^th season at K-State in 2024 and his 15^th as the head football equipment manager. He oversees all aspects of equipment and apparel distribution and maintenance. He also helps oversee the operation of K-State's student equipment managers. He received his accreditation from AEMA in 2011.

"Normally if you get this award, it's because you're a pretty good equipment manager," Cerbe says. "Maybe you're innovative, creative or organized. Around 2019, I started getting involved with the education committee. To me, getting the award is also for what you've done for the association a little bit, and I've just kind of gotten started."

Cerbe serves as chair of the AEMA education committee and assistant district director.

"The Equipment Managers Association is built into nine different districts, and we're the sixth district in the Midwest with Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and the Dakotas," Cerbe says. "Something I'm really passionate about is preparing for a district meeting, which we did in 2019. K-State, Kansas and Iowa State put together our first in-person district meeting in Kansas City and we tied it to the Big 12 Equipment Manager meetings, which we also hosted in Kansas City. COVID put a pause on things. I thought we needed to meet on Zoom for an hour and have vendors and equipment managers talk and learn and educate.

"Education is a big thing for me."

The AEMA has worked to advance, engage, and inspire equipment managers through conferences, workshops, publications, certification and a continuing education program.

"The Equipment Manager Association is a very important piece to young equipment managers to develop networking and learn, whether that's certification or workshops," Cerbe says. "I'm passionate about that. I want to give back and I want to share what I've gone through because maybe it can make the life of someone getting into the profession easier. It means a lot to me because I have a lot to give."

Cerbe's labor of love began when he was a high school student in Horn Lake, Mississippi, serving as team manager, and handing out water, loading supplies and handling equipment and jerseys. As a freshman at Northeast Mississippi Community College in 2004, Cerbe began assembling uniform styles among his many duties, which parlayed into an internship with the Memphis Xplorers before he assumed full-time duties as head equipment manager in 2006.

He then received an internship with the Baltimore Ravens prior to his junior year and served as student equipment manager at the University of Memphis before coming to K-State in 2007. Cerbe graduated from K-State in 2010. Bill Snyder promoted him to head equipment manager prior the 2011 season.

How much has the equipment business changed since then?

"It's changed in the last two years," Cerbe says. "It's changed every year over the last five years in a pretty significant way, especially helmets. Helmet technology is so crazy. Every single player on our football team has a scanned helmet that's built unique to them. We're scanning feet. They're starting to scan shoulder pads. They continue to push the bar. That's why I stay up on my research and development all the time. It's really the use of technology that's helping us protect these athletes."

Cerbe has a staff of one full-time assistant equipment manager, one post-graduate full-time intern, and 12 student interns.

"It starts with serving the people, whether it's the players, coaches or staff, and then ultimately my staff because they're the hands and feet and allow me to do that to my absolute fullest," Cerbe says. "I try to look at it in a very broad view and try to look at it in everybody's perspective. You have players coming in here at 5 a.m. or 5:30 a.m. to prepare for a 6 a.m. workout or run. From my perspective, there are two ways 1) I want to protect them and be comfortable and 2) I want them to play their absolute best. I always joke with them that I do this because I don't want them on the sideline with me — I want to watch them play and succeed on the field."

The workload at K-State soon begins.

"We'll have our students come in next week to work on a lot of equipment, but I'm always big into education and teaching these seven new staff members what the standards are so we can go out there and help this team," Cerbe says. "I never want the equipment to hold us back or be a bump in the road for the football program. It's about dominating the details. Just as Coach Chris Klieman preaches it to the players, I say the same thing to our students."

Cerbe says that he gets his quest for perfection from his mother, Sue. He shows no signs of slowing down.

"Personally, I want to get much more organized," he says. "As organized as I am, I feel disorganized at the same time. It's part of my perfectionism. And I push it.

"I always try to do more."

And that's why he is the best.

Kansas State University Athletics

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