Scott Rego: The Life of an NBA Equipment Manager - Work in Sports Podcast e89

Scott Rego, Head Equipment Manager for the Philadelphia 76ers explains his role, major responsibilities and the grind of traveling with the team on this edition of the Work in Sports podcast!

Hi everybody, I’m Brian Clapp Director of Content for Workinsports.com and this is the Work in Sports podcast.

If I worked in real estate, I think I would spend a great majority of my day admiring other people’s homes on the market. I could see myself coming home wanting to buy a new different house weekly.

Honey I’m home – guess what I saw today, this awesome 4 bedroom house in the perfect neighborhood with a pool, you’re going to love it!

And fo course my wife would laugh tell me I’m nuts and then I’d go on with my day.

Well, now, in my role with WorkinSports you know what I see all day long – sports jobs. You know who I talk to all day long – cool people in sports with fun jobs.

Now, my bosses are listening so I’m here to convince them that I am not constantly admiring other people’s job openings, but I do envision certain roles and think to myself… man that would have been cool.

Take today’s guest for example – Scott Rego, Head Equipment Manager for the Philadelphia 76ers – for the last 32 years Scott has worked with the Sixers, he’s built relationships with players, become a trusted advocate of the coaching staff, and been instrumental in orchestrating travel, practices, game prep, team needs and more.

Scott goes untra deep explaning his role and what he loves about it in this interview…and I have to say, there is a lot to love and admire about what he has accomplished.

So let’s get to it – here’s Scott Rego, Head Equipment Manager for the Philadelphia 76ers!

Questions for Scott Rego, Head Equipment Manager for the Philadelphia 76ers

1: For nearly 32 years you’ve been with the 76ers as a part of the equipment staff, I noticed from your bio that you started with the team while in high school – how did you get your first opportunity?

2: I remember going to Celtics games as a kid – sorry, Boston native here – and being so jealous of the kids on the court, even if they were just rebounding and passing the ball to Larry Bird or Kevin McHale – you were that kid! Looking back did you fully appreciate how cool that was?

2a: What was it like being around the players back then?

2b: Is that where you got the bug and knew – this is what I have to do for a living? 

3: So you are in high school and college, working the Sixers home games as a team attendant, at what point did you figure out the next logical step was to progress into equipment management?

4: It’s not like there is a major in college for equipment management – how did you learn the skills necessary to thrive in this role?

4a: did you have any mentors, and what kind of advice did they give you?

5:  When you were the Assistant Equipment manager, what were the key day-to-day priorities of your role?

6: What’s it like travelling with the team – it’s an 82 game season, you are all over the place all the time… do you enjoy that part of the job, or is that a grind?

7: For the last 19 years you’ve been the Head Equipment Manager for the 76ers – I imagine your challenges are much different now than they were when you were the Assistant Equipment Manager – what are the hardest parts of your role, and what are the parts that you really enjoy?

8: We have a private facebook group full of fans of this show and before each interview I ask them what questions they’d like me to ask…so this one comes to you from Vincent Wong who is in college at Florida State and really wants to be an equipment manager someday – Vincent asks “What advice would you give to someone who wants to start building their career in equipment management?

9: Vincent had another – I got to meet the head EQ guy at FSU, I asked him what time of the year is busiest for him and he said summer. Is that the same for the NBA and getting new inventory?

10: Dylan Burson wanted to know – with such a long season and day to day grind how do you maintain your stamina and embrace the busy schedule?  

11: How much do you interact with the other groups within the team like marketing, sales, community relations – is there work you do together?

Finishing up with Scott Rego, Head Equipment Manager, Philadelphia 76ers

Here’s what I loved from this interview – when Scott said his big advice to people was “don’t do it!” I think he’s playing around, because that’s his personality. I think he loves his job and the community of it. When he talked about the players calling him Uncle Scott, I think he loves every minute of it.

Sure it’s a grind, long days, high expectations but, I don’t know, I got the vibe he’s enjoys being associated with a team he loves.

One other thing – Scott is a smart guy, I think if he was just doing players laundry year after year he’d be bored. I loved hearing him talk about organization, forecasting, anticipating player needs, budgeting and working cross functionally with marketing, sales and branding.

What a cool word that Scott gave us a window into.

Big thanks Scott – that’s going to do it for this weeks show, if you like what we are doing please subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen, and give us a rating and review. And finally, join our private facebook group by searching for the work in sports podcast on Facebook.

Answer three easy questions and you are in. The benefits to you are huge.. many of our expert guests are in the the group sharing knowledge, as are sports career minded folks like you, looking to break in, sharing advice and experiences. It’s a great group, I think you’ll like it.

That’s it for now folks… see you on Friday!