• Job: Equipment manager, Atlanta Hawks

Photos by KARL W. RITZLER/Special (ENLARGE)

With all of the shoes it contains, Zac Walsh describes part of the equipment office at Philips Arena as 'a little Foot Locker.'

(ENLARGE)

Zac Walsh's job as equipment manager for the Altanta Hawks involves keeping track of many large shoes. He says there can be as many as 300 pairs of shoes in his office at a time, and there's one player who uses 85 pairs of shoes in a season. Walsh makes sure all the players and coaches have what they need. His dedication to the job often means 16-hour workdays and sleep deprivation. 'I try to hibernate in the summer,' he said.

• What I do: Zac Walsh, 29, has a courtside seat for every Atlanta Hawks basketball game, home and away. The price he pays is long hours of work as the equipment manager.

Sometimes, though, he feels more like the manager of a shoe store. He describes a corner of his office as "a little Foot Locker," where shelves are stacked with the different sizes and brands of shoes the team members wear.

"Some guys like a lot of shoes," he said, including one player who goes through 85 pairs a season.

Each player has his own deal with a shoe company, but it's up to Walsh to arrange deliveries. He said he has as many as 300 pairs in his office at any one time.

His job extends well beyond shoes, however. "I make sure the players and coaches have everything they need," including game and practice jerseys, shorts, socks and chewing gum. He oversees the players' lounge at Philips Arena — where team members can play pool or watch TV before and after practice — as well as the practice court and locker room.

He shows up two hours before anyone else on game day and frequently is among the last people to leave after a game — often making it a 16-hour workday. And on days when there isn't a game, there's practice. He still reports to work during the offseason, helping players and coaches prepare for the next year.

"There's something every day," he said. "I've had three days off since Oct. 1."

For road trips, Walsh has to pack 20 large duffel bags of equipment — four of them for the shoes. He loads them into a van; drives to the airport, where the team's charter flight is waiting; then unloads them into the visitors' locker room at the next arena.

Walsh said there's a good deal of administrative work involved in the job, too. For example, he orders equipment and sometimes supplies game-used gear to charities for fund-raisers.

He also deals with the basketballs. The National Basketball Association sends each team 75 balls a year. If Walsh has to order more, he must call the supplier and the Hawks must pay about $60 each for them.

Two ball boys, who work for Walsh part time, wash and fold uniforms and towels, and nine ball boys work part time during the home games as gofers and "rebounders" of basketballs that go into the crowd.

• What got me interested in this: Walsh went to Georgia Tech on scholarship as the basketball team's manager. While there, he met members of the Hawks staff when the team practiced at Tech during the construction of Philips Arena.

After he graduated, Walsh was hired as an assistant equipment manager by the Hawks. He was promoted when his predecessor left.

"I've always been around sports," Walsh said.

His father was a basketball and football coach at Marist High School, where Walsh played football.

• Best part of my job: "Traveling and seeing other cities," Walsh said. "And having a great seat at every game."

He sits in the second row, behind the coaches, and has sat near or across the court from many of the celebrities who attend NBA games nationwide, including actor Jack Nicholson and director Spike Lee.

• Most challenging part: "Doing it without much sleep," he said.

Walsh said he usually sleeps about five hours a night during the season. "I try to hibernate in the summer," he said.

• What people don't know about my job: "For six months, you're around these people more than your family," he said. "If I had a bed here, I could call this place home. There's a chef, showers and TV.

"My girlfriend doesn't like it too much."

• What keeps me going: "Helping the players and coaches get more wins," Walsh said. "I don't directly affect that," but he hopes he contributes by taking care of their wants and needs so that they can concentrate on playing their best.

• Preparation needed for this job: You have to be well-organized, Walsh said, and you can't let being a fan get in the way of doing the job. You also have to recognize that each player and coach is an individual.

"You have to know how to act around each one — what they like and what they don't," he said.

Getting a job like his involves knowing the right people, he said. Walsh believes he's one of the youngest equipment managers in the NBA and one of the few to go directly to working in the big league after graduating from college.

Walsh said that many of his colleagues also started off as assistants, and some worked part time or volunteered with local or minor league teams.

Walsh has a business degree from Tech and has been with the Hawks for five years, the last three as equipment manager.

- By Karl W. Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.