GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Like their University of Florida counterparts, these Gators made excellent grades in high school. They spent hours studying for the SAT. They gave up free weekends to perform community service.
The similarities end there for Mitchell Wydetic and Jackson Rowars.
A student equipment manager for the Gators baseball team for four years, Wydetic joined the on-field celebration at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha when the Gators won the 2017 national championship. A few months later, Rowars, a student equipment manager for the UF football team, jumped onto the dogpile following Feleipe Franks' game-winning touchdown pass to beat Tennessee.
They not only witnessed those memorable events, they got to participate as members of a community called UF's "Team Behind the Teams" and made possible through the
Florida Lottery/Bright Futures Scholarship program. The Florida Lottery is a long-standing partner of Florida Gators Athletics.
A political science major from Tampa, Wydetic grew up an undersized baseball player and very committed student to boost his outlook for college. He combined those two passions into a role with the Gators that was made possible when he earned a Bright Futures Scholarship through a program created in 1997 by the Florida Legislature and funded by the Florida Lottery.
According to the Florida Lottery's website, since the program's inception it has contributed more than $5 billion to send more than 800,000 students to college.
"I was ecstatic,'' Wydetic said. "I've got to explore so many opportunities that I couldn't have without it. It has undoubtedly changed my life."
A finance major, Rowars grew up in Jensen Beach, Fla., and starred on the soccer field. At UF, with the help of a Bright Futures Scholarship, Rowars joined the Gators football program as a student equipment manager who assisted the coaches in setting up equipment for practice among a myriad of other duties.
Rowars traveled to road games and got an inside look at one of college football's top programs.
"Being able to see everything firsthand and be a part of it is an experience that I will never forget,'' Rowars said. "Bright Futures was able to help us with tuition and books. It was just an overall big sense of relief knowing that we had some financial support."
Wydetic and Rowars had many teammates on UF's "Team Behind the Teams" this past Gators athletic season. While numerous UF students are Bright Futures Scholarship recipients, UF and IMG teamed to shine a spotlight on the students who assist Florida's athletic teams whether as a student equipment manager, academic tutor, nutritionist or cheerleader. To become a scholarship winner, Florida resident students must apply and meet specific requirements: certain test score (or above), certain GPA, and community service hours.
In recognizing UF's "Team Behind the Teams," feature segments played on video boards at sporting events, social media, UF coaches' TV shows and other media outlets during the 2018-19 college athletics season.
Caleb McKinley serves as a student equipment manager with the Gators men's basketball team and wants to work in the front office of an NBA team one day. The opportunity to learn as a member of UF coach
Mike White's program is one he cherishes.
"I have a small part on this team, but I would like to do the part to the best of my ability,'' McKinley said. "I just want to make sure the coaches and players have everything they need and there's no stress on their end."
UF sophomore Wynton White has a similar approach. He is a student equipment manager for the football team and has visions of someday working in professional sports.
"I like being around the game and seeing the ins and outs of movements and how everything works,'' White said. "I'd like to work in a front office someday and this role allows me, one, to see everything that needs to go on from the top of the bottom behind the scenes, and also, operationally, it gives tools and building blocks in building relationships with players, coaches and other people in the facility to help me build my career in the future."
AnnMarie Taylor finished the season in Oklahoma City, home of the Women's College World Series. As a member of the Gators softball program, Taylor sets up equipment on the field prior to practice and does whatever else is necessary.
It's not a glamorous job, but one Taylor, who is seeking a dual degree in marketing and public relationships, plans to use to help her get a job in sports after she graduates.
"I just like being on the field and at practice to hear the thought process and knowledge that goes into every detail,'' he said. "Everything little thing counts."
So does very dollar. That's what makes the Florida Lottery/Bright Futures Scholarship program such an important part of the day-to-day experience of UF's "Team Behind the Teams."
Without it, some of them would not be Gators.
"It's given me the freedom to be able to work long hours, where if I wasn't getting the scholarship, I would have to work another job,'' said Patrick Yallof, a UF sport management major and student equipment manager with the football team. "All my hard work finally paid off."
