Hatu the Manager

This passage is about Hatu, the manager of the basketball team.

Lexile Level: 680L

Categories: Sports & Health

Hatu was happy to simply serve everyone else and sit on the bench. As the manager of the basketball team, he filled the water jug and did other odd jobs. He turned on the lights in the gym. He brought the balls out and put the balls back in at the end of practice. He traveled with the team to the away games. He listened intently to Coach Burton at halftime, perhaps more intently than the players. He never wore a jersey. He never played in the games. He never had a cheerleader cheer for him. He never heard the student section scream his name. All the same, Hatu loved playing his role. At the end-of-season award ceremony, Coach Burton handed him a jersey with his name and the number one on the back. Everyone on the team went crazy cheering for Hatu. He had been happy before without all of this attention, but he was just a little happier that night with it.