The Road Diary: Jared 'Jazzy' Campbell

Now into his 16^th season as team manager, Jared ‘Jazzy’ Campbell has become a constant of the Adelaide 36ers bench.

After starting with the club back when the 36ers made the move to the then Clipsal Powerhouse in 1992, Campbell’s role began back when Phil Smyth was coach of Adelaide in 2007.

“My son was born very premature so I said to the club ‘can I come to training to help out, I need to spend some time outside of the hospital’,” Campbell said.

“Phil (Smyth) was coaching so I just came down and volunteered at training. I didn’t do game nights at that stage, I just did trainings, washing, picking up towels, drink bottles, whatever.

“Then the club asked me if I wanted to be team manager, but I was like ‘what does a team manager do?’

“The club didn’t really have one (team manager), they had the strength and conditioning coach trying to do both roles and that was tough for him.

“So the next year I got offered a very small amount to do the role and I thought ‘that was fun’, I’ll do this.”

Organising the travel schedule for the team has been Campbell’s role for the past 10 years.

“Someone in the office did all the planning early on, but then it got to a case of ‘can you do this?’, so the role just kept expanding,” Campbell said.

“But it made sense, because if you’re going to be the person looking after all the stuff on the road you may as well be the person that is planning it.

“So it’s not somebody else’s fault if something goes wrong, it’s your fault.

“And you get to know what the better flights are to book once you have done it a few times.”

But Campbell said as team manager he didn’t go on road trips in his first few seasons in the role.

“Anyone thinks a team manager just picks up drink bottles, but it’s a lot more than that,” he said.

“It’s planning, it’s organizing, it’s problem solving, it’s all of that.”

One road trip for the 36ers would include around 18 return flight bookings, accommodation, car hire transportation, meal reservations, court schedules and daily itineraries.

“It wasn’t until Joey (Wright) was coach that the travel role became full time,” he said.

Every year when the NBL release their schedule for the upcoming season, Campbell knows he has got a deadline to meet.

“It’s frantic, from when the new schedule for any season is made public, the teams have two weeks to have their travel plans locked away for the season,” Campbell said.

“It’s not as easy as ‘let’s book a flight to Cairns’, it’s consultation as to ‘when does the coach want to train?’, ‘where does the coach want to train?’, what is the best route, do you give the guys a sleep in or get back as soon as you can, there is all those questions that need to be answered.

“But after a while, it becomes second nature, but initially it was very full on to try and please everyone.”

Campbell said one question usually makes a trip booking as smooth as possible

“I ask the coach whether they want to train at home or away to where we are going and I work it out from there,” he said.

“Most coaches like to train at home before we travel, Joey did, CJ does, but I’ve been involved with national team coaches who prefer to travel then train at the venue.

“As for travelling back from a road game, if there’s a decision to be made between two different flights, I go and ask the leadership group. Any issues you ask the players, that’s who it effects the most.”

Booking flights and then booking seats on flights are one of the most challenging parts of any road trip for Campbell, especially with a team who are mainly over 200cm tall.

“It’s lotto booking the seats for the taller guys, the NBL set aside six exit rows seats, but if the public book them it’s just luck sometimes,” he said.

“The flights are pre booked well in advance, but the seating for any flight is only done a couple of weeks before that flight.”

Besides looking after the sidelines at the 36ers, Campbell has been part of the Boomers program and this year was on the bench when Australia won the FIBA Asia Cup.

Along with the 36ers’ pre-season NBL x NBA tour of the US, Campbell has also been to Bahrain, Indonesia and Kazakhstan as part of the national program.

“Easy 50 flights this year for sure,” Campbell said.

“Over a four-month period this year I have worked out I was in eight countries and 17 different cities.

“The first time I flew internationally was when I was team manager of the Emerging Boomers and I organised the visas and everything and I hadn’t done anything like that before.

“But in the end, it’s just being logical and working out things in advance.”

Common sense plays a huge role in Campbell’s decision making while on the road.

“Most players don’t want to get on a flight at 6am the day after a game,” he said.

“Some people would think ‘wouldn’t you just want to get home’, but there is more to it than that, you need some sleep.”

 

Roommates can be a real struggle with touring groups, but Campbell said he has got an early indication on who can ‘put up’ with who on the road. Which is especially beneficial this season with seven new faces in the 36ers roster.

“Within a week of training starting for the new season I could tell you who could go with who in a room, you can see who gravitated to each other,” he said.

“I knew straight away Hyrum (Harris), KG (Kyrin Galloway) and DA (Deng Acuoth) were close, and Kai (Sotto) is in that group too. I knew if I roomed them together, it wouldn’t be an issue.

“I’ve had some coaches that wanted this person with that person and it doesn’t work because they are adults.

“I let them come to me, particularly the senior players, with who they want to room with, because you must fit the lifestyles. Like does one player like to game all night and the other like sleeping. Or is one a snorer and one a light sleeper, it’s the right balance.”

Campbell spent a lot of time as a roommate of 36ers club legend Kevin Brooks and he said the pair were initially polar opposites.

“KB would fall asleep with his computer and the TV on and he wouldn’t like the room overly cold and I love it cold,” he said.

“He would take long showers and I would have to manage around this to take a shower.

“But that comes down to planning again and he deserved the respect for what he has done for this club. I thought it was going to be tough but we are lifelong friends."

Before the team even get to the venue on game day, Campbell has a very important job to do, and that is the road trip game time supermarket shop, which he has down to a fine art.

“So, originally it was just bananas, muesli bars and lollies,” Campbell said.

“But now it’s bananas, muesli bars, lollies, chewies, popcorn, chocolate milk, almond chocolate milk for those who are lactose intolerant.

“And it is specific lollies as well, not just a party mix, but the items all serve a different purpose.”

There are rarely any leftovers and if there is, they are consumed at the next training session.

Campbell has arguably the best seat in the house to see all the action up close and personal, but has never sat down during a game, ever.

“You are part of the team and you are in the inner circle but you don’t get to see much of the game at all,” he said.

“I usually catch up on what has happened on the big screen most times.

“And the parts of the game I do get to see, the guys are jumping up and down and I can’t see anyway.”

As for memorable road trips, Campbell said clearly this year’s 134-124 win over Phoenix Suns is up there with one of the best, if not the best moment so far, along with the 2017/18 grand final series.

“It’s right up there the Phoenix one, as most of our road trips are similar one is sort of the same as the next one,” Campbell said.

“The ones that stick out are the flight delays though, there was one earlier this season where we had seven delays going to Illawarra and got there at midnight.

“We also had one to Cairns I remember where we didn’t arrive until 1am and I had the hotel keep the dinner warm for us.”

But Campbell said the result is what makes road trips memorable.

“Beating an NBA team that will take some topping, and for me personally I met some great people,” he said.

The next step in Campbell’s career is a spot on the green and gold bench and an Olympic dream is on his bucket list.

“My best mate Junior (Viranatuleo) is the Boomers team manager and he is in the NBA now and he couldn’t go on some the trips,” Campbell said.

“Junior said to BA (Basketball Australia) he needed someone to help him and I got a call from Jason Smith asking me about the role.

“As I taught Junior during his time at the Sixers, Jason said I would be perfect for the role and I got to go on some trips this year.

“They have said they can’t promise a spot at an Olympics, but I’m there and inside the group, which is awesome.”

After over “at least 600 NBL games” just picking up towlels and handing drink bottles, Campbell will be on the 36ers bench for many more seasons to come.

“All I want is that championship, I have been close twice so that is the goal that fires me every day,” he said.