Have you ever watched a sporting event and noticed the people on the sidelines running around to catch balls, wondering what exactly they were doing?

At Cleveland State University, those students are known as "ball shaggers."

One of them is Natalie Keller, a senior mechanical engineering major and member of the cross country and track teams. For her the attraction is the chance to watch games, meet other student-athletes and make some extra money.

“I just like getting to watch the games,” Keller said. “It's something to do.”

Keller first learned about the position through a message sent to CSU student-athletes on Teamworks, the team’s messaging platform. She was looking for a reason to attend more games, and she liked that the position offered a unique way to make extra money.

But this isn't Keller's first experience as a ball girl.

When she was in elementary school, Keller worked as a ball girl at a Xavier University basketball game. She was given the job of mopping sweat off the court between plays and given a uniform that was just a few sizes too big. She had to wear men’s size large pants and spent the game holding them up in one hand while mopping with the other.

Years later, Keller found herself being a ball girl again, and thought the job would be easy.

“I'm not very coordinated," Keller said, "but how hard can it be?”

So, what exactly does a ball shagger do? It depends on the sport.

During soccer games, Keller will keep a ball ready for players and retrieve balls when they go out of bounds. Depending on the situation, she can either throw the ball back to a player or place it in the corner for a corner kick. 

Because the clock continues to run during soccer, Keller said players will sometimes yell for the ball to get the game moving again. Sometimes, that means chasing a ball into a ditch.

Keller said she didn't expect that part of the job, but she enjoys it because she likes running around.

Volleyball is a different story.

During warm-up, three ball shaggers work to pick up balls around the court so players do not trip. During the game, the ball shaggers help rotate balls after each point, moving them between positions and getting a ball to the player who is preparing to serve.

Keller said she did not expect volleyball to be as hectic as it was. “There are twenty million balls flying everywhere,” she said.

Sebastian West, a senior accounting major and member of the lacrosse team, found his way to the sidelines through his head coach, Andy German. When German told the lacrosse team that CSU needed students to work the games and that the position was paid, West saw an opportunity.

The job offered West a way to make extra money while working a schedule that fit around his life as a student-athlete.

He also saw another benefit: meeting athletes from teams outside of his own.

“I already talked to way more players from other teams than I have in the last year,” West said.

As a transfer student, West said he wanted to get to know more of the student-athletes at CSU. Working the games has given him an opportunity to interact with athletes he otherwise may not have met.

Like Keller, West said the job was more relaxed than he expected.

He thought the position might be more stressful or require more work, but he found that he could still enjoy the game while chasing down balls. Attending the game has become one of the best parts of the job for West.

He said he enjoys watching sports he doesn't play and seeing other CSU athletes compete without having to prepare for or be in the game himself.

Keller agrees. She said that being a ball shagger gives her a reason to attend games she might otherwise skip, especially when she does not have teammates going with her.

“It feels like a side quest,” Keller said.

For both students, being a ball shagger has become a way to experience CSU athletics from a different angle – not quite in the bleachers and not quite on the playing field.

They get to watch the games, meet other student-athletes and make some extra money along the way.

And sometimes, it means dodging a few volleyballs or chasing a ball into a ditch.