Union kit man Brandon Comisky remains the intersection of where preparation meets success

It was the day before the biggest game of the season at that point for the Union, and Brandon Comisky was in the River End section of Subaru Park going row-by-row, checking for wayward soccer balls in the stands.

One would think that the Union’s director of equipment operations would have more pressing things to do following the team’s final training session, but ahead of the Eastern Conference semifinal with Cincinnati on Oct. 20, there was no mad dash when it came to the final preparations.

That’s because the work had been done days before.

As the team cleared out of the locker room post-training, Comisky took a calm stroll to the equipment room where prematch warmups and pressed uniforms hung on rolling racks awaiting assignment to player stalls.

It’s the way Comisky prefers it. Whether it’s a playoff game or a preseason scrimmage, there is no such thing as a single day of prep when you’re looking after the needs of 27 players — all with particulars when it comes to their own match preparation. If there needed to be someone to attest that the old sports adage look good, play good truly exists, then Comisky, now in his 10th season with the Union, would be able to explain — right down to the personality type.

“It’s all about establishing relationships,” he said. “For a lot of these guys, I already know what they’re going to want even before the game. So for me, it’s knowing what they need so that there are no emergencies. If you have a relationship with them and something does happen, you have a better chance of something bad not becoming catastrophic.”

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So what are the particulars? How about starting out with each player being allowed three sets of jerseys and two pairs of shorts per game as a base and starting from there? There are guys who switch to a fresh jersey at halftime. There are guys who will change their cleats at the half. There are the guys who have a penchant for throwing their equipment into a section of elated supporters after a win.

And then there are players like defender Olivier Mbaizo who changes his entire outfit right down to his socks during every break. Yes, you read that right. A fresh kit after warmups, a fresh kit to start the game, and a fresh kit emerging from the tunnel to start the second half.

Of the players’ uniform allotment, Comisky said: “We reuse them until they give them away, rip or get dirty stains, all that kind of stuff. But yeah, there are just some guys who require more. We do our best to accommodate them.”

It’s not the job Comisky thought he’d have with the club when he arrived as a fresh-faced marketing intern from Rutgers in 2012. His role isn’t just with the first team; he also oversees the equipment that’s given to the Union’s youth academy, a job expected to intensify with the news that the academy and its school will move to Chester in the near future.

“I started out in 2012 as an intern and got the role as a full-time assistant [equipment manager] in 2013,” Comisky said. “But even with a year in I was naïve to the whole professional environment and what it takes. What helped my development was people like [team coordinator] Josh Gros and [director of player relations] Dan Nolan and Jim [Curtin, the team manager]. They’ve just always had my back and knowing I’ve had those guys in my corner really helped me to learn the business and realize that I had the opportunity to make this my own.”

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Things are a lot different from when Comisky started. For starters, success and a new front office management collective have afforded charter flights, which means equipment doesn’t get lost in random airports.

Comisky shares this story about a road match against Real Salt Lake in 2015:

“We used to fly commercial and had an entire bag of shoes and boots that got lost in the airport out of Philly. Luckily, we flew out a day early to train at Rio Tinto [Stadium], but when we were setting up for training the night before, we realized we were missing a bag of shoes. It was like 1 a.m., and nothing was open. The next day, we left the hotel and found a local soccer shop, and got [former forward] Fernando Aristeguieta two pairs of black Adidas Predators. It’d be like going to Angelo’s [Soccer Corner] and buying them from there. He scored two goals in that game and we won.”

The Union have become a much different club in the years that have followed, becoming not just a perennial playoff contender but the class of MLS’s Eastern Conference. They won the Supporters’ Shield as the team with the most points in 2020 and came close to claiming that title again this year.

After reaching the MLS semifinal round last year, it now is preparing to play in the MLS Cup final Saturday in Los Angeles. Anyone familiar with the club’s recent success knows it hasn’t arrived without a host of hard knocks. It’s why when Comisky, who’s been around since nearly the club’s inception, remains committed to the team — and the various players who wear its crest.

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“There’s been a lot of pinch me moments,” said Comisky. “I remember having to haul all of our equipment on a bus and head to Chester Park for training, and now we have this great facility. We’re building a new facility. Honestly, it’s humbling because you’ve seen what it was and you never thought it’d be as good as it is. So I give a lot of credit to Jim, the staff, and this organization for building it into what it is now. I’m honestly just happy to be a part of it all, for better or worse.”