The UConn Neag School of Education’s Sport Management Program has made its mark on professional leagues such as the NFL, NHL, NBA, and PWHL, among others through the production of influential alumnae in the field. Four women are highlighted as a few of the UConn Sport Management Program graduates currently working and succeeding in the industry.
One example is Xaimara Coss ’04 (ED), ’16 MS, who is the director of consumer products and retail marketing for the NFL, secured a licensing agreement with the NFL that permitted Kristin Juszczyk, wife of a San Francisco 49ers player to use official logos in her designs. Those designs were the ones seen on the custom Kansas City Chiefs jackets Taylor Swift and Brittany Mahomes wore while cheering on their significant others during an NFL game.
Many other UConn alumni have been making waves in professional sports management. Gabriella Mendonca ’23 (ED) began her career as the account manager of ticket sales, service, and activation for the New York team during the inaugural season of the Professional Women’s Hockey League. Taylor Kielpinski-Rogers ’12 (ED) works as vice president of communications for the Boston Celtics, first joining the team as an intern. Alexis Bazydola ’19 (ED) also began as an intern – working with the Predators hockey team all three summers during college and is now the team’s hockey operations coordinator.
Program faculty are consistently working to ensure many more alums join their ranks each year. Faculty have helped students create a Women in Sport group, which strives to support any UConn student who identifies as female and wishes to explore the world of sport or create more allies within sport for women.
To learn more about the career journeys of Xaimara, Gabriella, Taylor, and Alexis, as well as how the Neag School of Education’s Sport Management Program helped prepare them to succeed, check out this blog.
