Before Taylor Geaglone's (Enfield, Conn./Enfield) easy-going nature and attention to detail began to open up some doors, the University of New Haven field hockey star needed some gentle prodding to take part in an event that could blaze an exciting career path.

Dr. Ceyda Mumca, an associate professor at UNH and the sports management department chair at New Haven, reached out to Geaglone and some other talented and ambitious sports management students about signing up for the National Collegiate Sports Sales Championship.

While Geaglone appreciated her professor thinking of her, the email landed in her mailbox right in the midst of a memorable field hockey season. Between practices and games, school work, an internship and life as a college student she replied that she just didn't think it was the right time to add something like that to her already hectic life.

"I said I don't think I'll be able to do it because I will be in season and I don't think I'll be able to prepare," Geaglone said. "I don't want to come into something and not put my full attention to it, I'd rather be all in so I originally told her no."

Months later when Geaglone walked into Mumcu's office to discuss the possibility of enrolling in graduate school and taking advantage of an additional season of eligibility granted by the NCAA as a result of the global pandemic, it was Geaglone on the receiving end of a sales pitch.

"I went to see her in the fall to talk about grad school and she basically didn't give me an option at that point," Geaglone recalled with a laugh. "She said, 'I think this is a great opportunity for you, I think you would be awesome and it would give you a foot in the door.'"

Truer words have never been spoken.

Mumcu reached out to four alumni who former student-athletes for the Chargers who went on to work for professional sports teams. They would meet with Geaglone each Tuesday to provide her with an eye-opening lesson of what her future could look like.

The first step was having the alums work out a role-playing scenario like the one Geaglone would need to deal with as part of the program she immersed herself into.

"One acted as the buyer, one acted as the sales executive," Mumcu said. "They just demonstrated how those conversations often go. Once they were done, they said, 'OK, Taylor, now you try.' Taylor goes on so natural as if she has been doing it so it was pretty cool. One of the guys turned around and said it was pretty good for your first try, you seem to be natural. I think it was a moment that we had the idea of this is a suitable career path for Taylor."

One of the reasons Mumcu was so persistent in getting Geaglone involved in the event is that she saw the potential that Geaglone possesses.

"You can immediately get a feel for the conversations that she wants to be involved and how she has a natural talent to approach people, ask questions and immediately form a bond and a relationship," Mumcu said. 

It all started with a qualifying round in November with the top performers being invited to the championship event and conference at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

"I scheduled mine with, one of sales ticket managers from the Denver Nuggets," Geaglone said. "Basically, you had a buyer, we got on Zoom, talked and networked a little and from there we were able to move forward and go into the 20-minute role play. I would sell some tickets and he would end up being my buyer.

"I enjoyed it a lot. I had to sell to a music technology company. I came to Atlanta and I had to ask them specific types of questions, how it would go, what they are interested in and if they are even interested in buying tickets. He was giving me tough answers and I had to adapt to that. In the end, I gave him what I felt like was the best package for him because I was selling him season tickets."

Geaglone got to make sales pitches to members of the NBA's Denver Nuggets, Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Brewers and another one from NASCAR during her presentations.

"They were the ones who scored my Zoom, I networked with them," Geaglone said. "The rankings came out and they said I was going to be going to Atlanta. I had no idea I was going to be going. 

"It meant a lot because it showed that my hard work that I put into this, something new paid off because I had to go out of my comfort zone and that was the biggest thing for me, being OK with trying something new and the fear of failure. In a lot of the role plays, I failed I would just say something I would freeze. I would look at them and especially when I am practicing and I said, 'I don't know what else to say anymore so what do I do?' All those jitters and getting all those awkward moments out really helped me successful in that first round of qualifying which was great."

Geaglone was stunned that she was among those invited to Atlanta and even more surprised when she finished third overall among the top 100 students chosen to compete following the team competition. The person who prodded her to take part in the event wasn't quite as surprised, however.

"She came to my office one day and right there and then I convinced her that you really need to do this," Mumcu said. "I am so glad that she said yes and I think right now she probably feels the very same way that she is grateful that she said yes."

The ranking of the competitors was a small part of the festivities in Atlanta. The event, limited to college seniors and graduate students, gave Geaglone the chance to meet face to face with hiring managers from various professional sports organizations without the pressure of going after a job.

Job offers started rolling in and left Geaglone in a tough spot. Part of her wanted to jump at the opportunities in front of her but after a season to top all seasons with her New Haven field hockey teammates, she was reluctant to pass on having one more season as a Charger. That was when she received another surprise.

"I was on the fence," Geaglone said. "I originally said I was going to stay for grad school. I applied very late and at one point when this started happening and I started to get a lot of job offers and a lot of my network really expanded. I fell in love with sales because I was able to be creative, I was able to have that competition but it made me realize that I had one more year left and I want to be able to still play and get my Masters done. I have decided to stay officially which is really exciting.

"I think the conference in Atlanta swayed me not in a bad way but a lot of the professionals in the industry talked to me and said you have one more year of eligibility, go ahead and take it. That was awesome to hear that people who want me to work for them are also OK with me waiting for another year. That was really welcoming and even humbling too."

When Geaglone came to New Haven, the Chargers' field hockey program was starting from scratch. That's a risky proposition playing in the ultra-competitive Northeast-10. The year before she suited up, New Haven was 0-13 and was outscored 104-2. New Haven went 2-15 and 1-12 in the NE10 during the 2018-19 season when Geaglone was a freshman. The Enfield native scored the winning goal when the Chargers defeated Mercy for the first win in program history. Five wins, all in conference play, came in 2019 before a breakout season in 2021. Despite playing 10 ranked teams, New Haven posted a 9-9 record in the regular season with five of the losses coming by just one goal.

New Haven played in the conference tournament for the first time and won at Bentley in a shootout in the quarterfinals. It was Geaglone who scored to force Bentley into a position of needing to score for the shootout to continue. Goalie Keira Integlia (Branford, Conn./Branford) made the save to secure the victory. Bentley had outscored New Haven 10-0 in two games during Geaglone's first two seasons. New Haven's run ended with a 2-0 loss to Adelphi in the semifinals. 

With the bonds she formed with her teammates and the realization that much of the team would be coming back, it is no wonder that Geaglone wanted to return for one last season.

"It was awesome, I still look back at it and I am shocked because nobody expected us to go to the semifinals of NE10," Geaglone said. "Our goal is to make the NE10 final so being able to make the playoffs is step one and going into the semis was an awesome experience. This season, the girls who were on the team made the season so much better because we were family, everybody was locked in. We have a really bright future, especially with the young kids, they are definitely hard workers. Everybody is pushing themselves out of their comfort zone and giving it 100 percent in every single lift, every single practice has given me the chills thinking about what our future looks like so that was another reason why I wasn't willing to let go of the sport. I didn't have any closure yet because I still feel like we are so close to going to the finals so that would be a benefit of next year just being a part of it."

The future is also bright for Geaglone thanks to her participation in the National Collegiate Sports Sales Championship.

"I think it was a great learning experience and a great opportunity for her to put herself in a challenging position," Mumcu said. "Our students don't always feel uncomfortable and this created a situation where she had to experience an uncomfortable position and she had to overcome that. It is a great learning and growing opportunity for a college student where you can actually break out of your shell and learn how to communicate with people in different regions, different professions, different backgrounds. She not only met with different students from all over the nation but she also got the chance to speak with a lot of the hiring managers so I think it was a great experience."