Growing up on the East Coast of Massachusetts, just a 10-minute drive from TD Garden, I always appreciated the Boston powerhouse of sports. But my passion for sports storytelling didn't come until much later.
It was Week 17 in 2019 when the San Francisco 49ers had a bye week on the line. The score against the Seattle Seahawks was 26-21 in favor of the Niners. With eight seconds on the clock and the Seahawks inches away from a game-winning touchdown on fourth-and-goal. Sitting on the edge of my couch, I thought about all the different plays the Seahawks could run and what the defensive response from San Francisco would have to be. As tight end Jacob Hollister headed towards the end zone, Dre Greenlaw and Fred Warner made a clean stop just one yard away from a Seattle touchdown.Those final eight seconds were a storyline I'd remember forever as the first time I felt like I could have a place in sports. Three years later, I added a Sports Journalism double major to pursue my passion for storytelling in a field I never thought I'd have a place in.
I joined The Massachusetts Daily Collegian as a sophomore at UMass Amherst in 2022 as well. While I originally was excited to start covering football, hockey was the first beat I joined and eventually my hardest goodbye as a senior. I grew a love for the double overtimes, long nights, and months of interviews for a story I step back from knowing it's exactly how I imagined. I developed a passion for feature writing - even in hockey, it was a reminder of my love for storytelling all the way back in Week 17.
The football press box was still a special place for me. Walking in every Saturday with my beat members, I knew being the only woman in the press box would test me. It made me more confident in my writing and knowledge, and even a 13-hour, lightning-induced evening in the press box couldn't keep me away.
As I look towards my future career, I know my home is in a media room, a press box, and hopefully in team reporting long-term.
Contact Information:
sydneyeliseciano@gmail.com
