Behind Every Group of Guys is a Great Group of Girls

By: JESSICA E. GARCIA, Living Sport BARCELONA ‘17 Alumna, Alumni board marketing lead & OPERATIONS AND MARKETING MANAGER AT NEW YORK LIZARDS

“Behind every great group of guys, is a set of great young women.” This is a quote from one of my High School assistant coaches, Jason Hoover, and has stood out to me for the past ten years. At the time that he said it, I knew it was meaningful, but I didn’t know how powerful his words would be to me, until now. Ten years ago, if you asked me if I knew that I was about to start a journey that would lead me to my career. I wouldn’t have believed you. 

As a young girl, back in 2010, I made the decision that I would manage my high school football team. I had a passion for sports, especially football and two loving parents, who wouldn’t sign a permission slip for me to be the kicker on the team. My health teacher in Middle School, Mr. Rado, suggested that if I had a passion for football, I should be part of the team in a non-traditional form. I took that advice and for 4 years, I moved with my class and managed the junior varsity, and later, the varsity football teams. When I first started, a lot of people would call me the “Water Girl”, but I was more than just the water girl. I wrote down stats on game day for our defensive coach, I handed out all the equipment, assigned uniform numbers, I assisted with the Athletic Director to make sure all players had up-to-date permission slips and physical documentation. I also ensured the were not on academic probation, which guaranteed that they could practice. I also coordinated our traveling for away games and secured everything that was needed in our medical supply bag for the trainer. For just a high school student, I had a played a fairly large role, and I loved it. 

Managing that high school football team has given me my most cherished high school memories. By my senior year, I had classmates asking me for my jersey to wear on game days because I was an important member on the team. People started to recognize that, which meant the world to me. 

Ten years have passed since the day I first stepped on that field, and I have continued to look forward. I now have a bachelor’s degree in Sport Management from East Stroudsburg University and have a full-time job in my field. I’m proud to say that I am currently the Operations and Marketing Manager for the New York Lizards, a professional men’s lacrosse team in Major League Lacrosse (MLL). It is ironic that years later I am still a manager for a men’s sport team, and I continue to learn, develop, and have fun. 

In January of 2018, I started my final senior semester, as the Sales and Marketing Intern for the New York Lizards. As my internship came to an end, our CEO and Vice President asked to see me in their office and indicated that they were impressed with my work ethic. They proceeded to offer me a part-time position for the rest of the season. The 2018 season came to an end and I was unsure of what would happen next. Again, I was asked to go to the back to see them and they offered me a full-time position as a Sales and Marketing Associate. Fast forwarding a little bit to mid-season in 2019, I was again asked to go speak with my senior officers. This time they offered me a promotion to be the new Game Day Operations and Marketing Manager for the team. I have been with the organization for 2 years now and have been recognized 3 times. 

Some of my current job responsibilities are quite similar to what I used to do back in high school but, more advanced and now I am helping to “run the show”. I work on a daily basis with some of the greatest lacrosse players, not just the U.S. but, in the world. I have worked with members on the national teams from Canada, Puerto Rico, and of course U.S.A. I assist in designing their team uniforms, apparel, and equipment with companies like Cascade, Warrior, New Balance, and Brine. I coordinate team travel for home and away games. I create the content for our social media platforms. I am the youth programing coordinator and share coaching duties with my players to the young athletes who attend our clinics. Game day materials such as media guide, game notes, visiting team guide, theme nights, sponsorships, fan experience, timelines, and PA scripts, are just a few examples of what I create for game days. I can keep going on with all the things I do on a daily basis for my job but, the one job I am the fondest of is that I am the voice for these players. As my one of my players, Lizard’s attackman, Dylan Molloy, who I also consider a personal friend, said, “Jess is very accommodating and is always there when we need her on and off the field.” To me this is not just a job that I do to get a paycheck but, something that I truly love to do. 

In the male dominant industry of sports, there are not many female professionals that can say they have a significant role when it comes to organizing and managing a team. So, this is truly a privilege and a personal accomplishment. Another one of my attackmen, Justin Reh’s, stated his opinion when asked about how he felt to have a female manager, he stated, “gender doesn’t matter when managing a team, as long as that person does a great job which Jessica does. Then it’s not a problem!” My team’s face-off player, (aka: FOGO), Mark Andrejack mentioned, “I never thought twice about having a female as a manager. If anything, I think Jess does has better qualities than a guy would have in the sense that she is very personable, attentive to details, and always goes that extra mile for all of us on whatever she is doing.” 

I’m very flattered with what some of my guys had to say about me not just because they are positive but, because they recognize and appreciate the hard work, the passion, and the dedication, that I put into this job. My players aren’t the only ones who notice this though. Last year, my colleagues in the front office and the MLL awarded me the 2019 MLL Honors Staff Recognition Award for the NY Lizards.

To bring it back to what my high school Assistant Coach Hoover said, “behind every great group of guys, is a set of great young women.” I work for an incredible group of athletes and I strongly believe that they will agree that there is a great young woman behind them. This quote was proven back in high school when my two classmates/friends managed the football team with me, and I continue to prove this on a daily basis as a young professional sport manager who is just trying to create a name for herself in this industry.