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CoSIDA 360 - September 2021
Young Professional Spotlight: Dani Gariglio - On the Rise
by Lindy Brown – Duke University, Senior Associate Director of Communications @DukeWBBWGSID
Growing up in a household in Massapequa Park, N.Y., with parents who worked in athletics,
Dani Gariglio was destined to have a love of sports. From field hockey, ice hockey, soccer, basketball, gymnastics, volleyball and softball, she played just about any sport there is.
As she grew older, she settled into volleyball and softball, before heading to Rhode Island to play softball at the Division I level. A four-year starting center fielder, Gariglio served as a two-time captain and started 165-of-166 games played over her collegiate career.
Dani Gariglio shooting video of Davidson football players.
In the first semester of her junior year at Rhode Island, she got her first behind the scenes look into sports through an internship in Rhode Island’s athletic communications office. Gariglio enjoyed it so much she stayed on as a volunteer student assistant to close her junior campaign and senior year. She progressed so much she became the first student worker to serve as a primary contact of a sport, taking on the direct contact person for the cross country program her senior year.
“Shane Donaldson had such an impact on me and my time at Rhode Island as a mentor in terms of sports information, but as well as off the field,” said Gariglio. “He helped me realize that I could do this and still be involved with sports and student-athletes.”
After graduation from Rhode Island in 2017, Gariglio joined Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., as a sports information assistant and later as assistant sports information director. She was the primary contact for 13 sports, including the Division I women’s ice hockey program.
Gariglio then spent two years as a graduate assistant in the athletic communications department at Concordia University Chicago, a NCAA Division III institution. There, she was the primary media relations contact for the Cougars' soccer, lacrosse and men's basketball programs. During her two years in River Forest, Ill., she assisted with game day operations for all home events and served as the primary statistician and social media manager for the department.
Dani Gariglio spent two years as a graduate assistant at Concordia University Chicago.
She credits opening her communications career at the Division III level as a blessing as it gave her the opportunity to learn how to live stream a game, stat virtually every sport that is played, and simply allowed her to experience all aspects of the profession to help her gain as much knowledge as possible.
In the summer of 2020, Gariglio accepted an assistant director of athletic communications at Davidson College, where she is responsible for the communication efforts for Davidson’s women’s basketball, volleyball, lacrosse and men’s and women’s tennis programs.
“Relationships and meeting people are really important to me,” said Gariglio. “I just think I get to do that all the time every single day, whether it is with my co-workers, student-athletes or people in the community. It is so cool to meet people, get to know them and find out who they are.”
A recurring theme when talking with co-workers of Gariglio is she is a rising star in the communications field.
“A former Division I student-athlete that also excelled in the classroom, Dani checks all the boxes,” said Davidson assistant director of athletics for athletic communications Joey Beeler. “In addition to being an unbelievable teammate, her work ethic, versatility and passion for our field is uncanny. She is paving the way for an extremely bright future.”
Gariglio has gotten involved with CoSIDA over the past two years and is moving up the ladder in the organization as well. She is the new media coordinator for the Academic All-America® program and will be the vice chair of the young professionals committee this year as well. Gariglio has also been involved with the CoSIDA mentorship program for the past three years.
As participants in the
CoSIDA Mentorship Program I was lucky enough to receive Dani as my mentee in her first year at Concordia University and during a women’s basketball trip to Chicago we were able to meet up for a Chicago Bulls game and enjoy a deep-dish pizza. Ever since day one, I've been very impressed with her knowledge, work ethic and passion for the communications field.
“I am super passionate about this field,” said Gariglio. “It has been really cool to learn how CoSIDA operates and runs on an organizational level instead of the way I utilized it prior to as a networking tool. It has been great to see how that works and how much time and effort the staff of CoSIDA put into the organization for us and the student-athletes.”
Even though Gariglio is only four years removed from graduation, she is garnering the reputation as a very hard worker who is incredibly knowledgeable. She has aspirations to be a Director of Athletics or Senior Women’s Administrator at any level.
“I would love to have the opportunity to be in that leadership role and help ensure that student-athletes are having that positive experience wherever they are, because that is what those guys did for me while I was at Rhode Island.”
Gariglio will have plenty of opportunities in athletics for advancement.
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