Author: Emily Phillips
For most Division III student athletes, the likelihood of continuing their athletic career after graduation is slim. Instead, most seniors spend their last semester preparing for graduate school or job-hunting, in hopes of finding a path that will lead them to their future career. Nevertheless, a handful of talented Occidental College athletes have had the opportunity to play professionally after graduation, either in the United States or abroad.
Six former Tiger stars, Rocky Ciasulli ’08 (football), Connor Whitman ’08 (m. basketball), Adam Franks ’08 (baseball), Stacie Roshon ’08 (w. basketball), Daniel Tromello ’09 (football), and Justin Goltz ’09 (m. basketball and football) share their experiences in professional athletics.
Since graduating two years ago, Ciasulli has played football for several teams, each in the top league of the country. After graduation, he played in Finland for the Jyvaskyla Jaguars before playing for the Ancona Dolphins in Italy the following year. Professional play abroad has been an overall rewarding adventure for Ciasulli. “My experiences abroad have not only been an opportunity for me to continue playing the game that I love, but also a great chance for me to grow as a person and learn about the different lifestyles, priorities and mindsets of people in different parts of the world,” he said. This summer, Ciasulli is going to play for the Swiss Football League in Switzerland.
Whiman has had an equally fulfilling post-graduate experience. Last year Whitman played in Division II of the Pro B league in Wolfenbuttel, Germany for Herzoge (the Dukes). He had hoped to join the Pro A league this year but was set back by an injury.
Former baseball player Franks was approached by an Israeli league his senior year at Oxy. The league, however, folded just before the end of the year. As a result, he spent time playing baseball in Munich, Germany last year and is currently finishing up his season in Melbourne, Australia. Franks related that playing abroad has been as enjoyable as playing for the Tigers. “It’s just as much fun to live in other countries as it is to know you are playing pro ball and having an experience few people ever get,” he said.
Roshon is currently playing basketball for the club team Osterather TV in the Regionaliga league near Duesseldorf, Germany. While each of the alumni went through a slightly different experience to get in touch with the teams, most contacted European recruiters with the help of their Occidental coaches. For example, Roshon expressed that the men’s basketball head coach played a key role in her ability to play abroad. “I got really lucky and was contacted by Coach Brian Newhall after being a year out of Oxy to play overseas,” she said in an e-mail interview. “Without him as a contact, I definitely would not have had this opportunity. I actually thought I was going to be done playing basketball for the rest of my life, but I was given another chance!”
After graduating, Tromello played arena football (AF2) for the Peoria Pirates in Illinois before playing professionally for the Moenchengladbach Mavericks in Germany. Head Football Coach Dale Widolff helped Tromello play in Germany and has put other Oxy athletes in contact with coaches, players and managers of European teams. “Coach Widolff at Oxy helped me greatly when it came to football and life,” Tromello said in an e-mail interview. “Through hard work, he guided me to become the best player I can be. The athletic department helped me to become a better person and more knowledgeable when it came to being a student athlete at a school like Oxy.”Goltz, a former Oxy quarterback, has had a successful pro-athlete experience. He started off with an NFL pro day with the University of Hawaii, after which he was invited by quarterback coach of the Detroit Lions Jeff Horton to their rookie mini-camp. He was flown in for five days and played well, but was not signed. As a result, he played football in the German Football League for the Mavericks with Oxy teammate Tromello.
Oxy equipped Goltz with the skills needed to succeed in the world of professional athletes. “Playing sports year round at Oxy just taught me the importance of hard work, dedication to a goal, and everyone around me was more than supportive in pursuing my dreams,” Goltz said. “Everybody in the Athletic Department from my coaches, trainers, to Olivia and people in the office were extremely supportive and motivating, and that helped out a lot.”
The former Tigers expressed that Occidental prepared them for the big leagues through athletics, tests of hard work and perseverance. As Tromello said, “While I was at Oxy I was extremely well-coached. It gave me the confidence to compete at the next level.”
Roshon shared similar sentiments about the degree of preparation Oxy offers. “I think going to a school that urges you to act and think independently helped me a lot as well,” Roshon said. “Living in a totally different country, when you don’t know the language and aren’t familiar with the culture, can be difficult if you can’t handle being on your own and making something out of the little things you are familiar with.”
The athletes explained that playing professionally or for a club team in Europe is much different than playing professionally in the United States. The skill level of professional and club teams in Europe is lower than that of professional leagues of the United States, yet is higher than the college level.
However, as Whitman explained, playing in Europe is very popular among Americans, and therefore can be quite competitive. “There is a little more pressure playing abroad than at home because it is a business overseas,” he said. “There are a lot of Americans that would love to be in your shoes over there so you have to bring your A game everyday or you could be sent home. I would say that almost half of the Americans that started the season in my league did not end the season in my league.”
Playing abroad is also a unique experience because it allows athletes to explore new regions of the world. “I have considered trying out in the U.S. . . . However, every time it was just too much of a draw to get essentially a free vacation and live for six months in another country,” Franks said. “Soon enough we all get families, or a career, or whatever it is that ties you down. I just decided that what I wanted out of baseball was not the difficult pro life in the states.”
Although these athletes have traveled in all sorts of different directions, each agrees that their careers as Occidental Tigers adequately prepared them for professional athletic opportunities.
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