Chargers at the Forefront of Building Professional Women’s Sports League from the Ground Up

Josie Schmidt ’22 was in the stands as a fan for the first-ever home game for the Boston team in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).

“Like many others around me, the overwhelmingly positive environment and elated fans, players, and staff nearly brought me to tears,” Schmidt said. “Young girls held signs that read ‘Play like a girl’ and ‘This is what dreams are made of.’ I knew in that moment that this league would make a lasting impact on the industry, and I wanted to join the team of trailblazers behind the scenes.”

Soon enough, Schmidt '22 fulfilled that goal.

She was hired as the manager of partnership services for the PWHL, building relationships with partners for the U.S. teams. She developed and coordinated events for youth and the community and on-ice promotions and giveaways, while also creating social media content.

She was one of two University of New Haven alumni hired to help build the six-team women’s professional hockey league featuring teams in Boston, New York, Minnesota, Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto.

Fellow alum Mike Pantera ’23 M.S., who received the Pompea College of Business’s Outstanding Graduate Student Award in Sport Management in 2023, was hired as the fan experience and game activations associate for the Boston team.

“Leagues would normally take several years to develop, but the PWHL was launched with six teams in just a few short months,” he said. “In my first full-time sports role, I was able to witness what it takes to build a professional sports league from the ground up. I found out quickly everything happens at triple the pace.”

‘This is the greatest time to be involved in women’s sports’

Ceyda Mumcu, Ph.D., professor and chair of Sport Management, encouraged both of her former students to seek jobs with the new hockey league.

“This is the greatest time to be involved in women’s sports, where records are broken weekly, with ongoing unmet consumer demand,” Mumcu said. “Being a part of the PWHL’s inaugural season has provided Josie and Mike experiences they would not gain anywhere else. They engaged in decision making and execution early in their careers and had an amazing opportunity to be a part of a new, exciting league as it launched what is likely to be the most successful women’s professional hockey league in history.”

For Schmidt, one of the best moments came when she planned an event for youth hockey players with one of the league’s partners. Young players had the chance to high five the Minnesota team as they were about to take the ice and later get autographs and take photos with the players.

“The kids were elated, and starstruck during the entire event because they had just met their idols,” said Schmidt, who earned a master’s degree in sport management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. “Seeing their excitement further enforced why I love what I do.”

Pantera said he relished working on the fan experience for Boston and watching as the team made it to the Walter Cup championship series. “While PWHL Boston did not win the championship, it was truly gratifying to see the cup raised by Minnesota in our home building,” he said. “It signified the end of a season of history and gave a glimpse of what will be sure to grow in the coming years.”

‘Unlike anything I’ve seen’

Both Pantera and Schmidt said they continually tapped into the skills they developed in their sport management courses and the professional experiences the faculty supported them in pursuing.

“The University’s Sport Management department’s commitment to career development is unlike anything I have seen in my previous years of education,” said Pantera, who had two internships including one in Yale’s Athletic Department, where he “learned what it takes to successfully execute a game day behind the scenes, from the Ivy League volleyball tournament to the Yale vs. Harvard football game,” he said. “I would not have been able to secure these opportunities without the help of all my professors and the vast alumni network of professionals currently working in the sports industry.”

Meanwhile, during her time at the University, Schmidt “traveled to Colorado to work the X Games with ESPN, went to Houston to participate in the COSMA Case Cup (where sport management students compete in a 24-hour case study competition), directed operations for the University’s volleyball team, and ran a charity home run derby with classmates as part a capstone project.

“These experiences pushed me out of my comfort zone, encouraged me to challenge myself, and shaped me into the professional I am today,” she said.

‘So many milestones’

By the end of the first season, the PWHL won the 2024 Sports Business Award for Sport Breakthrough of the Year.

According to the Sports Business Journal, “In just five months since the first game was played, the PWHL set six attendance records for women’s hockey, added more than 40 corporate partners, and has more than one million social media followers.” Billie Jean King, one of the league’s founders, accepted the award on behalf of the league.”

“The inaugural season brought so many milestones for the PWHL,” Schmidt said. “We have so much left to accomplish. I truly work on a team of trailblazers and changemakers, and I could not be prouder.”