The saying goes that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. For Antonio Pierfelice (Sport Marketing & Management, 2018) this could not be truer.
Pierfelice’s passion for sports has landed him an opportunity to work with the Youth Hockey Development Program for the Canadiens de Montréal, which he calls a “dream come true.”
“I participated in camps when I was younger with the Montreal Canadiens and I always knew it was something I potentially wanted to do,” he said.
“Promoting my favourite sport, working for the team I grew up supporting, it’s honestly a dream come true.”
Pierfelice has been working with the Youth Hockey Development Program for five years part-time as he completes his bachelor’s at Concordia University in Recreation and Leisure Studies.
He said he was able to snag the coveted position by following up on the advice of a teacher in the Sport Marketing Program who told him to shoot his shot without fear of rejection.
So Pierfelice, only 18 at the time, reached out personally to the director of the Canadiens program and asked to get involved. Now he helps run hockey camps for beginner players across the province.
“We try to grow the game and introduce as many new kids to it as we can,” he said.
Pierfelice also works at Champlain as an assistant coach with the Cavaliers men’s soccer team.
It seemed like a natural progression for Pierfelice who was heavily involved with students clubs, the leadership program, and volunteering as game staff for the Cavaliers while he was a student.
“Champlain is a very special place to me so much so that I still help out with the soccer team,” he said.
He added that in staying involved after graduation, he feels as if he’s never really left.
“When you leave high school you’re fed all these misconceptions about college: ‘Now you’re on your own, now you have to be an adult, your teachers won’t chase you for your work.’ But I never felt like I was on my own at Champlain,” he said.
“The school is so small and teachers can actually form relationships with their students. I’ve always appreciated and enjoyed the fact that’s it’s a small school and you really get to know people.”
Pierfelice’s advice to current students and recent grads: “Just say ‘hi’ to people. Those simple little interactions can really go a long way in forming friendships that go beyond Champlain.”
