最佳选手：玛雅·安娜·卡伦德16届

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最佳选手：玛雅·安娜·卡伦德16届

Maya Ana Callender on the field with the New England Patriots.

Maya Ana Callender’s remarkable football journey from the Pioneers to the Patriots

In a word, it was big – her surroundings, the opportunity, the moment.

16岁的玛雅·安娜·卡伦德（Maya Ana Callender）目不转睛地注视着吉列体育场的宏伟和光彩. 球队设施内六枚总冠军戒指的光芒无法逃过她的眼睛.

自从卡伦德第一天来“爱国者一号”上班以来，已经过去了一年多, 而这种兴奋感——一种成就与欣赏并重的感觉——并没有消退. She can’t help but be reminded every day of where she is.

Maya Ana Callender is in the National Football League, working for one of its most storied and successful franchises.

“Every morning when I walk in the building, it’s so cool just to see the stadium – big, 明亮的,她说。. “That’s still very cool to me, and I don’t see that ever changing.”

这位利记sbo的毕业生在2023年5月被新英格兰爱国者队聘为球队球探部门的全职成员，创造了历史.

进入大学后，卡伦德知道她想以某种方式在职业足球领域工作. “I thought I wanted to be the next Pam Oliver,她说。 of the award-winning Fox Sports NFL commentator and sideline reporter. At Utica, she wasted no time setting out to find her path to a career in football. She hadn’t even yet settled into her residence hall when she opened her laptop, 访问了学生就业网站, 搜索“足球”.令她兴奋的是，她发现了一个足球项目学生办公室助理的职位. 她立即递交了申请，随后又给足球总教练布莱斯·法吉亚诺（Blaise Faggiano）发了一封电子邮件. Impressed with the first-year student’s determination and professionalism, Faggiano hired the eager study following an in-person meeting.

卡伦德抓住了这个机会. 她的责任很快就增加了. 第一季播到一半的时候, 她被任命为球队经理，并在比赛日的场边协助主教练布莱斯·法吉亚诺和他的工作人员.

“Coach Faggiano let me do a little bit of everything. 我在招聘活动上帮忙. 我和团队一起旅行. 我操作设备. 我开始练习. 我打断了练习，”她说. “他给了我很多责任, which allowed me to learn a lot more about the game, 所以当我大四的时候, 我可以精确地说, “我真的很喜欢操作. 我真的很喜欢招聘. 我想做更多这样的事.’”

毕业后, 卡伦德接受了杰克逊贝尔海文大学足球运营研究生助理的职位, MS. When the school’s full-time director of football operations went on maternity leave, Callender was unexpectedly elevated to interim director for the 2016 season. 在贝尔黑文待了一季之后, 她被普林斯顿大学聘用了, a Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) program, 她在哪里度过了六年, 首先是作为运营实习生, then assistant director of football operations, 并最终成为常春藤联盟的第一位女性足球运营主管.

我能有今天，是因为爱国者队看到了我的奉献、我的努力和我对比赛的了解.

在普林斯顿大学，她有机会与美国国家橄榄球联盟的球探互动，他们会来校园评估学校的职业前景. 通过这些联系, 在普林斯顿大学休赛期，她在费城老鹰队的球探部门找到了一份实习工作. 在那里, 她曾在老鹰队前足球运营副总裁凯瑟琳·拉切手下工作, one of the highest-ranking female front office executives in the NFL. 卡伦德看到了ra切, 从加拿大橄榄球联盟的无薪实习生到现在克利夫兰布朗队的总经理助理, 既是榜样又是开拓者.

“我被迷住了，”卡伦德说. “I knew I wanted to be a scout in the NFL.”

Her career ambitions were, to say the least, lofty. 在美国国家橄榄球联盟中，只有不到500个全职球探职位, 只有一点点, 尽管越来越多的, 其中一部分是女性.

Callender did not need a hammer to break through the glass ceiling of football. 她认为利记sbo给了她机会，让她开阔了眼界，让她有可能认真追求自己的职业激情. 特别是, 是法贾诺, whose mentorship extended far beyond knowledge of football operations and Xs and Os, 是谁给了她进入男性主导的职业足球行业的工具.

“He allowed me to gain not only a deeper knowledge about the game, 但要获得自信，获得发言权. 他欢迎我进去, and he didn’t just make me feel comfortable, he made me feel like it was my place – like I belong here,她说。. “在他的手下工作了四年之后，我可以走进任何地方，任何情况下，都知道，‘我能做到.’”

在2022年秋天, 卡伦德参加了坦帕海盗队主办的虚拟女性足球职业峰会. 会议期间的演讲者之一是海盗队助理总经理John Spytek. 后来, 她给Spytek发了一封电子邮件，向他介绍了自己，并告诉他她申请了竞争非常激烈的Nunn-Wooten童军奖学金. 该奖学金由NFL于2015年成立，旨在让合格的候选人从事职业球探工作，并增加球探队伍中的多元化人才. 卡伦德被海盗队选中.

Following the fellowship experience in Tampa, 卡伦德参加了在印第安纳波利斯举行的2023年NFL联合大会，成为堪萨斯酋长队的志愿者, 应几位球探的邀请，她在老鹰队和海盗队实习期间遇到了他们. 在印第安纳波利斯的时候, she met with members of the Patriots personnel department, 并参加了他们员工全职球探助理职位的第一次面试.

Callender was standing on practice field at Princeton in April 2023, getting ready for the Tigers’ annual spring game, 当时她接到了爱国者大学球探总监Camren Williams的电话，给她提供了这个职位. “当我接到（电话）,她回忆道。, “就像, ‘You’ve been dreaming of something for so long, 这正在发生.”

It was a far cry from her football beginnings at the Bronx, 少年卡伦德在那里为她弟弟马尔科姆的国旗橄榄球队运营. At the time, that meant filming practices and setting up the post-practice snacks. 今天, 卡伦德正在为一支六次获得超级碗冠军的球队识别和评估潜在球员.

“在那里 are four (scouting assistants) altogether. We like to joke that we keep the program afloat,她说。. “We’re in-house scouts, which means we assist both the college and pro scouts. 我们是真正的后端, 做前景研究, 观看比赛录像, 并绘制出优势和劣势. 基本上, 确保我们做了一切必要的事情，确保我们对NFL和大学里的所有球员都进行了评估. It’s important we know the type of person we are bringing into our building, 以及他们将如何帮助我们的团队.”

卡伦德还密切关注着在美国国家橄榄球联盟和其他职业体育联盟中打破障碍、提升排名的女性先锋. Raiche, 根据许多报道, projects as a strong bet to soon become the NFL’s first female general manager.

“It’s definitely nice to see that people are more open-minded, 知道你不需要参加过这项运动，也不需要有一定的背景来担任这个职位,卡伦德说。. “我能有今天，是因为爱国者队看到了我的奉献精神、我的努力和我对比赛的了解. 我认为，随着越来越多的人和团队开始以这种方式看待女性和其他潜在员工，就会有更多的机会, and it looks like that’s the direction it’s going, 所以很高兴看到.”

卡伦德小心翼翼地不把眼光放得太远，而是期待未来有更多的机会.

“I’ve always been someone who if I have a goal, I’m going to keep working hard and doing whatever I need to do to reach that goal,她说。. “Even though I’m with the Patriots, I still have a long way to go.

“(Ultimately) I want to be in a role where I work directly with the head coach, 关注团队的日常需求, 看电影, 物色大学橄榄球, 知道如何改善我们的阵容. Ideally, a vice president for player personnel. I definitely want to be in that type of role.”

也许有一天会成为总经理?

“是啊, maybe a general manager or president of football operations,她谈到自己的最终目标时说, 听起来像是当那一刻到来的时候, 它不会太大.