Blog Note: Kelly Romano and Kyle Koncz are the Directors of Basketball Operations for the Fairfield basketball programs. They will partner to bring you DOBO Diaries throughout the year – sharing with you some insights into the behind the scenes work that goes into making a Division I basketball program run. Their first post will serve as a little introduction to who they are and how they got here.
My name is Kelly Romano and I am the Director of Operations for the Women’s basketball team. I graduated from Fairfield in 2011 and shortly after was hired to work for the Women’s Basketball team. My first year as a student at Fairfield was also Coach Frager and his staff’s first year.
I was fortunate enough to be a walk-on for this program and I believe what I learned from my coaches helped me a lot in school and my life. I think it’s safe to say I am no stranger to perseverance. I have played basketball through injuries since the spring of my junior year in high school. I struggled with pain in my hips for a year and visited dozens of doctors before my final diagnosis was made. The spring and summer of my senior year were spent rehabbing from bilateral hip surgery in hopes of trying out for the Fairfield Women’s basketball team.
All of my work and sacrifice paid off when that chilly September afternoon I was called into Coach Frager’s office and told the news that I was a member of the team! After all was said and done, a head injury, another round of hip surgeries, and other bumps and bruises, I had a great experience at Fairfield and I consider myself very lucky to be in the position I am in.
I grew up just down the road in Westport, Conn, and currently reside in Fairfield just minutes away from campus. My sister is a junior here at Fairfield and I take full advantage of this by bugging her every chance I get! I’m not die-hard sports fan like Kyle but I own a Met’s hat and I am a Giants fan (fun fact: my brother played football at Bridgton Academy with Victor Cruz!). I mostly am a Fairfield Stags fan, I grew up coming to these games and I continue to attend as many Stags games as I can.
In my free time I usually get dragged to do “fun activities” with my roommates, Athletics Communications graduate assistant (GA) Sarah Minice and Softball GA Laura Valentino. These activities include baseball games, karaoke Thursdays, and the occasional paintballing excursions. However, the real fun starts October 3rd, which is when we have our first practice! I look forward to blogging about our season and giving everyone a little taste of what a “DOBO” does.
And now, here is my co-author Kyle!
Hello there! My name is Kyle Koncz, the Director of Basketball Operations for the Fairfield Men’s Basketball Team. I’ll stop right there, because you are probably asking yourself what exactly does a Director of Basketball Operations do? Well that’s what I am here to answer. Throughout the year I will be writing a series of posts to give you an inside look into what I do on a day to day basis to help everything run smoothly for our Stags Men’s Basketball Program.
To start you off I’ll let you know that my position in the college basketball world is called the DOBO, because who really wants to repeat the actual name over and over again, and as the DOBO I am in charge of a lot. By the end of the season I can guarantee you will have a little better idea of the behind the scenes action of our program.
I’ll get into the meat of my job in later posts, but it probably would be good to give you a little background of myself first. I was born and raised in good ole Cleveland, Ohio. The Mistake by the Lake some call it, but I like to refer to it as the Gem of the Midwest. I am a huge Cleveland sports fan, and can’t wait to celebrate our city’s first professional championship. My dream would be a Super Bowl title for the Browns! I know I coach basketball, but Cleveland always has and will be a Browns town. I played basketball at Princeton, and played for Coach Johnson my senior year. Last year I had the opportunity to coach at Williams College, and I came to Fairfield in the beginning of May, very excited to do all I can to help continue the success of the program!
I look forward to keeping you updated throughout the season and giving you a great feel for what we do. If nothing else it will allow you tag along on my ongoing quest to beat Assistant Coach Martin Bahar in tennis.
Until next time, GO STAGS!