Drew University Field Hockey Player Named All American

Landmark Conference Player of the Year Brooke Gagliano is ranked 5th in Drew history for goal scoring and, as captain, she led her team to a national ranking this year before being named to the 2013 Longstreth/ NFHCA Division III All-America Second Team.

So it’s surprising when the 21-year-old business study major admits she used to be pretty awful at field hockey.

“I started playing in middle school and I just kept missing the ball, but my coach kept me on the team because I was a good runner,” she said. “It motivated me to learn the game.”

Gagliano, a senior and native of Freehold, N.J., has come a long way from the days she looked up field hockey drills online to practice in her backyard.

An All-American is a national recognition of an outstanding amateur athlete.  Gagliano is the 10th women’s field hockey player in Drew’s history to receive the honor, the last time a Drew player achieved the distinction was in 2004.

It was her drive and tenacity that led her to be team captain in junior high and high school, earning Freehold Township High School a state championship, which led Gagliano to be named her high school’s athlete of the year.

She admitted Drew wasn’t on her radar until she toured the campus with her parents, “Everyone was so welcoming. It was an awesome environment. I just loved it.”

Besides playing field hockey and lacrosse, Gagliano has had other interests at Drew. She lives in the dorms and is the event coordinator for the Student Advisory Athletic Committee, which has raised money to fight breast cancer, support a family whose child died of a rare illness and buy Christmas gifts for disadvantaged children. “We always look to help other people,” she said of SAAC. “It’s just a really cool experience.”

Gagliano, who minors in biology and art, is currently an intern at a CrossFit gym, where she studies the physiology of exercise and how to run a small business, which is her ultimate dream.

After graduation, Gagliano plans to work toward owning her own gym. Gagliano credits Felicia Cappabianca, Drew Field Hockey Head Coach, for mentoring her, and says she couldn’t have become an All-American if it weren’t for the support of her family back in Freehold.

She said she’ll never forget the day her coach called to tell her she’d been named to the All-American team, “When I found out I was so excited, I was just shocked.”