AARON (AJ) TRELEASE
My Professional Portfolio
Please take a moment to explore my site, where you’ll find details on my background, experience, skills and more. To learn more or connect on an opportunity, don’t hesitate to reach out.
My Story
ABOUT ME
I'm a Sales Manager for Steel Sports where I help sports organizations make the most out of our cutting-edge platform to intentionally instill positive traits, behaviors, and relationships between athletes, parents, and coaches. This is the Lasorda Way, where I have been spearheading our GTM strategy for market entry in 2025 Q2.
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I graduated from Columbia University with my Master of Science in May 2023.
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EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Sales Manager
Steel Sports
April 2025 - Present
SOLUTIONS CONSULTANT
Stack Sports
January 2024 - April 2025
MEMBERSHIP SERVICES COORDINATOR
National Football League Players Association
January 2023 - January 2024
PLAYER SERVICES INTERN
National Football League Players Association
Sept 2022 - January 2023
SPS ADMISSIONS COORDINATOR
Columbia University Admissions
May 2022 - Sept 2022
CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS REPRESENTATIVE
American Red Cross
Mar 2022 - Jun 2022
STUDENT-ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR
Sacred Heart University Athletics
Aug 2021 - Jun 2022
ADMISSIONS COORDINATOR
University of Connecticut Admissions
Sept 2020 - Present
STRATEGY LEAD
Golf Lounge 18
Aug 2020 - Mar 2022
GAME OPERATIONS ASSISTANT
UConn Athletics
Aug 2018 - May 2020
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CAMPUS TOUR GUIDE & RECRUITMENTÂ SPECIALIST
University of Connecticut
Nov 2017 - May 2020
RECRUITMENT & EQUIPMENT MANAGER
UConn Football
Aug 2019 - Dec 2019
COORDINATOR & SITE DIRECTOR - INTERN
Connecticut Sports Management Group & Nutmeg State Games
May 2019 - Aug 2019
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS OPERATIONS & MARKETING INTERN
Bookapitch - Ireland
Jun 2018 - Aug 2018
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE
Apr 2022
HUMANITARIAN AID VOLUNTEER
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN
I volunteered for eight days aiding Ukrainian refugees through providing food service and transportation logistical efforts for those seeking refuge in Poland during the Russian invasion. All efforts were run through World Central Kitchen and American Red Cross international humanitarian relief initiatives. A full podcast (hosted by Prof. Joe Favorito at Columbia University) can be found by clicking the link in the following section below.
Feb 2018 - May 2020
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
THE FREE THROW BLOG & PODCAST CLUB
While transitioning from sophomore year to junior year at UConn, I established a recognized on-campus sports podcast and blog club, comprised of over 40 members and four executive board members. I created and professionally managed our social media platforms over Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to best enhance our online presence and recognition by students interested in joining. Some of my other main duties as president were training our other executive board members for their respective roles, serving as the face of the organization for members and guest speakers, and upholding our standards as an overall organization, to name a few.
Jan 2020 - Apr 2020
AMBASSADOR
UCONN HUSKY SPORT
Husky Sport is an organization at UConn that provides students the opportunity to visit inner-city elementary and middle schools in Hartford, CT where UConn students can volunteer by playing sports and/or doing group projects with the kids in these schools. I found myself heavily involved in this program, because I am very cognizant about the fact that not a lot of people, especially those at the collegiate level, fully understand that everyone comes from a different background and we generally don't take the time to hear or empathize with them. I felt this program was a gateway into individuals having the chance to become less myopic on world issues and see the bigger picture on things like poverty, racial and gender discrimination, and other underlying issues surrounding socio-economic statuses.
Feb 2019 - Jun 2019
DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION
SPORTS BUSINESS ASSOCIATION
I served as Director of Administration for UConn's Sports Business Association where I informed all of our over 100 members of open sports internship positions all over the country on a weekly basis. I was introduced and later became comfortable with MailChimp software, which allowed me to design and send blast emails to all of our members. I facilitated communication between members and the rest of the executive board, as well as between club members and representatives from organizations a part of our annual Sports Business Conference, including but not limited to the Philadelphia 76ers, Madison Square Garden, and the Boston Celtics.
Summers 2016 & 2017
SITE DIRECTOR & COORDINATOR
OXFORD YOUTH FOOTBALL CAMP
Initially starting as a Capstone project for my senior year of high school where I only needed to complete a certain amount of volunteer hours for graduation, I took it upon myself to embark on my interest in entrepreneurship and start my own youth football camp sponsored by the town I grew up in and our high school (Oxford & Oxford High School, respectively). A lot like my later position of being a site director only on a smaller level, starting this camp was more work than I had anticipated from the beginning, but I saw success in the form of interest my camp was receiving from kids and parents in both Oxford and neighboring towns. I planned out each day with the practice itinerary, created waiver forms, and marketed my camp to several elementary schools by physically visiting them all during their lunch waves. After two years, I really saw my interest in start-up companies and not-for-profit organizations skyrocket to the point where I knew it was what I wanted to embark on during my college studies.
UKRAINE HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS PODCASE EPISODE
Included here is a podcast hosted by Columbia University Joe Favorito on The CUSP Show. In this thirty minute segment, I get the opportunity to go over my start at the University of Connecticut and talk all the way through my experience volunteering in Poland/Ukraine.
EDUCATION
Columbia University - Sports Management Masters
Cumulative GPA: 3.82 / 4.00
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University of Connecticut - Dual Degree Major
Cumulative GPA: 3.41 / 4.00 Combined Majors GPA: 3.53 / 4.00
Take a look below to find an outline of my educational background and a link to my current up to date transcript, which lists essential sport and business classes I've taken along the way.
August 2021 - May 2023
MASTERS IN SPORTS MANAGEMENT - COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Master of Science in Sports Management. This is the #1 Ranked Sports Management program at the graduate level, with coursework identical to that of an MBA curriculum, and taught by Columbia's distinguished business professors and current sports executives.
2023 Civic Engagement Award Recipient (picture below)
August 2016 - May 2020
BS - UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
Bachelor of Science in Business Management with a concentration in Entrepreneurship. As one of the top public business schools in the country and #1 in New England, UConn's School of Business has provided me many opportunities to work with and create my own small business ventures.
August 2016 - May 2020
BS - UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT
Bachelor of Science in Sport Management. This program has provided me many opportunities to intern with sports organizations within and outside the United States, and it's because of the Sport Management program why I find my career interest in sport business.
COLUMBIA PROJECTS SLIDESHOW
Press the arrow keys to see all projects
REFERENCES
Here you'll find information regarding some of my letters of recommendation and professional leaders that have helped me along the way to starting my professional career. Feel free to contact me about letters of recommendation/references from any.
JAMIE GRANT
Jamie is the Player Services Senior Manager in the Player Services Department and was a great help in helping me navigate my responsibilities and areas of growth within my internship with the NFLPA. I directly assisted on projects for her and would report directly to her on numerous occasions.
HANNAH WALLACE
Hannah was my direct supervisor during my internship at the NFLPA in the Player Services Department. I directly reported to her as she was my main contact regarding anything related to my responsibilities throughout the entirety of my time as an intern.
LORENZO KAUFMAN
Lorenzo is my current supervisor at the NFLPA in the Former Player Services Department. I work with him on ensuring high-end client success is brought to over 20,000 former NFL athletes, manage compliance of our extensive chapter system, oversee partnership acquisition efforts, among many other responsibilities.
LEA CHIU-ADISA
Lea was my direct supervisor for the entirety of my internship with American Red Cross in the Corporate Relationships Department. She granted me full autonomy to oversee corporate sports accounts for the summer of 2022.
MIKE FALCONIERI
My direct supervisor at Columbia University Admissions, Mike guided me through several of our Colleges' Masters application processes. Extensive information retainment is required to help incoming students navigate their respective ways through several programs and deadlines.
AIDA SILVA
Aida was my direct supervisor for two years while working for the University of Connecticut's Admissions Department. Together, her and I helped contribute to evaluating and ranking over 40,000 applications in the 2021 application term alone, with that number growing in 2022 to over 41,000.
KELSEY ARMSTRONG
Kelsey was my direct supervisor at Sacred Heart University. There, she helped set an agenda on what areas to focus on with the football team and how to best implement practices that keep student-athletes eligible to play based on their academic records.
PAUL WILSON
Paul was my direct supervisor for the better part of a year and a half at Golf Lounge 18. With him, we were able to garner over 500 partners for this start-up company and were able to acquire enough capital to expand locations into the NY and MA areas.
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DR. JOSEPH COOPER
Dr. Cooper was my academic advisor in my sport management program for three years. He also served as my Sport in Society research professor. He is now the Endowed Chair of Sport Leadership and Administration in the Department of Leadership in Education at UMass Boston.
CARLTON JONES
Mr. Jones was my academic advisor in my business management program for four years. He helped me choose my major, work through study abroad and on-campus credit and class logistics, and always served as my academic mentor for my four years at UConn. He is now an academic advisor in UConn's Neag School of Education.
ZACH HECKT
Zach brought me on to UConn Athletics as a Game Operations Assistant and worked with me for nearly all the Division One sports I was assigned to. He's a major reason why I continue to have interest in the field of sports business and operations. He continues to serve as Assistant Director of Events and Facilities for UConn Athletics.
HUGH GIL
Hugh, born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, was my direct supervisor for the entirety of my stay in the country working for Bookapitch. He introduced me to product sales, demonstrations via webcam, and market research. He continues to serve as Head of Business Development for Bookapitch.
LET’S CONNECT
Please feel free to reach out by filling out the form or by any of the contact information given throughout my online portfolio. Thank you for checking out my site!