NEWPORT, R.I.-- Former Salve Regina University student-athletes Stephen Cirella and Jennifer Chieco '15 returned to campus to speak to current basketball and ice hockey teams as part of the 2025-26 Seahawk Academy winter edition.

Seahawk Academy, organized by assistant athletic director Derek Grinkin, is a program offered to fall, winter and spring student-athletes designed to provide learning, leadership development, professional performance preparation, and networking opportunities. Both Cirella and Chieco reflected on their passion for athletics as a platform for learning, and on their desire to share their life lessons with future generations of Salve athletes.

Stephen Cirella began his athletic career in 2017 at Salve Regina on the baseball team. This team is important to him, as his father, Steve Cirella, was a longtime head baseball coach before his brother, Eric Cirella '05, was named the fifth head baseball coach in program history in 2013. The youngest Cirella made the decision to transfer to the University of Rhode Island ("I broke the mold.") after the highly-successful 2017 spring season. At the Kingston campus with six ("Thank you, COVID") seasons performing on the track and field team, he received his Bachelor of Science in psychology and kinesiology as well as two masters degrees in psychology and kinesiology. He is a current second-year Interdisciplinary Health Sciences PhD student in the Department of Kinesiology at URI and is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC). 

"Salve feels like family," Cirella recalled about coming back to campus to speak. "I don't remember a time before Salve. It screams comfort, home and opportunity." 

Cirella was initially interested in forensic psychology until he saw a sports psychology magazine and immediately became interested. He knew he wanted to be involved in mental health. 

"I wish there were more opportunities for athletes to work with sports psychologists," said Cirella. "It can really make an impact—listen to your body because it tells you about yourself. If your body is trying to tell you something don't be afraid to ask for help. Don't wait to ask for help." It is important to him to encourage student athletes to pursue these resources. As a CMPC Cirella works with individual athletes as teams as a whole. 

"This is my life's goal and my purpose. Anyone can reach out and ask. Each individual is the expert in their own life. I want to be a part of a support system along their journey." 

Jennifer Chieco, a Salve Regina cross -country student-athlete and now a life and mindset coach, spoke with the group about her own personal journey through injury, teaching, and coaching. In March of 2011, when she was a senior in high school, Chieco injured her knee, which triggered a full-body imbalance and took over a decade of chronic pain and work with specialists to fully manage. When she realized that she wasn't going to be able to compete in the way she intended to, she thought about how she could contribute despite not being on the starting line. Chieco stayed involved with her cross-country teammates through writing note cards to all of them to motivate them for race day. 

She only raced once during her college career -- her senior year in October of 2014 -- but despite this she remained a core member of the Salve Regina cross country team, so much so that her teammates returned the favor with a giant note card of her own.  [See related story here]

"I was seeing a therapist, and I started to get more interested in the personal growth space," recalled Chieco. "I was doing a lot of personal growth work while I was teaching because I was going through a challenging time. I became interested in our mindset, how we overcome challenges and how we take care of our body. I was also working with a life coach, and I found so much value in how I grew. While I was teaching, I realized that the biggest challenge the kids were having was the hurdle to start a task." 

Chieco was an education major who found life coaching after noticing a need for it while working with kids. "In order to be the best teacher I could be, I needed to be authentic, and I needed to be a role model," stated Chieco. "In order to be a role model, I had to be my full self. I couldn't be my full self if I wasn't going after the thing that I realized through my experience that kids actually need." 

Since leaving the teaching space and focusing solely on life coaching Chieco has begun working with adolescents and young adults, helping them to take action and release the pressures and plans that so many people establish for themselves.

"I really wanted to control everything in my young adult life," remembered Chieco. "I've spent a long time holding everything like a vice because I thought that gripping was going to get me where I wanted to go. What I realized was that we all solve problems as we go and it's just part of life. Don't try to be perfect. It's not about the big moments; it's actually about all the little moments that add up." 

Through their own personal experiences as student-athletes Cirella and Chieco aim to help others realize their own potential. Armed with this knowledge and support, the Salve Regina winter sports teams embark on the second half of their seasons and return for the spring 2026 semester. By providing this valuable insight and perspective-sharing, Seahawk Academy hopes to empower student athletes to perform at their best in their sports, and beyond.