Story by Dick Patrick, GoMason.com Blogger

     Callie Brownson is a pioneering coach, the first woman to be a full-time college football assistant, working with the offense at Dartmouth College. Dianna Russini is a prominent sports journalist, all over ESPN platforms during last week's Super Bowl coverage. Jen Surlas is a businesswoman, growing her local real estate market.

 All three will be celebrating Wednesday's National Girls & Women in Sports Day. All three were born long enough after Title IX was enacted in 1972 that American culture had changed for the better for females in athletics.

  All three credit sports with positively shaping their lives. And all three George Mason graduates are grateful for their experiences at the school.

  Russini (2004) also could be speaking for Surlas (2001) or Brownson (2015) in recounting the importance of playing sports in her life:

  "It is without a doubt the foundation of who I am," Russini said. "It's definitely the reason I've been able to overcome a lot of the challenges I've faced, post college for sure. I think I approach every assignment I cover with the mindset of an athlete.

  "Because, one, it's innate for me at this point – I've played so many sports for so long. I've seen it work -- the competitiveness it produces. But probably dealing with failure and success is where it's been most powerful for me."

  A look at the trio:

  THE FOOTBALL PIONEER
  Brownson, 29, grew up in Mount Vernon and was raised by a single father, Bruce, who was a zealous football fan of his alma mater, the Miami Hurricanes, and the Washington Redskins. They watched a lot of games together on TV.

  "He was so passionate about football, it kind of bled into me," Brownson says. "I was extremely intrigued by the game. It was so different. It was so action packed and fueled with adrenaline.

  "Through elementary school, middle school and high school, I really, really enjoyed the game and was constantly learning about it. Loved Friday nights in high school and think I was the only one of my friends who didn't see the game as a social setting. I actually wanted to watch the game."

  She also really wanted to play football. She played two seasons of youth football successfully in her early grade school years, but felt unwelcomed to play at Mount Vernon HS, where she turned to softball and track. Then she heard about the DC Divas of the Women's Football Alliance and began playing for them as a defensive back and running back during her freshman year at Mason.

  The Divas won two titles in a league that plays honest-to-goodness football -- not to be confused with the lingerie football brand -- helped by Brownson as a defensive back, receiver and running back. In nine seasons, Brownson was a captain five times and an all-league selection four times.

  She also twice made  the U.S. national women's team, under the auspices of USA Football, that won titles at world championships in Finland in 2013 and Canada in 2017 organized by the International Federation of American Football.

   While helping coach the softball team at Mount Vernon, she was stunned when the new football coach at the school, Barry Wells, approached her about working with receivers and defensive backs in 2015. The school that discouraged her participation in football now was courting her as a coach.

   "I don't think coaching football ever struck my mind until it was offered to me," she says. "Society had kind of blanked that thought out of my head, that it was possible."

  The Mount Vernon gig led to an internship scouting for the New York Jets in 2017 and seminars by the NFL promoting opportunities for women. Last summer Dartmouth coach Buddy Teevens, known for an innovative and progressive approach to the sport, met Brownson at the Manning Passing Camp. That led to an invite to Dartmouth's preseason camp after which Teevens hired her as the offensive quality control coach.

  In her duties, Brownson pours over film of Dartmouth offense and opposing defenses. It's a crash course on learning both sides of the ball for a team that finished second in the Ivy League to Princeton and reached the top-25 poll during the season.

  "I'm surrounded by a really, really, really knowledgeable staff," says Brownson, whose colleagues include receivers coach Dave Shula, an ex-NFL head and assistant coach as well as the son of NFL Hall of Fame coach Don Shula. "What I've learned in the last six months here is absolutely incredible."
 
 THE ANCHOR AND REPORTER
  Russini, 36, figures she was destined to become a sports journalist. Thanks to the influence of her older brother, she began playing a variety of sports as a youngster. She played soccer, basketball, softball and track at Northern Valley Regional at Old Tappan (N.J.) HS before accepting a soccer scholarship to Mason.

   She also had a nose for news from a young age.

"My parents tell me when I was a little kid, I'd take my coloring book and sit on the porch – we lived in the Bronx -- and wait for the firetrucks to fly by," Russini says. "I would run after them with my coloring book and draw on the coloring book what I thought was happening. They said I was always curious about things I didn't know about. I was always asking questions. 

  "I knew I wanted to do something with telling stories and being the messenger to people. I loved that role so much."

  During her Mason years, Russini pursued both her sport and media aspirations. She did internships at ABC in New York, enabling her to meet and learn from media superstar Diane Sawyer. She completed DC-area internships as well. A two-year stint as sports anchor at local NBC affiliate WRC preceded her move to ESPN in 2015.

  Balancing school, soccer and media jobs at Mason was a tough juggle at times. Russini is grateful for the help she received from soccer coach Jac Cicala and associate AD Kevin McNamee.

 "They knew what I wanted and did everything they could to get me opportunities," Russini says.  "Whether that meant coach letting me leave practice 20 minutes early so I could commute to D.C. for an internship with the Wizards or Kevin McNamee making phone calls to (the CAA) to cover men's basketball.

  "The fact that I felt I had their support and that they were invested in what my next step would be is something that I've always been so grateful for. If you can figure out what you want to do, George Mason will throw everything they have at you to get you help to get there."
 
THE AGENT AND SPONSOR
        Surlas, 39, was a shooting guard whose abilities led her to be a 1,462-point scorer at Mason and to a career overseas as a professional player.

    Now in her 14th year as an agent, currently with Engels & Volkers, Surlas considers herself more of a point guard in her business role.
 
   "Anybody who knows my basketball background will laugh when I say I feel like a point guard," Surlas says. "But as I've gotten older, I do think my perspective has changed a lot and I could be a point guard. The point guard has to see the whole floor and kind of has to see what's going to happen before it happens to make the play.

  "I think I have a better perspective now. I would see myself now as a combination of a point guard and shooting guard, meaning I still like to make baskets and close deals but I'm ok with helping out and being the assist person in business."

  After her pro career in the Netherlands and Turkey plus a stint in the domestic and now defunct National Women's Basketball League, Surlas was back in NOVA and providing commentary for men's basketball games, when she got into real estate. She is as passionate and competitive with her business ventures as she was with basketball:

  "The way I played and practiced and prepared for a game translates to the way I run my business now as far as how I prepare myself, how I prepare my clients, how I prepare my listings, how I go into settlements.

  "I feel my success in sports translates to my success in real estate because of the fact that I am hard working and disciplined and I know how to be a team player, which I think comes into play a lot."

  Surlas continues to have a high profile with Mason fans. She and Engel & Volkers sponsor a video of past Mason athletes and their current exploits that plays on the video scoreboard during games at EagleBank Arena. You can't miss the photo of Surlas, looking sharp in a suit and palming a basketball. (Russini was a recent Where Are They Now subject.)

 "I hope it's a win-win situation," Surlas says. "It's two-fold in terms of me giving back to the Mason community as a supportive alum as well as being a realtor for the staff, administration and the audience.

 "My goal is for people to translate: 'Oh, Jen Surlas, I remember her – she was a 1,000-point scorer. There she is on the scoreboard at EBA as a realtor. It looks like she's taken her success on the court to off the court.' I want people to realize I'm still that hardest working player on the court but with a different uniform on."

 Brownson, Russini and Surlas – for as varied as their careers have been – share a gratitude for what they learned in college both in sports and the classroom.

  Brownson, a Sport Management major, ticks off a list of professors who influenced her including Craig Esherick, Robert Baker, Charley Casserly, R. Pierre Rodgers and Lindsey Campbell.

  You can't mention Mason women's athletics without mentioning the prominent role played by former associate athletic director Sue Collins, who worked as a coach and administrator at the school for 34 years before retiring in 2015 and passing away last summer.

  "Sue was always asking me how things were going," Russini says. "She was so supportive. I always felt Sue really wanted to see me make it."

  Collins wanted to see women's college sports and women athletes make it. Think of the span of her career in college sports. Her first job out of grad school was in 1972 as a PhysEd instructor and women's volleyball coach at The Ohio State University, which then was not a bastion for women athletes.

  At the time, the school now synonymous with huge athletic revenues did not offer athletic scholarships to women. It wasn't until 1976 – four years post Title IX – that OSU offered its first athletic scholarship to a woman.

   The school chose Collins to present the scholarship, an acknowledgment of her efforts to promote women's athletics. Collins was an advocate for women's sports and women athletes in general turning her focus to Mason from 1981-2015.

  On their ways to making it, Brownson, Russini and Surlas have benefitted from many mentors. Now they're at a stage when girls and young women are looking to them as role models and mentors.

  The trio is only too glad to help. Brownson, who didn't realize her status as the first full-time woman assistant coach in college football until after she accepted the Dartmouth job, has been besieged with inquiries from girls and women aspiring for jobs within football.

  "It's a priority of mine giving back and helping others find opportunities like I did," says Brownson, mentioning the inspiration she has received from NFL executives Samantha Rapoport and Dawn Aponte.

"I've heard from so many people with so many great stories. It's not about being the first. It's about making sure there's a ton of other people behind you. Or else, it's all for nothing."

  Sue Collins couldn't have said it better.


NATIONAL GIRLS AND WOMEN IN SPORTS DAY
The George Mason athletic department will celebrate National Girls & Women in Sports Day on Feb. 6 in conjunction with the women's basketball game against George Washington at EagleBank Arena. 

The game will feature several activities and giveaways as the Patriots face the Colonials in the Revolutionary Rivalry at 7 p.m. on Feb. 6 at EagleBank Arena. National Girls and Women in Sports Day, powered by the Women's Sports Foundation, is in its 33rd year of celebrating and encouraging women empowerment in sports.