A career pivots back to the court

At 28 years old, Colonie High graduate Sydnie Rosales was already a success story.

She climbed to senior associate and chief of staff with Goldman Sachs. Rosales joined the investment bank and financial services company after graduating from Marist, where she had an injury-plagued basketball career.

As she worked out of the Goldman Sachs Ayco office in Cohoes, Rosales kept thinking about the sport she gave up six years earlier.

“I spent my days at Goldman talking about basketball, watching basketball,” she said. “I think I just got to a spot where I no longer was as involved in caring about that financial work and just really felt like I needed to be around the sport full-time.”

After contacting Siena women’s basketball coach Jim Jabir in early October, Rosales is back in the game as an assistant coach for the Saints.

“It was really kind of fateful because she just dropped me an email,” Jabir said. “She didn’t even know we had a position open. And I did my homework, called people and found out who she was. When I talked to her, I knew right away that she’d be great. She’s been better than that.”

Rosales filled the vacancy left by assistant Naimah Abdullah, who left the program in early September. Siena is also without assistant Heather Stec, who’s on maternity leave.

“I feel extremely at home,” Rosales said. “I’m definitely still learning a lot, and there’s a lot to learn, but the team’s motto is ‘family’ and it’s very true to that. I felt welcome since the second I stepped on campus. The girls are amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a better boss in Jim and to learn from him and Terry (Primm, the other assistant), as well.”

At Colonie High, Rosales helped lead the Garnet Raiders to a Class AA sectional title as a junior. As a senior in 2013, she averaged 16.2 points per game and was named a Times Union first-team large-school all-star.

She signed to play for head coach Brian Giorgis’ dynasty at Marist. Then her body betrayed her.

Rosales had back surgeries her senior year of high school and her freshman year of college. She tore her Achilles tendon. She had foot surgery and injured the meniscus and ACL in her knee. She underwent shoulder surgery and had another Achilles operation after college.

“Just any kind of ligament you could tear snapped in my body,” Rosales said.

She played 21 games in four years at Marist and missed her freshman and junior seasons. When it was over, she decided to leave basketball.

“Just mentally going through that and being a college student as well, it was just a lot going on,” Rosales said. “When I got out of school, it was almost like, what’s next and what do I get into that’s not going to send me over the edge.”

She said she never lost her love of the sport. Rosales, whose birthday is March 1, said that’s her favorite month because of March Madness and the NCAA Tournament. About 1 1 /2 years ago, she began pursuing an avenue back into college basketball. It wasn’t easy.

“It’s not, especially being away for six years and coming from an investment bank, it’s like, ‘Who is this person? ‘ ” Rosales said. “But I was just every once in a while sending out emails and reaching out to people, letting them know my history and what my aspirations were. I ended up emailing Jim on a Friday morning and got a call an hour later.”

Rosales, a Loudonville native who lives five minutes away from the Siena campus, visited two days later and met with Jabir and the players. Her first day on the job was Oct. 16, less than a month before the opener.

The change in careers came with a pay cut. Rosales said there were family members and Goldman Sachs co-workers who told her she was crazy.

“I didn’t care what that drop-off was,” she said. “Anyone that knows me was super excited and happy for me because they know this is what I should be in and ultimately wanted to get into.”

Playing catch-up after six years, Rosales is constantly watching game film on her laptop. She’s starting to make recruiting contacts. She said she uses what she learned from Giorgis at Marist while she was injured.

“She’s a natural,” Jabir said. “She wanted to do this, so it’s like a fish to water. She’s great.”