Inside the CFL: Bianca Maciocia following in her dad's footsteps with Alouettes

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They live under the same roof, but there will be no ride-share program on this day to the Alouettes’ practice at Stade Hébert.

Indeed, Als general manager Danny Maciocia and his daughter Bianca, a football operations assistant intern with the team, only travel together when the team has a home game at Molson Stadium.

“When she’s at work she’s an employee, she’s not my daughter,” he explained.

An unpaid employee at that, given her intern status. But at least Maciocia and his wife, Sandra Vaz, allow the eldest of their three daughters to continue living rent-free at home.

Bianca has been working under the shadow of her father since February, when she first approached him with the idea. She spent three weeks at the Alouettes’ 2023 training camp and spent six summers at the Université de Montréal when her father was the Carabins’ head coach.

Fluent in four languages (English, French, Italian and Portuguese), Bianca hardly required this abrupt change in career paths. She graduated from Concordia University in 2023 with a degree in human relations and organizational development. She had been accepted into the University of Ottawa to pursue a bachelor’s degree in sports management, and was in the early stages of working for Air Canada in its flight operation department out of the airline’s St-Laurent headquarters.

“I think I’ve always looked up to my dad,” she said. “I’ve always been in awe of what he does, the industry and the type of job. I want to try to work in the industry and do something in the same field. I see it as an industry where there’s a lot of opportunity, and there isn’t enough representation among women.”

It’s difficult to determine when the seeds were first planted, although there’s a famous 2005 photo of Maciocia holding his daughter on his shoulder, their arms raised and fists clenched, after Edmonton’s head coach at the time led the team to a Grey Cup victory against Montreal.

Maciocia has spent three decades in football and got his start in the CFL with the Alouettes in 1996 as a volunteer offensive quality-control coach, where he would break down game film and write reports. So, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. And while it’s possible Bianca wouldn’t be with Montreal except for the direct connection, such hirings aren’t unusual in professional football.

When Wally Buono was B.C.’s head coach and GM, he hired his daughter, Christie, to work in the front office. Tom Gamble, a senior personnel executive with the Jacksonville Jaguars last season, once hired his son to work for him. Calgary head coach Dave Dickenson has his brother, Craig, on his staff as special teams co-ordinator.

“At the end of the day, if you can’t take care of your own children, who will?” Maciocia asked rhetorically while admitting he spoke with Buono and Gamble before moving forward. “If I’m not going to help out my own flesh and blood, who will?”

The Alouettes have a history of providing women with significant front-office positions. Catherine Hickman (née Raiche) is the Cleveland Browns’ assistant GM. But the former lawyer got her start in Montreal as the team’s co-ordinator of football administration before becoming assistant GM under Jim Popp. And, this season, Allyson Sobol was promoted to director of football operations.

Bianca reports directly to Sobol and said: “Maybe I’m just here because I’m his daughter, but I want people to see me as my own person. See what I can bring to the table.”

She wears many hats for the Alouettes and has numerous responsibilities. Her tenure began with attending last winter’s CFL draft combine in Regina. She was tasked with gathering the players’ social insurance numbers and made sure each one has health insurance coverage under the provincial RAMQ program. No task is too big or small. And, to broaden her knowledge, she began taking an online pro scouting course last month.

“I love working with Bianca,” Sobol said. “She pays a lot of attention to detail. Anything I ask is done without fault. She has been an awesome addition. I’m starting to give her more responsibility.”

While both of Bianca’s parents supported her decision, Danny also understands he’s one of nine CFL GMs and works in a cutthroat business where almost everyone, eventually, will be fired. It’s the nature of the industry.

“We had a discussion around the kitchen table (concerning) how she’s going to be treated, viewed and looked at,” Danny said. “She has been nothing short of outstanding. She gets it. She has a feel. She can read the room, read people. I don’t think there’s going to be too many situations where she’s going to get caught off guard.

“But I also told her ‘you can do better than this.’”

Bianca admitted she walks the fine line between team employee and daughter of the GM, careful never to overstep. While their bond remains strong, there are things that are discussed at Olympic Stadium, while other matters are broached around the dinner table. She inherited her drive, passion — and stubbornness — from her father.

While it’s far too early in this journey to determine where her career path will lead, Bianca’s immediate mandate, provided she returns to the organization next season, is to get on the non-player salary cap.

“I don’t know if I tell the general manager,” she said. “I probably tell my dad. That’s one of those conversations you have at home, not the office.”