Carle Place Two-Sport Athlete Signs On As Tunnel To Towers Ambassador

CARLE PLACE, NY — The Tunnel to Towers Foundation announced its new slate of Name, Image and Likeness ambassadors for the 2026-27 academic year, featuring four athletes including Carle Place native Juliana Mosca.

Mosca is a two-sport athlete at Manhattan University, playing goalie on the soccer and lacrosse teams. When she’s not in-net, she’ll be serving as a student ambassador for an organization that supports military and first-response veterans and their families with programs like mortgage assistance, education campaigns and college scholarships.

A childhood education major, Mosca said her goal is to teach the history of first responders on and in the days and weeks after September 11.

“Teaching our future generations about very important history in the past, and never forgetting, is something that's really important, that we need to continue in society,” Mosca said. “And once my ambassadorship technically ‘comes to an end,’ that doesn't mean that it ever comes to an end. In my classroom, this is something that needs to be taught. It was such an important part of our history, and never forgetting all these people that risked their lives and continue to risk their lives every day is something that should be taught.”

For Mosca, an ambassadorship with Tunnel to Towers came naturally: The Manhattan University athlete grew up with a family full of first responders, and the group’s advocacy on behalf of military and first-response veterans was something she knew about from a young age.

“I have a lot of family who work for New York City’s first responders,” Mosca said. “My dad is a lieutenant in Engine 63 in Astoria…My cousin is a police officer in precinct 114 in Astoria, so they're both together, and my grandfather is a retired lieutenant in FDNY who was also the vice president of the UFOA, so, a very important part of my family is first responders.”

While there are plenty of firefighters and police officers in the family, the relative Mosca said she always wanted to be like was her mom, a 27-year teacher at PS64 in Ozone Park who now works for the United Federation of Teachers. Seeing her mom navigate the classrooms as an art, kindergarten and fifth-grade teacher, Mosca said, made her want to do the same one day.

“I'm very much like my mom, we are pretty much ‘copy paste,’ and seeing her in that classroom is something I always wanted to do. And I think it's gonna be something I really enjoy going forward,” Mosca said. “It’s always like, ‘Where do you want to be when you grow up?’ And I always thought of different things like, ‘oh, I want to be a vet. I want to be a lawyer, I want to do that,’ but, in my heart, I always wanted to be a teacher because I want to be just like my mom.”

As for her sports career, Mosca said there are some key similarities between leading a classroom and minding a net, regardless of which sport.

“Both on a field and in a classroom, things can be unpredictable. When you have 30 kids in a room and 22 people on the field, it's very unpredictable,” Mosca said. “So you need to be ready for whatever's gonna come at you, and I think that translates over.”

Some of that preparedness, she said, was taught to her from a young age. While Mosca was originally recruited to play soccer at Manhattan, she walked on with the lacrosse team after a conversation with some friends. It took some conversations between coaches to make it work, but Mosca said playing multiple varsity sports at the college level has become “one of the best decisions [she has] made.”

“My mom has always taught me to take on new challenges, which is why I wanted to play lacrosse,” Mosca said. “You have to move to be in that uncomfortable position because that's where you take on the next steps. So she has taught me to take on new challenges and be uncomfortable, because that means that you're doing something right.”

The balancing act between sports has been a fast lesson in time management, to an even greater degree than the usual time management required of student-athletes, Mosca said.

As she begins her time as a Tunnel to Towers ambassador, the sophomore said her goal is mission-first.

“I hope to spread the mission of Tunnel to Towers, where we honor our first responders and American heroes in the military every day, and we continue to do that,” Mosca said. “So I'll be spreading that around Manhattan University around my classroom as things go forward…Really just bringing the mission. It's something that is great to instill in people everywhere. It's not just something that I should be telling across campus or to young kids, it's really just an important part of history that should always be taught, and using my NIL abilities to go towards a positive cause is something that was important to me.”

The contract as an ambassador will run for the full academic year, Mosca said. As for how her family responded when she put pen to paper, Mosca said it was a proud day in their house.

“Everyone was really proud. Tunnel to Towers is something that's really important in my house, because you never know if you're going to need some of what Tunnel to Towers offers,” Mosca said. “You never know if the unthinkable is going to happen. They're making homes mortgage-free for wounded warriors, and fallen first responders, because it's just a really tough time that people never think is gonna happen. All the support that is needed, they offer. So it's very important in my house.”