This is Sideline Stories. A platform where NE10 student-athletes can share their collegiate experiences in an unfiltered environment - using their voices to promote growth and positive change in our league and in all of NCAA Division II athletics.

Kyle Cantalupo, a senior punter on the Stonehill football team, is a multi-talented individual. A gifted musician, Cantalupo's singing and guitar playing have created professional opportunities for himself and brought joy to those around him. Here is his Sideline Story:

FULL LENGTH FEATURE VIDEO ABOVE.

When you can’t find Kyle Cantalupo in a classroom, on a football field, or cruising around the country roads of smalltown New Hampshire, you can find him on stage geared up with a cowboy hat and acoustic guitar.

The latest product of a musically-gifted family, Cantalupo is a talented guitar player and singer. It has not only made him a hit in front of a Nashville crowd, but also on the practice field at W.B. Mason Stadium.

“Kyle was nice enough to share his abilities in camp every year,” said Eli Gardner, the head coach of Stonehill football. “We did a little concert where he would get up during camp and provide some entertainment, which turned into a big sing-along and kind of a little party that night at the team meeting.”

Cantalupo, a four-year punter for the Skyhawks, is a man of many talents. Growing up in Candia, N.H., he was influenced at an early age by his family members to pursue music, specifically by his Aunt Jill.

“I have always been around music,” said Cantalupo. “My sisters love to sing, my mom can sing, my dad is a very talented drummer and my aunt went all the way up to Warner Brothers with a record deal, a punk rock label.”

His aunt bought him his first tape recorder and was known to give him a hard time if he sang songs the way they were originally recorded, instead encouraging him to put his own personalized touch on them. Her influence proved to be significant and her memory to be lasting.

“Everything I do is for my aunt,” said Cantalupo. “Unfortunately she passed away eight years ago, so (playing music) is my way of keeping her with me and it inspires me to keep working hard with music.”

It was Cantalupo’s grandfather who suggested he get into country music – and since that suggestion was made, he found a musical home for himself.

Cantalupo is quite familiar with the backwoods of rural New Hampshire and is no stranger to riding a four-wheeler through wide-open country. It’s that life experience that helped him translate his personality into the songs that he performs.

“I’ve been learning that people appreciate it more when you bring your own personality into it,” said Cantalupo. “I get more into a song when I relate it to some kind of story and that’s when my performance comes to life.”

Cantalupo wouldn’t turn down someone’s request to play at different functions, but it wasn’t always his intent to perform live. It really started when he met a country singer named Nicole Murphy in New Hampshire.

“(Nicole) helped me develop a more entertaining persona for my stage presence and that is when I really wanted to show people what I could do,” said Cantalupo.

In 2016-17 as a freshman at Stonehill, he played in some competitions through the New Hampshire Country Music Association. Cantalupo won a competition in his home state, before traveling to Nashville and winning a competition there, as well.

Upon returning to campus for his sophomore year, Cantalupo was given an opportunity by Stonehill to play, which is when his future boss saw him playing and approached him for a company called Promotions in a Box – an entertainment and brand engagement company.

More than two years later as he prepares to receive a degree in marketing, Cantalupo is still working with Promotions in a Box and hopes to travel around New England to bring music to local communities after commencement.

Music has opened many doors for him, as has football. Self-admittedly, Cantalupo was not a highly-regarded football field player at Pinkerton Academy. He did have a soccer background, though, so he jumped on the opportunity for kicking tryouts when they were held.

When the time came to look at colleges, Stonehill was right at the top of his list.

“With Stonehill, I was looking around its recruiting website. I started asking around and every person I said Stonehill to, their ears perked up,” said Cantalupo.

He drove down to Easton for a camp that he thought he signed up for, though it turned out he didn’t actually sign up. Since he couldn’t participate, he spent just 15 minutes with Gardner, but he enjoyed the strong communication between them.

“I felt this was a good place to go,” said Cantalupo. “I toured it, I loved it, I applied and I started with football camp.”

Over the past four years, Cantalupo has enjoyed a wholesome college experience – filled with academic success, athletic accomplishments and community-based initiatives.

“I think what makes Kyle really unique, and in turn, what makes Stonehill unique, is just the way he was able to contribute at such a high level in so many different areas of his experience,” said Gardner. “He’s a phenomenal student in the classroom, a tremendously reliable football player and has given back countless hours volunteering.”

Cantalupo, a four-time NE10 Academic Honor Roll recipient, has selflessly given back to his community through his work at Heights Crossing in Brockton, Mass., an assisted living facility.

On Friday afternoons outside of football season, Cantalupo has visited Heights Crossing and helped coordinate activities for the residents – while using his gift of music to reach out to those in the facility.

“The cool thing with music is it can bring you back to a memory just like that,” said Cantalupo. “If you haven’t heard a song in years, you can remember exactly where you were when you last heard it. It even works with Alzheimer’s patients. It’s so rewarding to provide that for someone who maybe hasn’t experienced it in so long. It’s one of my favorite things to do.”

Just as his family shared the gift of music with him, Cantalupo shares it with others. Music can bring back memories, and it’s likely after graduation that those memories will lead him back to Stonehill College.