Occupational therapy major Meghan Treanor ’22 isn’t afraid to play ball. During her senior year of high school she joined the school’s football team as a placekicker.
Recently, she took her athletics talent overseas to play a different type of football—Gaelic football, a sport with rules that resemble a combination of soccer, football, and basketball.
Meghan played goalkeeper for Empire State, one of two women’s teams from New York, at the Renault GAA World Games in Ireland. Her team played seven games in the tournament, eventually losing out in the quarterfinals.
“I didn’t do too bad,” she says. “But a couple of the goals—I couldn’t get my hands on them in time.”
Meghan began playing Gaelic football as a child in Rockland County, New York. She said that when a soccer coach heard her father’s Irish accent, he told them about the league and recommended they try it out. She was initially attracted to the speed of the game, but the camaraderie and community kept her coming back.
Meghan Treanor ’22
Occupational Therapy
Meghan Treanor ’22 (bottom row, far left) poses for a photo with the Empire State Gaelic football team.
“Everyone is always willing to lend a hand, and you really get to know people from different areas.”
Meghan doesn’t see herself hanging up her cleats anytime soon—pointing out an older teammate on her Rockland squad that brings her two young kids to games.
“I can’t see myself quitting until I have to,” she says.