St. Joe’s Gaelic Club football team kicked off its spring season tournament this month for the first time since the covid-19 pandemic hit.
Gaelic football, a mixture of handball, rugby and soccer that originated in Ireland, is a club sport at St. Joes. The team, whose first game was on April 2, currently has a record of 4-0.
Pat Polizzi ’22 said the opportunity to have a full season has rejuvenated the team. Polizzi said the team makes sure to balance both being a club sports team and a social organization, where the team is able to bond and have fun.
“We do team bonding events such as football watch parties or just going into the city,” Polizzi said. “We have our formals and date parties, like a regular social organization. But when we go to practice, we’re at practice for an hour and a half to two hours putting in the work.”
Maura Montgomery ’23 is the only woman on the team, but she said she does not let that stop her from competing.
“I like the toughness of it,” Montgomery said. “It is always fun getting to be aggressive.”
Despite the sport being dominated by men, Montgomery does not feel any different being the only woman on the team.
“They [teammates] treat me like one of the guys,” Montgomery said. “They don’t treat me any differently whatsoever.”
According to John Higgins ’23, the chemistry between everyone on the team is strong and the bond is close.
“I think we have really good team chemistry from top to bottom,” Higgins said. “We see each other on campus, and it’s always a good laugh with each other. I really enjoy being around all those guys. We spent a lot of time together.”
The team also includes players who have been playing Gaelic football for the majority of their life because of their Irish heritage, like Higgins and Brendan Ferguson ’25. The two shared the same excitement when finding out that St. Joe’s offered a club team here.
“It’s been awesome,” Ferguson said. “The guys that run it are always doing things to keep everyone involved. I wasn’t really expecting to get a [Gaelic] football team in college, so that was a huge plus for me.”
With the team going 4-0 through their first tournament, there are high hopes moving into the rest of the season.
“We want to keep winning,” Ferguson said. “We want more games in the future because they’re lots of fun. We need to continue getting better and continue to have everyone learn more.”
