As Maura Montgomery ’23 stepped onto Sweeney Field’s artificial turf last February, she felt nerves fluttering in her stomach.
Despite the overwhelming fear that she would embarrass herself in her first Gaelic football practice, Montgomery convinced herself to “fake it till you make it” through the drills.
During a scrimmage at the conclusion of practice, Montgomery was amused by the reactions of her new teammates. Parting like the Red Sea when she had possession of the ball, her teammates were apprehensive to get physical. Bumping into her accidentally, one teammate entered a state of panic and began to apologize profusely, causing Montgomery to burst into laughter.
“Even though Gaelic isn’t really a contact sport, they were nervous to be rough,” Montgomery said. “I was kind of nervous to see if I was able to keep up with them, but after a couple of weeks, I realized that I could.”
Montgomery paved her own way as a competitor and athlete, being the only woman currently on the St. Joe’s Gaelic club football team, and the second in history behind Katie Baldwin ’15 since the program got its start in 2013.
Montgomery, a full-forward on the team, grew up in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, where she played many sports growing up, and her love for competing began.
“I dabbled in everything,” Montgomery said. “I did track for a couple years, played lacrosse for a year, but I mainly played soccer, basketball and softball.”
Playing with men is nothing new for Montgomery, so when the opportunity to join the team and make her own mark on the program presented itself, she took advantage of it.
“I played co-ed soccer in high school,” Montgomery said. “I’m used to playing with guys.”
Prior to becoming the second woman player in the club’s history, Montgomery occupied the role of a student manager from her first year at St. Joe’s until the fall of her junior year. After serving as manager for about three years, Montgomery realized she missed competitive sports and decided to ask about potentially joining in on practices to fill that void.
“Over winter break, I asked the president and the coach if I could join in on practices and they were like, ‘why don’t you just play?’” Montgomery said. “So I got my physical and then started playing during the spring semester.”
Head Coach Brendan Feeney said he encouraged Montgomery to join after teasing around with the idea of her joining for many years.
“We finally convinced her last year just to buy a pair of cleats and jump into practice,” Feeney said.
Scott Verilli ’24, a fullback on the team, said he was a little shocked when Montgomery stepped on the field, but was also really excited for her and what her joining meant for the program.
“I thought it was awesome,” Verilli said. “Even though there haven’t been that many women on the team in the past, we’re excited to start having that being incorporated as a part of our team.”
Team President John Higgins ’23 said Gaelic is a tough sport to learn, especially because of the large roster, but Montgomery has adapted well.
“She worked really hard and she put herself in a position to be where she is now,” Higgins said.
For both her teammates and her coach, Montgomery has proven to be a leader and competitor on the field. Feeney described Montgomery as unapologetic, noting that both on the field and off the field she is always herself.
“She is a fearless leader and steps on the field with 45 men, and yet she’s still a leader out there,” Feeney said.
Higgins said Montgomery is the most put-together person on the team and is disciplined in everything she does, which translates onto the field.
“The discipline off the field kind of carries on the field, like the position she plays,” Higgins said. “As a forward, you really have to have some strong positional discipline, so it really shows how her character also directly correlates onto the field.”
Off the field, Montgomery is a part of the two-plus-three nursing program with St. Joe’s and Thomas Jefferson.
“When I was younger, I actually had epilepsy,” Montgomery said. “So seeing the nurses around me helped me, and the compassion that they gave me as such a little kid with epilepsy, it was awesome. I want to be an ER [emergency room], trauma, or ICU [intensive care unit] nurse, actually being hands on with someone and helping someone.”
Montgomery will be hanging up her cleats at the conclusion of this year to focus on her future career in nursing.
“The times I laughed the absolute hardest were at practice, and it’s such a rare experience that I’ve had, being accepted as the only girl on the team,” Montgomery said. “Being able to have that bond with all of the guys, being treated almost like a sister and them being protective of me was just such a special experience. I’m going to miss having that every day.”
