Field hockey, Swimming, Lacrosse
Favorite athlete: Bethany Hamilton
Favorite team: Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Saving a stroke against Central Bucks West my sophomore year.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: My freshman year, we were getting on the bus and I spilled the ball cooler all over the busy parking lot and me and a few other teammates had to run around and grab all of them.
Music on playlist: The Lumineers, Noah Kahan, Lorde
Future plans: Go to college to study health sciences with the possibility of participating in rowing or ROTC.
Words to live by: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
One goal before turning 30: Go to Hawaii with my grandma and run a marathon!
One thing people don’t know about me: I like to ski!
By Craig Ostroff
Keely Gallagher decided that she wanted to spend the summer as a lifeguard.
The main problem with that was she had never trained to be one … and was not as skilled a swimmer as would be necessary to take on that endeavor.
Since swimming could help her maintain her endurance for her upcoming senior seasons in field hockey and lacrosse, she trained and practiced.
And while she was at the Jersey Shore for the summer, she joined the North Wildwood Beach Patrol. She went through Rookie School and spent the summer as a lifeguard.
She proved to be a pretty effective swimmer and lifeguard. In fact, she was named Rookie of the Year.
When Gallagher tries something new, she’s not just there for the experience – she works hard to be the best she can be.
“I love a challenge and I love to put myself into unfamiliar situations,” Gallagher said. “I wanted to swim to keep up my endurance, and I had decided I wanted to be a lifeguard this summer. I knew I would have to be a strong swimmer, so I took a lifeguarding class, and worked on becoming a stronger swimmer. During the summer, I had Rookie School and training and open water swimming, and I saw so much improvement.”
And now that she’s a stronger swimmer, the North Wildwood Beach Patrol Rookie of the Year is looking for similar success as she embarks on her rookie season with the Abington swim team.
“I’m excited to see where this season takes me,” she said. “I’m new to the sport and to the team, so I’m working on everything like flip turns and getting off the blocks. I’m not sure yet what I’m going to swim or where I’m going to be used. But I’m excited to see how it goes.”
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While Gallagher loves new challenges and experiences, she also loves the familiar feel of the goalie pads in the fall and the lacrosse stick in the spring. A four-year varsity player in both sports, Gallagher is not one to get complacent since
every season brings new faces and new challenges. In fact, the recently completed hockey season was unlike any that Gallagher had experienced in her Abington career.
With the Ghosts having graduated 11 players from last season, Gallagher found herself as a co-captain and the most experienced player on a young squad that would likely be playing through a rebuilding year. As the team’s goalkeeper, that meant that the pressure was on Gallagher not only to be a strong leader off the field, but to also be the vocal leader on the field to help meld the young defense in front of her.
As one might expect, Gallagher welcomed the challenge.
“I was excited coming into the season,” said Gallagher, who was named First Team All-Liberty Division as a sophomore and Second Team All-Liberty last year. “As a goalie, I feel like I’ve always been a leader, but this year I was really put to the test to be able to get the girls together, keep them on the same page, and keep them improving as the season went on.
“I knew coming in that this season it was going to be different. But for the younger girls who haven’t experienced the winning atmosphere, this season was all they know, so it was more about team bonding, keeping the younger girls involved and more positive.”
Gallagher’s efforts – both on the field and off – did not go unnoticed.
“Keely is such a great communicator on the field,” said Abington field hockey coach Janine Larr. “She reads the offense coming in as well as our defensive girls coming in – she makes sure people are marking, she sees things people don’t always pick up on. She’s done a tremendous job with telling our girls where to be, where to clear the ball, how to start the transition up the field.
“And the girls listen because they see how she carries herself as a leader. In practices and during the offseason workouts and runs, she’s giving 100 percent every time. And she shows up for every game, no matter what. She puts her heart and soul into every game. It’s a rebuilding year, but no matter what the scoreboard says, she’s there to compete and keep us in the game as much as possible.”
It’s been quite the journey for Gallagher, who started playing field hockey in seventh grade and stepped between the pipes in eighth grade. She saw limited varsity playing time as a freshman, but with hard work and improvement, had secured starting duties in her sophomore season.
“Keely is very athletic,” Larr said. “She throws herself to the ground and gets right back up, she’s powerful with her clears, gets the ball up to the midfield quickly. She sees the field so well, and has such a great hockey IQ. She’s been a steady force for us. We’re always confident with her in goal – she leads and gets the defense to do their best for her.”
A testament to her abilities, as well as to the success of the teams that she’s backstopped over the years, Gallagher achieved a rare milestone earlier this season by recording the 500th save of her varsity career.
Not surprisingly, Gallagher turned discussion of an individual accomplishment into a tribute to her teammates.
“It definitely means a lot,” she said. “It’s not something I was thinking about or aiming for, but it’s something fun. The coaches and the team did a nice job celebrating me and making me feel special. Facing all those shots over the years, it shows that there’s a lot of pressure on our defensive unit. And this year, it’s been amazing to see the growth of all the girls. I love seeing them improve every day, seeing the stuff click that coaches are telling us.”
“Getting to that milestone shows how confident she is back there,” Larr said. “Even when working with a new defense like she was this year, she’s still willing to step up and take the shot. We told the girls, ‘If Keely calls her ball, just go to back her up.’ She shows a lot of confidence in herself and her ability and skill to make stops on some really great talent out there. She’s never been afraid to take that shot.”
With hockey season now completed, Gallagher will turn her attention to her first and only season on the blocks. Then she will return for her final campaign on the lacrosse field. She’s already been named a captain for a team that has also graduated a large group of experienced players.
After a self-described “rocky” freshman season, Gallagher worked on her game and earned the team’s Most Improved Player Award after her sophomore season. An Honorable Mention All-League selection as a junior, Gallagher will be counted upon – much like in field hockey – to lead and direct a young defensive squad.
“We had a big senior class last year that graduated, and we named Keely as a captain early on because of the leadership she shows and her communication skills,” said Abington lacrosse coach Meg MacClain. “She has the ability to get girls motivated to come to offseason stuff and do things on their own, and that will benefit our team with losing so many players. I think with lacrosse and field hockey having so much crossover with players, having her experience the same situation in field hockey is only going to improve her leadership abilities in lacrosse.
“Last year she had 28 caused turnovers and 26 ground ball pickups, so that shows her ability to pressure her defender and her ability to disrupt the play and transition the ball up to our offense. I expect her to take that big step forward in her leadership to motivate the girls she’ll be playing with. She’s one of our senior players on defense, so we’re going to be counting on her to be a big leader and direct the underclassmen she’s working with on the field. I’m looking forward to seeing her continue to build that confidence, believe in herself, and to get her teammates to believe in themselves.”
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When she’s not on the athletic fields or in the classroom, Gallagher enjoys being involved with numerous philanthropic organizations and school clubs.
Gallagher is a four-year participant in AbingTHON, and the Co-Overall for the Communications Committee after having served as both a captain and a chair for the committee in previous years. The initiative develops and runs numerous fundraising events for many local pediatric cancer-related charities, culminating with an 8-hour, no-sitting, AbingTHON dance event in March.
“It’s amazing to be a part of AbingTHON, helping families and kids suffering from pediatric cancer,” Gallagher said. “It’s so gratifying to be a part of something like this and to know you’re making a difference in someone’s life.”
This year, Gallagher became one of the first ambassadors for the recently established Gretta Ehret Dream Crazy Foundation. Created in memory of the former Penn Charter and University of Pennsylvania field hockey standout who passed away last year from breast cancer, the foundation seeks to promote Ehret’s love of sports by helping inspire and support young athletes who may not have the means or opportunities to get involved in sports.
“I’ve always felt very lucky that I’ve always had sports and I’ve been able to be involved,” Gallagher said. “We hold fundraisers and clinics for kids in the city who can’t afford or don’t have the access to play sports that we do.
“We held a Breast Cancer Awareness game this year, we’re hosting a pickleball tournament in November. It’s a lot of fun to be a part of these events and clinics, and it’s a good opportunity to help younger kids get involved.”
Gallagher is also a commissioner in Abington’s Link Crew, which supports freshmen and helps them acclimate to high school life; and is part of the DECA Business Club.
“There’s definitely been a lot on my plate,” she said with a laugh. “I’ve been staying busy, but it’s also been fun. I can’t sit still and just be waiting around. I love jumping into new things, so it’s been great being involved in so much.”
She plans to continue staying involved and trying new things. In fact, while she hasn’t made any decisions yet on where to attend college, she is seriously considering two options for staying active and improving herself.
And if you guessed “field hockey or lacrosse” … you just don’t know Keely Gallagher very well.
“I’m thinking about rowing or ROTC in college,” she said. “I had thought about field hockey for a little bit. But I’m really interested in rowing. I can see myself working hard and improving there, and there are so many opportunities to walk on. I think rowing or ROTC would be something I’d be interested to take on in my college years.”
Once she’s hung up the maroon-and-white jersey and has moved on to her next set of challenges, Gallagher said she hopes her younger Abington teammates will remember her as someone who made a positive impact. And if her leadership in a rebuilding year helps build a strong foundation for success in the coming years, that’s good enough for Gallagher.
“It would be amazing to see the team moving forward over the next couple years,” she said. “I hope they go further next year. Coach Janine always says that you always want to take the next step each year. I felt that that mindset has helped me as well, so if I was able to help the younger girls take that on as well, that would be great to see them improve from there.”
Not that it will be easy. It’s never easy to replace a starting goalkeeper. It’s even harder to replace one who has been such a standout backstop over the years and stellar leader in a critical rebuilding season.
“I can’t say enough about her,” Larr said. “We’re going to miss her dearly next year. She’s an integral part of program, and she’s leaving big shoes to fill. We’re going to miss her positive demeanor on the field, no matter what kind of game we’re in – if a goal gets in, if we don’t pull out the win, she’s always positive and encouraging on the field. She’s been so great at telling the kids where to go and directing them on the field. We’re going to miss that.
“Wherever she goes, that school is getting an all-around awesome kid who gives 100 percent, who gets involved in as many things as she can, who never complains, who wants to go out and do her best. She’s someone who wants to be a leader and wants to do good things, and is willing to put in the time and effort it takes to achieve that.”