Field Hockey, Lacrosse
Favorite athlete: Carter Hart, Philadelphia Flyers
Favorite team: Philadelphia Flyers
Favorite memory competing in sports: Getting my 200th save my senior year.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Having my team undress me out of my goalie gear on the bus because we got poured on at our game.
Music on playlist: My playlist is everywhere. I have 90s rap, classic rock, some country, today’s rap, some Broadway musicals, 2000s pop, 50s doo wop – some of the Beatles. You never know what’s gonna come on.
Future plans: To play field hockey in college and major in criminology
Words to live by: “You’ve done it once. You can do it again.”
One goal before turning 30: To have traveled to at least four different countries.
One thing people don’t know about me: I learned how to speak in sign language at the same time I was learning how to talk.
By Mary Jane Souder
Emily McGivern is fearless.
The Bensalem senior gave early glimpses of that when – as a 12-year-old – she was the lone girl playing tackle football in the entire Far Northeast Raiders organization. A fact that didn’t faze her even a little.
“I grew up with football, so I knew what I was doing,” said McGivern, who had gone through the flag football ranks. “I had to show them I was meant to be there, and I could do whatever the boys were doing, so I tried to be more intimidating than they were.”
There were those who were not especially thrilled to see McGivern on the gridiron, mixing it up with the boys.
“Some coaches were kind of against it, so it was more showing them I could do exactly what the boys were doing,” she said. “I went to some clinics during the summer, so I knew some of the players, but others when they would see me on the field – it was breaking a barrier, so they were more uncomfortable. I just kind of shook it off.”
During her one season with the Raiders, McGivern, who played running back, suffered a concussion after taking a hit. She was sidelined for two weeks but then returned to action. That – along with the whispers she’d hear - are near the top of McGivern’s list of lowlights, but she also had plenty of highlights.
“The best thing was when I would take my helmet off – just the initial shock on everyone’s faces,” McGivern said. “The parents would see, and they would bring their daughters up to me.”
The fearless attitude McGivern took onto the gridiron as a youngster is serving her well five years later wearing the goalie pads for the field hockey team.
“Emily is tough on and off the field, for sure,” Bensalem coach Morgan Buechner said. “As much as she’s friends with each girl on the team, she is always aggressive/tough during practice, making sure she gives the girls 100 percent when we are doing drills on her.”
Playing goalie for many is a last resort. For some, it’s opportunity to play a position – albeit an often unpopular one - that might not be given to them if they vied for a field position. Others are coerced into putting on pads.
McGivern is in the cage by choice. In fact, it was a natural choice.
“I went into field hockey in seventh grade in middle school,” she said. “My older sister played at St. Hubert’s, and I grew up watching her play. My mom played in the past for Northeast High School.
“I knew they needed a goalie, so I was like ‘Why not? I’m used to suiting up in all the pads from football.’ I played both field and goalie in my middle school years, but it felt more comfortable being in goal.”
As a freshman, McGivern split time with another player, but by the following year, the job was hers.
“She has just completely put in the work to become the goalie we needed,” Buechner said. “I honestly don’t know what we’ll do without her.
“I’m so thankful for how much she and her family have done to get her to where we needed her to be.”
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McGivern, the youngest of four children, grew up in a family that loved sports.
“I was constantly being run around to baseball games, football games, cheerleading, so it was kind of like I was an athlete before I was even playing sports,” she said.
Interestingly, McGivern started out with cheerleading, a sport she was involved in from ages four to 12. Tackle football – a far cry from cheerleading – lasted a year-and-a-half, but the impact of her coach remains with her today.
“He helped me continue to have a passion for sports and made me feel welcome, no matter what,” she said of Frank McArdle.
McGivern attended football clinics the summer before the start of what would have been her second football season but opted to walk away that fall.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be my longtime sport,” she said
Field hockey will be. McGivern joined the highly competitive club circuit when she was a freshman.
“One of my teammate’s parents heard about Mystx, and his daughter played there,” she said. “He told my mom to sign me up. Mystx reached out because they needed goalies.
“I did goalie trainings, and I instantly liked it so much more. Mystx definitely shaped me to be the goalie I am today.”
The goalie McGivern is today had herself quite a senior year, turning away 283 shots for an Owls squad that won just three games.
“She’s just really quick, she’s quick to get on the ground and dive – she’s not afraid to make the saves she needs to make, gets up really quick and goes back at it,” Buechner said. “She’s definitely one of the leaders on the field.
“She’s the one that can see each and every angle of the game, and she’s great at giving the advice we need, getting the girls to hear it from a player’s perspective, not just the coaches. We always lean on her to explain to the girls what they need to work on during the game and what adjustments they need to make.”
There’s no mistaking that it’s not always been easy playing in the highly competitive SOL.
“We always try and make the best out of everything,” McGivern said. “It’s definitely frustrating sometimes, but you can’t go into games with a negative mindset because it’s not going to end up well.
“It’s hard but just the encouragement. If the team we’re playing scored in the first half, it’s like – ‘if they can do it, we can do it, just try your best.’”
McGivern is also the goalie for the Owls’ fledgling varsity lacrosse team.
“That’s a tougher position,” she said.
McGivern is looking to continue her hockey career at the next level and is holding off her final decision until her Mystx season is underway. She plans to major in criminology with the goal of becoming an FBI agent. McGivern is intrigued by the inner workings of criminals.
“It sounds crazy, but one of my favorite things to watch are documentaries about serial killers,” she said.
For Buechner, the prospect of life without McGivern and her fellow seniors is somewhat daunting.
“This class has been the class that is turning the program upside down for the better, so it’s a huge loss that we’re losing all 12 of them,” the Owls’ coach said. “Since we’ve had them, they’ve all done indoor since middle school. They’ve been working hard.
“They’ve been part of hopefully the feeder program that we’re going to start introducing. We’re going to do some things where we bring elementary girls out for a free clinic. I love when Emily goes to the younger girls if she sees they’re sitting there and not feeling super included and have a bond – she works hard to bring them in. She’s been a huge help to us.”
