Haverford School’s Seamus McCloskey is Main Line Boys Athlete of the Week
The senior defender has been one of the defensive leaders for the Fords’ lacrosse team (7-3 as of April 8), and has pledged his ground ball stats during the 2019 lacrosse season to the HEADstrong Foundation (he is currently averaging one GB per game). A fine all-around athlete, he also participates in winter track for the Fords. Off the field, McCloskey participates in many community service projects – for the past three summers, he has had the opportunity to travel to Haiti and help with building homes for an orphanage. Next spring, he will play lacrosse for Dickinson College.
Q: Have you always played defender? What attracted you to the defender position?
A: I actually played attack in fifth grade before I played defenseman. My club coach said that they were short at defenseman and he thought I should try it. From then on I continued on playing defenseman.
Q: Tell us a little about your pledge of every ground ball you collect to the HEADStrong Foundation. What inspired you to make this pledge? Tell us a little about how your teammates and their families have pitched in to help you with your pledge.
A: Since this is my last year of high school, I thought I should do something special and something that not many other players can do. What inspired me to make the pledge was hearing that HEADStrong was pledging to raise money towards cancer and those affected by cancer. I always hear about people who have cancer and the families that are affected by cancer, and I feel bad for them and I feel that I could do something special with HEADStrong by doing this. At the moment now most of my family has donated towards the cause and more of my teammates have begun to make pledges with the campaign. It’s going great and still continuing to improve!
Q: What aspect of your game did you work on most during the off-season?
A: For me this off season I focused more on my speed and passing and catching. I felt that last season my speed was not exceeding my expectations, so I thought I needed to work on this more. So I decided to do winter track this year and in my first year ever running track I was able to go to States and run in the 4×200 and 4×400. With passing and catching this is always something I work on. I feel that this is a aspect of my game I cannot stop improving.
Q: What originally attracted you to lacrosse? Who have been your most important lacrosse mentors, and what was the most important thing each of them taught you?
A: I started playing lacrosse when I was in fifth grade. My youth soccer coach (Coach Brake) actually told me he could see me playing the sport of lacrosse. At first I did not know what lacrosse was and after watching one of my friends play in a game I was hooked onto it. Throughout my years of lacrosse I would have to say my mentor was my youth coaches Coach Ben Brake and Coach Patrick Carney and throughout high school my mentor have been Coach (John) Nostrant, Coach (Brendan) Dawson, Coach (Paul) O’Grady and Coach (Travis) Loving. I think what I took away from each of them was just always to continue to get better and push yourself.
Q: Briefly describe for us your pre-game preparation (physical, mental) on the day of a game.
A: Before games for me it all starts with my lunch. I always eat chicken Parmesan before every game. Right before a game starts, I play my pre-game music off of Spotify. Most of the music I listen to, whether it’s rap or rock and roll, I feel boosts my energy and makes me get excited to go out and play lacrosse. Once I start playing my music I know it is time to focus and get ready to play.
Q: What is your favorite school subject? What do you think you might want to major in at Dickinson? Is there a career field that particularly interests you at the present time?
A: My favorite school subject at the moment is Finance. I think at Dickinson next year I want to major in Finance and minor in economics. A career field I am interested is being a financial advisor – my cousin has this job and says it really helps him succeed in the financial industry.
Fun facts – Seamus McCloskey
Favorite book: The Empty Net.
Favorite author: J.K Rowlings.
Favorite TV show: The Office.
Favorite movie: Step Brothers.
Favorite athlete: Carson Wentz.
Favorite pre-game pump-up song: Going Bad by Meek Mill (feat.Drake).
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles.
Favorite place to visit: Avalon, N.J.
Favorite pre-game meal: Chicken parmesan.
Person I most admire, and why: “One person I have to say I admire the most is my dad. I admire him because he is someone who always strives to do better in his work and wants to help others to strive to succeed.”
Family members: parents John and Erin, brother Liam.
(To be selected as Main Line Boys Athlete of the Week, a student-athlete must first be nominated by his coach.)
