Meaghan Walsh '27 Recruiting Profile

Hello! My name is Meaghan Walsh and I have been playing club ice hockey since I was four years of age. I initially began skating as the only girl on an all boys team and two things I took away from that experience was one, "be more aggressive", and two, my nickname “Megs”. I enjoyed the years I spent playing with the boys but eventually I had to make the transition to a girls team at the age of 10. In 2021, in addition to playing club and town hockey, I joined my middle/senior high school’s varsity girls hockey team as the youngest player as a seventh grade student and I played for them for the two years I was enrolled at that particular school.  

Skating has always come easily to me, but the ride along the way has come with multiple hardships that I have had to cope with and overcome. There are two very particular examples that I believe helped shape me into the player I am today. The first was when I was entering my second year as a U10 player and I hit the boards fracturing my ankle on night one of try-outs. My coaches all stood up for me and met with the next year's coaches and spoke of my character and the player I was and they accepted me based on their references and my reputation. I had months of physical thereapy and rehab but when the season came around, I took to the ice with a little fear but even more determination. The second example was when I was diagnosed with a very rare and potentially fatal injury called Compartment Syndrome in both my legs. This developed as a result of overrunning in my first two months of Varsity Cross Country in eighth grade. I not only had been medically benched for the remaining cross country season after just one meet, but I was strictly advised to limit myself to only 50% of play just as the hockey season began. Along the way, I worked through pain physically and emotionally. Being told that it was solely up to me to know what my limitations were and that I could not exceed them or I would face possible season ending surgery takes a toll on a young mind of an athlete. I took all this in stride throughout the near 28 weeks of treatments and despite having medical limitation throughout most of the season, I proved I was still an asset to my teams when I scored my first varsity goal, which helped my team win against a strong and competitive opponent, and I added points with my club team in our climb to first place in our division. These hardships taught me that there are no roadblocks in life, just detours to work around. 

Here I am now back to my 100% and ready to take to the ice with my club team and take on another season of playing the game I have grown to love more each day over the years. As I look ahead, I don’t know what my future will hold, but I’m hoping to be playing hockey while expanding my education within the field of building automations and engineering.