Brendan Gallagher '24 Recruiting Profile

My name is Brendan James Gallagher, I am a 2024 FOGO and FOSO. I have been playing lacrosse for the majority of my life and fell in love with it when I was about five years old. Although I’ve played other sports like flag football, ultimate frisbee, and soccer. Lacrosse has always been the one I enjoyed most. I have played just about every position except goalie at some point in my career. Last season when I was playing on a JV level due to my eligibility from transferring schools my coach as well as my family pushed me to try the Faceoff position because our starter for varsity was graduating and we needed some new talent. It was a big switch from attack but I took to it quickly especially with the help of my Faceoff coach, Jake Withers (PLL Waterdogs FOGO), I began to win more and more and gained recognition to the point where I was invited to the national Faceoff combine in December of 2022, where I finished sixth overall. After starting to understand the moves and counter moves of being a Faceoff I started to see it in a new light, it wasn't as much about having the fastest possible reaction time, although that is important, but more like a game of chess, having different moves and counter moves in your pocket to play at anytime to gain the advantage over your opponent. This is how my brain likes to think and so having this technical skill and ability to think many steps ahead gives me an edge over my opponents.

    As well as lacrosse I have found myself trying many new things in high school that I didn’t enjoy or hadn’t tried before. Things like photography, snowboarding, golf, fishing, and engine work as well as fabrication have all become prevalent parts of my life and take up what usually little free time I have. Academically I like to push myself to be the beast I can be, I have a 4.7 GPA and went to a more traditional school my freshman year before transferring to Jefferson County Open School an expeditionary learning school that I attended previously, here I can push myself in many ways beyond what a normal school would allow me to such as going on trips and being a teachers assistant as well as being in charge of myself and having more opportunities to display my self direction and leadership skills. 

     Having such an abnormal learning experience has given me an ability to push myself further than your normal athlete or student, having the skills to manage my own time well and know myself and my limits makes it easier for me to push those limits and train to be the best I can be, having these skills and the ability to adapt well to my surroundings makes me a great fit for any program.