Able to continue playing basketball while pursing graduate degree in Ireland
Steph Poland made it back-to-back honorees for Colgate Women’s Basketball in the Victory Scholar program when she was named one of two selections from the Patriot League this week.
Poland and Madelyn Ganser of Holy Cross are this year’s recipients nominated by the Patriot League and chosen by the Sport Changes Life Foundation, which sponsors the Victory Scholar program. The program scholarships allow U.S. student-athletes to continue their athletic and academic careers by both playing on a collegiate team and studying in a graduate program at an Irish or Northern Irish university.
Poland is set to attend Maynooth University near Dublin, where she will pursue a master’s degree in International Peace Building, Security and Development Practice. Poland graduated from Colgate with a degree in Political Science and earned the Thomas M. Wilson ’87 Memorial Endowed Leadership Award in addition to her selection for the Konosioni Senior Honor Society.
“Ireland is a beautiful place, surrounded by such warm and welcoming people,” Poland said upon her recent arrival. “I look forward to playing for the Portlaoise Panthers and I’m excited to be a part of the Kennedy Institute at Maynooth and learn from such esteemed professors.”
The Valley View, Ohio, native played the best basketball of her Colgate career down the stretch of her senior season. Poland started her final 11 games in succession and helped the Raiders finish sixth in the Patriot League standings for the first time in the 10-team conference era.
She follows in the footsteps of former teammate Randyll Butler ’16, who was named last year and enrolled at Ulster University in Northern Ireland.
Poland and Ganser will be working with youth, particularly those who suffer disadvantages, in community programs designed to raise aspirations.
“I’m excited to work with the kids in Ireland and use basketball as a tool to connect with kids of all ages,” Poland said. “I want to show how being involved in a sport can help put your life on such a positive path.”