Liam Hogan’s Journey from Georgia to Ireland to the World Lacrosse Stage
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Typically here in America, we go to high school, graduate, and then move on to college. A lot of the time, it’s an in-state school, and if you want to get a little more adventurous, you can go out of state. But it’s probably safe to say, the majority of people have never considered going out of the country for college -- which is exactly what one Benedictine graduate did.
And that’s only scratching the surface of this story.
Liam Hogan just wrapped up his first year at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. But he has also now secured one of only 22 spots on the U20 Irish national lacrosse team that’ll be playing in the world championships in South Korea August 15-24.
Hogan has deep Irish roots on his dad’s side of the family, but the goal of making the Irish national team wasn’t established until later on in his high school career. Once he set that goal, though, he toured some schools over there while on a family vacation, fell in love with Trinity, and the rest is history.
Now as he prepares for the tournament in August, he said he’s most excited about getting to compete at the world level.
“It’s something I knew I could do, but it’s also something that is just humbling because you know what you’ve gone through with your teammates, coaches, and self-growth. It’s something that you really hold dear to you, and it’s a huge accomplishment to me, but it’s unreal. It’s crazy to believe that I’m going to be playing in the world championships.”
The world championships will feature the top 20 teams around the globe. Ireland will start the tournament in Pool D, which includes China, Israel, and Mexico.
Between playing on such a big stage and just simply living and going to school internationally, it all could very easily be daunting for a 19-year-old. However, Hogan said, in a way, Ireland has felt like home.
“Everyone is very welcoming, very nice, and they took me in like family. Even the friends that I’ve met there, it was just like everyone clicked as soon as we got there. Within a week, we were all best friends. It’s a really weird dynamic to explain. It’s very similar to BC with the brotherhood, which I never thought I’d ever experience. It’s not quite like BC, but it’s pretty close.”
Hogan added the two things he has found himself missing most about home while living overseas is American football and Thanksgiving.
Liam's father, Marty Hogan, holds dual citizenship in Ireland and Liam comes from an athletic family. His older brother, Colin, played on the BC lacrosse and football teams and went on to play quarterback at Georgia Military College before transferring to Georgia State in Atlanta.
"When I was making my college decision I was thinking that I wanted to travel and I was interested in majoring in business focused on market based hedge funds," Hogan said. "And I wanted my future in that to be worldwide. It's one of the top business schools in the world, and I was surprised when I got in. I asked God for guidance as I was going to school more than 4,000 miles away from home. But I thought if I hated it, at least I tried it."
Liam's father, Marty Hogan, holds dual citizenship in Ireland and Liam comes from an athletic family. His older brother, Colin, played on the BC lacrosse and football teams and went on to play quarterback at Georgia Military College before transferring to Georgia State in Atlanta.
"When I was making my college decision I was thinking that I wanted to travel and I was interested in majoring in business focused on market based hedge funds," Hogan said. "And I wanted my future in that to be worldwide. It's one of the top business schools in the world, and I was surprised when I got in. I asked God for guidance as I was going to school more than 4,000 miles away from home. But I thought if I hated it, at least I tried it."
BC lacrosse coach Dustin White said Hogan, a left-handed midfielder, was an impact player for the Cadets, where he earned All-Greater Savannah first-team honors in his junior and senior seasons.
"Liam has been working so hard on his game and he earned this opportunity and really deserved it," White said. "He plays with a lot of athleticism and is not afraid to be a two-way midfielder who can get back and play strong defense — he's a gritty player. I remember a game we had his senior year against Bishop England, it seemed like a light bulb went off and he realized he could not only dodge and score, but he could dodge and feed. He became a selfless player and had like four assists in that game.
"And it's pretty cool that he's going to be wearing No. 10 for Ireland," White said. "It shows that he is playing for something greater than himself. He's going to be representing Benedictine, Savannah and Ricky (McCallaster) as he's playing for Ireland — and that makes it even more special." 
