James River graduate Gillian Smith will play on the Ireland national women's lacrosse team

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- Gillian Smith may have played other sports growing up but she was never going to get away from lacrosse.

She began playing in kindergarten and comes from a long line of female players in her own family.

Her mother was her very first coach and played no favorites. "

I was always the first one to have an example made out of me," Gillian Smith said. "She would always pick on me first!"

Despite the tough love, Smith said having her mom as her coach remained some of my fondest memories

Smith went on to earn second-team All-Metro honors as a senior at James River High School in Chesterfield, but her recruitment was almost completely shut down due to COVID.

She eventually chose to play at Old Dominion which was one of the first schools to show interest. That choice allowed her to continue the family tradition of playing at the collegiate level.

"She brings a level of commitment to her game. Everything that she does on the field, she can really analyze, look back, note the corrections she wants to make for herself," her coach said.

Gillian's mother Heather not only passed along a love for lacrosse, but she also handed down heritage.

Both ladies hold dual citizenship with the U.S. and Ireland.

One day while scrolling Instagram, Gillian Smith came across something about Ireland's national women's lacrosse team which was holding tryouts in America for some upcoming competitions.

"I went down this rabbit hole online about a year, year and a half ago on eligibility and everything like that. I ended up finding out I could try out," she said.

Smith went to one tryout in Connecticut which led to a training camp in Dublin last year.

She heard nothing until she was back home last fall watching her younger brother play football for Benedictine when she got an overseas call with some very good news.

"I got out of the car and my mom was over with friends. I lock eyes with her and I said I made the senior team. It was the greatest feeling," she said. "It was awesome to be with her when I got that phone call. The timing was so right. I could have been here, I could have been anywhere. But I was with my family.

Smith will be competing for Ireland at this summer's Women's Senior European Cup in Portugal.

For most athletes, it's the opportunity of a lifetime to compete on an international level. But for Smith, it's not entirely a new experience.

Before she picked up a lacrosse stick, Smith kicked up her heels as an Irish dancer. So got so good at it, that she qualified for the world championships in none other than Dublin.

Once again, the Irish capital offers more than just a bridge to her familial past.

"It was just so much fun. My pop-pop was there. It was just a great experience for me," she said.

She kept in touch with many of the other girls whom she met through dancing and even stayed with one of them during her lacrosse tryouts last year.

It's a second chance at a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"The experience of being able to do what you love on such a big stage and meet people from all across the world is just an incredible opportunity," she said.

The European championships will be held in Braga, Portugal from July 15 through July 23.

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