Continuing the series that began in 2016-17, each Wednesday MGoBlue.com will highlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. These are our Scholar-Athlete Stories, presented by Absopure.
By Brad Rudner
For Maddie O'Reilly, leadership has taken a new meaning in the age of COVID-19.
She is one of a handful of seniors or graduate students on the University of Michigan water polo team. These seniors have been around the block and have the answers to most questions. Should the underclassmen need guidance -- on school, on water polo, on social activities -- the seniors are there.
The only difference is that right now, in the middle of a global pandemic, answers can sometimes be in short supply. They do not know if there will be a season, (though they're hopeful). They do not know what tomorrow will bring (but who does?)
Seemingly everything about the student-athlete experience has changed. And it has been hard.
"A lot of us like to internalize things," O'Reilly said, "but I know other people are struggling just as much as me, and that's OK. It's the elephant in the room. We've all had to adjust, but relying on each other helps balance it so much more."
When it comes to water polo, O'Reilly has done plenty of adjusting. She started playing in sixth grade and showed so much promise that she made varsity at the Episcopal Academy in less than two years.
O'Reilly is from Villanova, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia. When she made the decision to pursue the Olympic Development Program (ODP), the closest option was Princeton Aquatics in New Jersey, an hour's drive away. She was not old enough to drive herself, so her parents, Christy and Matt, would shuttle her to and from three-to-four times a week, which made for some pretty late nights.
"My parents were the reason I was able to pursue water polo," Maddie said. "I'm forever grateful for them committing to that."
That was not the only sacrifice her parents made. Maddie played two seasons for Princeton, but when she made the decision to pursue the sport in college, she figured she needed a step up in competition. So for the next two summers, she competed for Greenwich Aquatics in Connecticut.
O'Reilly committed to Michigan prior to her senior year. Still, she recognized that a gap existed in her game. She wanted to know what steps she could take to be ready to go on day one in Ann Arbor. Through conversations with her parents and Michigan head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi, O'Reilly made the decision to move to northern California and play with the 680 Water Polo club. Christy joined her.
They sublet an apartment for the summer. Maddie did CrossFit training in the morning and played for 680 in the evening.
With each step up, O'Reilly became more and more equipped to handle the pace of a college game -- and it showed. She was a steady contributor throughout her first two years at Michigan, tallying 28 points as a freshman (21 goals, seven assists) and 32 points as a sophomore (16G, 16A).
Then she blew up. The stats alone tell the story.
In 2020, O'Reilly scored 36 goals and had 34 assists in just 19 matches. That's 70 points, more than her previous two years combined. Though COVID-19 cut the season short, she was named the 2020 Michigan Female Breakthrough Athlete of the Year.
"There was a role that opened up that I was able to fulfill," O'Reilly said, pointing to her status as the team's primary left-handed attacker. "The first two years, I struggled with my mindset and various mental challenges. Physically, I was there, but it wasn't until junior year when that mental switch was really flipped. I knew I could become a really good player if I worked on the mental side."
Outside the pool, O'Reilly is exceptionally busy. She is on track to graduate with a degree in sport management, a path of study she first heard about during her Junior Day visit. The blend of sport and business proved to be the perfect combination.
"It sounded so up my alley," she said. "I knew I'd be passionate about it and wouldn't change my mind. Once I made the decision to commit, I knew I'd be applying to the school. It definitely eased my mind that my school had something I would be interested in learning about."
Throughout her four years at Michigan, O'Reilly has always looked forward, plotting a path to what's next. She is a frequent user of the services provided by the Michigan Athletics Career Center (MACC) and used the Sport Management Career Center to nab an opportunity as an intern at the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru. She lived in Lima, the site of the Games, for three weeks, dabbling in event operations, marketing and communications. None of her colleagues spoke a lick of English.
O'Reilly is also the president of Women Uplifting Women, a support group comprised of female student-athletes who are passionate about supporting each other and creating an identity for women outside of athletics.
The group, though only a year-and-a-half old, is growing. On average, they get five to 12 participants, but for a virtual peer networking event held a few weeks ago, they had 20.
O'Reilly said one of her most ambitious goals is to host a three-person panel with 100 student-athletes in attendance, a format similar to the Michigan Sport Business Conference. Considering there are about 400 female student-athletes, getting a quarter of them to attend is certainly lofty, but it is a goal she feels is eventually attainable.
"The purpose of this is to provide female student-athletes a space where they can connect with industry professionals and ask questions they may not be comfortable asking to men," she said. "For example, how can you be comfortable in an all-male setting? How do you balance a career with having children?"
O'Reilly is not done with water polo, either. She has already made the decision to come back next year for a fifth year, enrolling in the Master of Management program at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. It was not an easy decision.
"It wasn't something that I considered in the past. I valued my Michigan degree and never thought about pursuing more than that," she said. "But once the option became available, back in the spring, I thought about it all the time. Once I got back on campus, I didn't have to think twice. How could I pass this up? Getting my master's degree and playing another year of water polo is a perfect duo. The girls on the team are my best friends. Plus, this will push my career further in so many ways."
When it comes to the student-athlete experience, there is not much that O'Reilly has not done. The resources that the University of Michigan provides, she has taken advantage of them. Those experiences -- from the pool to the community to the classroom -- helped formed her into the person she is today.
"Michigan is so unique, I couldn't have imagined myself at any other university," she said. "This place is competitive in so many aspects, but competition to the point where people are motivating you, uplifting you. Nobody is ever trying to bring you down. My teammates are some of the hardest-working people I could ever find. They try hard at school, want to give back to the community and want to be safe because of COVID-19."
"I can't find any other place where that's the case. I'm forever grateful for the relationships and opportunities this school has provided me with."
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