Caleigh Noonan, a junior on the Holy Cross women’s golf team, started her journey on the courses at a young age. A blend of her passion for the game of golf and the support of her family have helped to shape her into the golfer she is today. Moving down to South Carolina from New England at eight years old, Noonan found herself surrounded by friends who were all starting to pick up golf, as well as her parents playing, so she gave it a shot herself and never looked back.
Golf isn’t the only sport that has had an impact on her. Her father, Mike Noonan, has served as the head coach for the Clemson University men’s soccer team since 2010, which has allowed Caleigh to have an additional perspective on athletics outside of being an athlete herself.
The two will be reunited in Worcester as the Holy Cross men’s soccer team hosts No. 5 Clemson — the defending national champions, and winners of the NCAA title twice in the last three years — on Monday, Sept. 16. Admission is free, and kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Linda Johnson Smith Soccer Stadium.
As Caleigh began to take golf more seriously and play at a competitive level with her high school golf team, she found herself wanting to make her way home to play at the collegiate level.
“Ever since we moved,” Caleigh said, “I always wanted to go back to New England.”
Growing up immersed in Clemson soccer, Caleigh has always seen the sense of family that her father’s team has always had. That is something she wanted to have around her in the future, and it’s something that she found at Holy Cross. And as she has had the ability to view athletics from a different perspective through Clemson soccer, Caleigh has been able to absorb advice from a variety of experts to help her continue to grow as an individual and an athlete.
“When I was younger, it was a little bit hard for me to listen to a lot of my dad's advice, as it was hard for me to separate coach from dad sometimes,” Caleigh said, “but I found as I've gotten older, I've been more receptive to a lot of his advice.
“I'd say to try to listen as much as you can, and take in as much as you can,” she added as advice to other young athletes who are the children of coaches.
Even with both seasons of Holy Cross women’s golf and Clemson men’s soccer in full swing, the Noonan family still has been able to reconnect with their New England friends and family. Clemson has spent the weekend in New England with two road games, as the team defeated Boston College 1-0 on Friday, Sept. 13, and will face Holy Cross tonight.
“I love seeing her in her environment as she continues to grow,” Mike said, “and I'm excited to see her interactions with her teammates, her friends, her peers there at Holy Cross on campus when we bring the team there.
“Just to see her be her — that's exciting for any dad. I call this my parents' weekend, so I’m very, very excited to see her.”
As Caleigh begins to move through her junior season with the Crusaders, the team is practicing for the Red Bandanna Invitational at the Blue Hill Country Club on Sept. 23 and 24.
“Golf is something that I'm very passionate about and I work as hard as I can to get better,” Caleigh said. “I can't imagine being at Holy Cross without being on the golf team. It's been such a great experience for the past two years.”
