Grace O’Brien

Grace O’Brien felt sad and helpless as she watched the events unfold as Russia invaded Ukraine. O’Brien wanted to do something to help the children in Ukraine.

O’Brien, who played volleyball, basketball, and track for Galway High School, had a great idea. She organized a donation to UNICEF for children in Ukraine by making bracelets that said, “We stand with Ukraine.” All the proceeds went to UNICEF.

O’Brien, who is a Capital District Sports Women of the Year Award scholastic recipient, is proud of what she has done to help the children in Ukraine.

“It’s so hard to wrap my head around it because we live here, and it’s just, it’s just easy to live here,” O’Brien said. “We don’t have to deal with any bombings or threats of war on us. So I can’t even imagine what kids are going through over there.

Starting it was part of her National Honor Society project. O’Brien said it raised nearly $200.

“I feel like it was the easiest thing to help out,” O’Brien said. “I felt accomplished.”

O’Brien’s efforts have not gone unnoticed.

“Grace has truly gone beyond anything anyone could imagine this year in volleyball,” Galway girls’ volleyball coach Michael Glenn wrote in his nomination letter. “In all my years, I have known other students with talents equivalent to Grace’s.

“However,” continued Glenn, “most of them lacked her good nature and humility, and even fewer demonstrated the genuine intellectual curiosity that Grace has exhibited over and over; a curiosity that is often accompanied by her excitement or enthusiasm for an idea, an experiment, or the lead role in a challenging operatic performance.”

Some of O’Brien’s other community service activities include a two-time clean up at Great Camp Santanoni in Newcomb, going to the camp late in the spring to help clean the debris from the winter. She also volunteered at the Galway girls’ modified and junior varsity basketball games, keeping score.

Athletically, O’Brien earned numerous awards. She was a First Team Western Athletic Conference girls’ volleyball All-Star in 2021 and 2022, and an All-State Class C in 2022 and the WAC MVP in 2022. She was a WAC Top Scholar Athlete in 2022, as well as a WAC First Team All-Star in basketball and the team’s most valuable player in the 2022-23 season.

Asked which sport she likes; O’Brien said it depends on the season.

“If I’m in volleyball season, I like volleyball more,” O’Brien said. “But then once I’m in basketball season, I like basketball more. Volleyball, there’s a net separating both teams. But basketball is a lot more physical. Basketball is a team sport, but I feel like it is more individual, as well.”

O’Brien participated in track and field for the first time this past spring.

“She is a very versatile athlete and can perform in a wide variety of events,” Galway track and field coach Geoffrey Maliszewski wrote in his nomination letter. “How we ended up utilizing her was in our relays. She is a key member of the 4×100, 4×800 and 4×400 relays. She is a natural runner with a beautiful stride. She works hard in practice and has never been absent from a meet or a practice. She has been a model of consistency in her efforts.”