History of the Gaels
The Saint Mary's Gaels are the athletic teams that compete at Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, California. The nickname applies to the college's intercollegiate NCAA Division I teams and the school's club sports teams. Most varsity teams compete in the West Coast Conference.
College Sports Established
1892
Location
Moraga, California
College Name
Saint Mary's College of California
Collegiate History
1973 - Present / NCAA Division 1
1952 - 1973 / University Division of the NCAA
Conference History
1989 - Present / West Coast Conference
1952 - 1989 / West Coast Athletic Conference
Nickname
Gaels - "The Gaels are an ethno-linguistic group which spread from Ireland to Scotland and the Isle of Man. Their language is of the Gaelic (Goidelic) family, a division of Insular Celtic languages. The word in English was adopted in 1810 from Scottish Gaelic Gaidheal (compare Irish Gaedhealg and Old Irish Goídeleg) to designate a Highlander (OED). Gael or Goídeleg was first used as a collective term to describe people from Ireland; it is thought to have come from Welsh Gwyddel (Old Welsh Goídel), originally "raider", now "Irish person". Many people who do not speak Gaelic consider themselves to be 'Gaels' in a broader sense because of their ancestry and heritage."
The nickname was given to the school's football team (now discontinued) in 1926 by Pat Frayne, a writer for the now defunct San Francisco Call-Bulletin.[4] The school's previous nickname was the Saints, although the baseball team was known as the Phoenix until the 1940s.
NCAA Championships
Baseball 0
Men's Basketball 0
Women's Basketball 0
Football 0
Soccer 0
To qualify as the greatest player for this team, the player must have played one season for this team. If not, we will remove the player.
* verifies that the player has played for this team as an added player by a fan.
