Team Cavanagh

You have to wonder whether the Cavanagh family can play basketball, too. Because, if so, the NBA may have a slew of prospects in Warwick, Rhode Island.

As one of nine children in his Irish-Catholic family, Tom Cavanagh seemed destined to play hockey given his roots on the ice.

His father, Joe Cavanagh ’71 earned All-America honors on the Harvard hockey team in 1969, 1970 and 1971 and his uncle Dave ’72 also excelled in Bright. Another uncle, Rich ’85, rounded out the trio playing JV hockey. It is no wonder that Crimson suits Tom so well.

“It was just one of those things I always saw in myself—playing in a Harvard uniform because it is in my blood,” Tom Cavanagh says.

But there is more to Team Cavanagh, as Tom’s older brothers Joe and Paul both lettered as Holy Cross icemen and graduated in 1999 and 2000, respectively. More brothers may also be on the way, as Dave is a junior at Tom’s alma mater Toll Gate High School, and Jimmy, at 13 years of age, plays in the pee wee league.

If that’s not enough, you can find Bobby Cavanagh, a cousin, on the forward line at Bowdoin and Mark, another cousin, is a sophomore forward at Wentworth.

“I was a freshman in high school the year after my older brother Paul graduated, so I actually never got a chance to play with him, which is too bad—I would have liked to,” Tom says. “I got to play with my cousins, though. We have a pretty big family and everyone plays hockey.”

Fast Times at Toll Gate High

The Cavanaghs attended Toll Gate High School, where Tom led the Rhode Island High School League and was a Rhode Island All-State First Team selection in both 1999 and 2000.

“At Toll Gate, we had a really great coach who did a lot with the hockey program and I think my brothers, myself and my younger brother all improved a lot over our four years there because of how good the coach is,” Cavanagh said. “Rhode Island high school hockey is very serious, so the four years I was there were great and very competitive.”

Cavanagh was also the captain of the golf team, though his continued play has been halted by time at Bright since.

“Golf’s the type of sport you have to stick with if you want to be good at it,” Cavanagh says. “Maybe it’s something I’ll do later on in life when I’m too old to play hockey.”

Cavanagh took a post-graduate year at Phillips Exeter Academy, a common step for Division I hockey players, looking to improve in the classroom and on the ice.

“Exeter, hockey-wise, was a step up from the school I was playing at, so I knew that my hockey game would be better and it’s also a great school,” Cavanagh says. “My [oldest] brother Joe went to Andover. My parents thought it would be a good idea. My father did a post-grad year after high school and he thought it would help me transition academically and athletically.”