Presenting information to military generals is not in the regular experience of many but is becoming so in the day-to-day life of Reilly McGinnis, an Emmaus High School alum, who last month was selected as first captain/brigade commander of the U.S. Military Academy’s Corps of Cadets for the 2020-2021 year at West Point.

McGinnis, of Lower Macungie Township, works with the administration at the storied military institution to address the needs and concerns of her fellow cadets while also being responsible for the performance of the approximately 4,400 cadets who attend West Point.

“It is a tremendous opportunity to have that platform,” McGinnis said in a telephone interview Sept. 13.

McGinnis is no stranger to leadership.

A former captain of the Emmaus girls soccer team, McGinnis scored two goals in the second half of a come-from-behind, season-finale game against Allentown Central Catholic High School in 2015. Her goals brought the game to a tie, putting the Hornets in position to win the game, 3-2 and qualify for district play.

“No one wanted to lose that game. No one wanted the season to end,” McGinnis is quoted in The Press newspapers at the time.

Writing for the U.S. Army website, writer Jorge Garcia describes McGinnis as someone for whom “team building and working in unison to achieve a shared goal” was forged in her high school soccer career at EHS.

McGinnis also was president of student government at EHS and credits this experience as pivotal to her development as a leader. It was her first leadership role off the soccer field, she explained, and she worked with all types of students, peers and friends with a wide variety of interests.

As a senior at EHS, McGinnis earned recognition as one of two recipients of the Emmaus High School Principal’s Award for Outstanding Student, one of two recipients of the United States Marine Corps Athletic Award and among 18 scholar athletes.

McGinnis also was recognized for her admission to West Point at the year-end senior awards ceremony.

McGinnis now holds the highest position in the cadet chain of command, according to the West Point public affairs office, in August.

“As First Captain, she is responsible for the overall performance of the approximately 4,400-member Corps of Cadets. Her duties also include implementing a class agenda and acting as a liaison between the Corps and the administration,” according to information published on the West Point website.

When McGinnis began her freshman, or plebe year, at West Point, Simone Askew, the first African American woman to serve as first captain, led the cadets.

“She [Askew] never let the fact she was female hold her back,” McGinnis said.

West Point first opened its ranks to women in 1980. McGinnis is the sixth woman to be selected as first captain.

When recognized by then Congressman Charlie Dent in a reception for area high school graduates committed to attending one of the United States military academies held in the fall of 2017 and in an interview with Sons of The American Legion on YouTube, McGinnis explained she was not aware of West Point until she was scouted by a soccer coach for the military academy while at a sports camp.

McGinnis played midfield her freshman and sophomore years at West Point.

“The military wasn’t something I was exposed to in my everyday life,” McGinnis said in the SAL interview.

Her grandfather served in the Korean Conflict, she said.

“I remember thinking, ‘yeah, right. Reilly in the Army. That’s funny,” McGinnis recalled in her interview with SAL radio.

McGinnis on the soccer field, however, was not out of the ordinary. She began playing when she was 3, she said. Her older sister played collegiate soccer for St. Francis University in Loretto, Cambria County.

Her younger sister plays volleyball for EHS.

McGinnis has described her selection as first captain as “humbling.”

“It is such an incredible opportunity,” McGinnis said.

McGinnis played soccer for West Point until her doctor’s recommendations after an injury led her to step away from the field to allow her injury to heal.

“It allowed me to see West Point for all that it is. It expanded my horizons,” McGinnis said of leaving her commitment to soccer.

McGinnis is among student athletes named Patriot League Academic Honor Roll in 2017 and 2018.

“I do not feel like I’ve been limited whatsoever,” she said. “I’ve had just as many opportunities. They’ve been nothing but inclusive. I feel I have 40 brothers to my left and to my right who push me to be the best I can be.”

From West Point McGinnis will begin a mandatory five-year commitment to the military. Engineering is of current particular interest, due in part to the variety of areas of expertise in the subject, including combat and construction.

“It is such a phenomenal education,” McGinnis said of her career at West Point.

According to a media release from West Point, all 22 cadets selected for leadership positions in the Class of 2021 assumed their duties Aug. 10.