International Student-Athlete Represents His Country as a Long Snapper at Allegheny College
When Tharit Monsereenusorn ’24 takes the field as the long snapper for the Allegheny College football team, he’s lining up nearly 8,600 miles away from his hometown of Nonthaburi, Thailand.
It’s a journey he’s immensely proud of — and grateful for.
“Football has taught me resilience and a purpose to work toward,” Monsereenusorn says. “I was never the biggest kid or even a physically talented athlete; however, I wanted to make an impact on the team, so I worked on my craft of long snapping to earn my spot,”
Monsereenusorn started playing football in 10th grade while attending boarding school in the U.S. Now, as a junior student-athlete at Allegheny, Monsereenusorn hopes to inspire other students to try a new sport.
“It isn’t every day that someone from my country is seen playing on the football field, and it is especially rare to see someone like me long snapping,” he says. “I owe a great debt to my family for everything they have done for me up to this point, and I hope I can make my parents proud.”
Monsereenusorn, an economics major and computer science minor, says he chose Allegheny for its academic rigor. He especially appreciates the opportunity to learn from and interact with faculty who know him by name, which he wouldn’t necessarily have had at a larger institution. During his time at the College, he made the NCAC 2021-22 academic honor roll and had the highest GPA on the football team last fall.
Although Monsereenusorn is far from Thailand, Allegheny’s tight-knit community has made him feel at home, as a member of the football team and Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.
“I have made friends with people from as close as Pittsburgh and Cleveland to as far as Florida and Texas, and I am very lucky to call many of these people my brothers,” Monsereenusorn says. “Being at Allegheny is an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything else.”
After graduating from Allegheny College, Monsereenusorn hopes to gain permanent residency in the U.S. and pursue work in the defense industry or law enforcement with a focus on transnational crime. If he returns to Thailand, he would like to commission in the Royal Thai Police after completing his mandatory service in the Royal Thai Army.