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Mary Jane Meyer, a senior at Savannah Christian Preparatory School was very excited for her senior year soccer season. She was a captain of the team and this was the year in which they believed they could win the Region Championship and move far in the State Championship. Mary Jane stated the Raider team had an impressive group of girls who worked very well together, and they had skilled club players on the team. Savannah Christian coach, Erik Krotz, shifted to an aggressive attack strategy this year which Mary Jane loved because it allowed her to play forward, a position that she normally did not play.

Even with the shortened soccer season, Mary Jane scored 18 goals and had 10 assists in 8 games. Each year she has received the Headmaster’s Award for soccer and Offensive MVP one year and Defensive MVP another year. Mary Jane also went to the State Championship for both track and cross-country and she won area for the 800m in track two years and are for cross-country one year.

When Mary Jane was young her dad helped with the Isle of Hope Soccer league which her brother played on. She wanted to play on the team, but she was too young. Mary Jane stated that there was an extra uniform, so I got on the team. She then joined a Savannah United team with some friends and the coach, Stuart Fife. Mary Jane says “Coach Fife made me love the game so much that I joined the travel team when I was 7. I had great coaches along the way like Brian Okumu, David Shuman, and Ciara Thomas.” Mary Jane’s parents were very supportive of her love of soccer and they even travelled multiple times a week to Jacksonville where she also played with Jacksonville Armada ECNL, the highest level of play.

Coach Ciara Thomas of Savannah United has been the most influential person of Mary Jane’s athletic career. She says, “Coach Ciara Thomas pushed me to be better than I thought I could ever be. Although she was tough, she trained me in a way that prepared me not only for collegiate soccer, but for life after soccer.” Coach Thomas wrote personal notes to the girls prior to each game, and Mary Jane has saved them all. Mary Jane says, “That proved to me she cared for me as a person and not only as a player.”

Coach Thomas had this to say about Mary Jane. “I never once doubted Mary Jane’s commitment to her teammates or her teams. While being challenged over the years to step out of her comfort zone and learn to trust herself, she has risen to the top based on her work ethic, a determination to be her best and help her team in whatever way she could. No matter whether it was in training or in a game, she would grind it out and work to succeed at the task I gave her. She said that Mary Jane is coachable and that her willingness to learn and work hard will continue to help her be successful not only on the field but it will help carry her through life’s journey. It is so enjoyable as a coach to watch your athletes reach their dreams, and Mary Jane has worked tremendously hard to get to the next level. She understands the process isn’t over and she continues to push herself to be better as she prepares for the next step!”

Mary Jane believes she has been a successful student athlete applying the following in her life “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11.

Mary Jane wanted a smaller college, with strong academics, and where she felt connected to the coaches and girls on the team. Mary Jane will attend and play soccer at Wofford College.