NSCD’s multi-sport star Reese Meyers ready to pull double duty on next level

A two-sport athlete is uncommon in today’s collegiate athletic world.

With so many student-athletes specializing in one sport, recruits typically are ready to take the next step in one sport.

Add in the craziness of a collegiate student-athlete’s schedule and it’s difficult to compete in multiple sports. Where you might see a student-athlete participate in multiple sports, however, is the NCAA Division III or NAIA levels, two levels that offer a more holistic approach to being a student-athlete.

One local athlete, recent North Shore Country Day graduate Reese Meyers, is set to test that theory next month when she heads off to Haverford College outside of Philadelphia to start her collegiate experience. Meyers will both run track and play soccer for the Fords this fall. 

“Soccer recruiting for me started in my sophomore year,” she said. “Originally, I was looking at the same conference my sister runs in, the NESCAC. It’s a lot of high academic schools where sports are important and you play at a competitive level, but academics are also very important and that was critical to me, because I know I’m not going to play sports after the collegiate level, but wanted to make the best I can out of my four years.

“I also want to become a better person and more of a well-rounded individual, and that would offer that.”

Meyers, a Glencoe resident, said Haverford “embodied all of the things I was looking for, the high academics, the life balance and I loved the team when I met them. I was a great fit.”

The small school environment isn’t something foreign to Meyers and her family. Her father played college football at Hamilton College and both of her siblings are or have been NCAA Division III athletes as well. Her brother, Mason, just wrapped up a four-year college basketball career at Sarah Lawrence College, and her sister, Marley, is entering her junior year as a sprinter at Hamilton College.

Having so many family members that have gone through similar experiences, especially her siblings within the past four years, helped Meyers as she was getting ready to go through the recruiting process.

“They all told me that if you’re going to pursue this, you gotta love it,” Meyers said. “Division III athletes … we’re not getting paid for this. And it’s hard — the sport, the conditioning, playing at the higher level where everyone is stronger, faster, more experienced. 

“That’s hard, but it’s also the balance between your sport and academics, when it comes to things like getting internships and going into a career.”

While she is off to Pennsylvania to play two sports, Meyers actually played four sports while at the Winnetka school. 

Upon entering North Shore as a freshman, Meyers played on the school’s successful field hockey team as a freshman and was a four-year varsity member of the basketball, track and field, and soccer teams, racking up accolade after accolade.

In her four years at North Shore, Meyers was a four-time Independent School League All-Conference honoree in both soccer and track, a four-time All-Sectional selection by the Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association and a four-time All-Sectional track pick. She also holds eight North Shore Country Day track records and was a three-time All-State finisher in the 400 meters, ending her high school career with a sixth-place finish at the IHSA championships.

“Honestly, I think the benefit of going to a small school was that I was able to make that instant impact like I did,” Meyers said. “The timing was right, too. The soccer team had lost 14 seniors from the previous year and I came in and worked hard right away and it paid off.”

Soccer was Meyers’ first love, however.

The Glencoe resident started in the AYSO youth program when she was around 4 or 5 years old, played for the Trevian Soccer Club and then FC United, as well as for the Raiders.

After eighth grade, however, she took a year off from playing club.

She hadn’t lost any love for the game, but it was the exact recharge she needed.

“Around COVID, when I was 12, I started to realize I really like to play soccer, I truly enjoy being on the field.” she said. “At the end of eighth grade, I was playing pretty competitively and it was a lot for me, so I took a break from club during my ninth grade year.

“I realized that I wanted to continue after that break, though. I missed that high level of competition. So I rejoined my club team in 10th grade with the goal of playing in college.”

Students at Haverford don’t have to declare a major until their sophomore year, but Meyers already has a couple of subjects in mind.

“I’m interested in law but don’t want to pigeonhole myself, because I only understand it at a theoretical level right now and we don’t have to declare our majors until our sophomore years,” she said. “So right now I’m interested in both psychology and political science because I think they have broader applications.

“Haverford is a bit of an arts school, so you have to able to learn to express yourself. But also, in terms of psychology, being able to understand how people think, how and why they make their decisions, is really important for interpersonal work. Both psychology and political science can both help show how laws have come to be and how they affect our current world, as well as other issues that exist in our society.

“But I’m planning on taking as many different courses as I can to make sure that’s what I want to do.”

Another favorable aspect of playing a Division III sport is the campus report time.

Unlike many Division I schools, which may require players to be on campus for much or most of the summer, Meyers doesn’t have to get to the suburban Philadelphia campus until the middle of August, giving her some extra time to be able to enjoy her last summer before she heads off to college.

Meyers and Haverford begin their season with a home match against Penn St. Abington on Sept. 1.

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