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10/27/2016 12:00 AMWhenever the North Branford field hockey squad is about to take the field for a game, the T-Birds’ athletes huddle together to get each other pumped up for the action. The loudest person in the bunch is always senior captain Meredith Johnson.
“I love it. I love getting the team pumped,” says Meredith. “I start cheers during pregame and before every game. It’s my ritual where I scream in the middle to try to get our momentum up. They see me as that person to pump the team up.”
Meredith takes a serious approach to her role as a captain and is constantly going above and beyond to make sure that everything is ready to go for both the games and practices. T-Birds’ Head Coach Babby Nuhn appreciates how Meredith helps lead the team, in addition to the overall skill set she brings to the defensive side of the field.
“Meredith is the heart and soul of the team as a genuinely selfless leader. She helps to motivate her teammates on a daily basis with her positive attitude and she always puts her teammates first as she helps to guide them with their developmental skills,” says Coach Nuhn. “Meredith is also the person who subtly makes sure all equipment is on the field before practice or at games. She is focused on details and makes sure things get done. On the field, Meredith is a solid right defense player. She has worked very hard on her tackling skills to avoid opponents to enter her defensive end.”
Meredith says she’s learned a lot from Coach Nuhn about the importance of handling responsibility. Working with Nuhn is one of the big reasons why Meredith has grown to love the North Branford field hockey program so much.
“Ever since my freshman year, Nuhn wants people to have responsibilities. She wants us all to learn and I had good leaders that taught me that as a captain. You do it more and it’s rewarding to have that responsibility,” says Meredith. “I think it’s an honor to know people look up to you and reach out to you when they have a problem. Coach puts a lot on us, but we’re repping the team and putting our foot forward. It’s important to be that person that everyone looks up to.”
As a key component of the defense, Meredith has helped the T-Birds keep several teams off the scoreboard this year, while helping North Branford compile 11 victories thus far.
“I really like playing defense, even though it’s not as rewarding. I’m aware I don’t score goals or put up big stats, but I know I can benefit in different ways,” Meredith says. “I benefit others, like stopping as much as I can and being a vocal leader, because I have a different perceptive from the back of the field like our goalie.”
During the springtime, Meredith is a member of North Branford’s girls’ lacrosse team. Many T-Birds’ field hockey players also play lacrosse and Meredith joined that program in her freshman year. Meredith enjoys playing the sport and worked so hard that she will captain that team, too, in the 2017 season. Meredith says there was an adjustment period as she got used to speed of lacrosse, but she’s since become an important member of the team’s defense.
“My first year of lacrosse was new to me, so I wasn’t sharp and it was frustrating to me. It almost motivated me to get better. I worked hard for it and it paid off,” says Meredith. “It’s a different perspective from field hockey, but in both sports, I do my best to not have the goalie take many shots and, when I do get the ball, I get it up the field as fast as I can.”
Meredith says that’d she’d like to continue playing varsity field hockey in college and currently has schools like Eastern Connecticut State University and Babson College in Massachusetts on her radar. Meredith might wind up deciding to compete at the club level, but first thing’s first, as she still has some unfinished business playing sports at the high school that’s helped make her who she is today.
“To me, the sport is almost life changing. I’m not emotionally or mentally prepared to stop playing this sport, so I want to try at the college level,” says Meredith. “I don’t owe it to myself, but my teammates and coaches. Without them, I wouldn’t be the player or leader that I am.”