Megan Spear always knew one day she’d play field hockey for the Falcons. After all, the program was a significant part of her childhood.
“I think I’m very lucky to be able to grow up watching my sisters play especially because they started at Cox, so elementary and middle school I was really just growing up watching Cox play, being the ball girl.”
But now Megan has a much bigger role within the program. A critical asset to the Falcons offense, she totaled 18 goals and 22 assists last season helping lead Cox to their fourth consecutive state title.
Her older sisters, Sarah and Abby were also field hockey standouts and growing up with them provided her with a unique advantage. Sarah currently plays at Columbia and Abby at Duke.
“Definitely we were challenging each other all the time. Abby’s one of the top 5 goalies in the nation so being able to play with her was always making me better,” said Megan.
Head Coach Taylor Rountree enters her sixth season leading the Falcons and she’s had a front row seat to Megan’s development.
“I started coaching Megan was she was 6, so I’ve had the whole Spear family for a while. Her confidence has just astronomically gone through the roof since she got to high school,” she said. “When she was little, her parents told us stories all the time about how she would just dribble around the wood floors in their house all day. She’s happiest with a stick in her hand and it’s very rare to find her without one.”
The only difference as Megan enters her sophomore season is that she’ll now be the lone Spear sister on the field after Abby graduated last year.
“She’s been around the game for so long, she knows the system. She’s probably one of the best reads on the field- definitely in the region and arguably in the state,” said Coach Rountree. “She’s just as happy scoring a goal as she is taking the ball away from someone.”
Megan admits she’ll miss Abby’s presence and although the influence her sisters had on her is immeasurable, she looks forward to establishing her own identity on the team.
“It was definitely nice knowing my sister on the team and also kind of being able to reevaluate with her after the games and driving home with her,” Megan said. “I don’t think we were ever similar enough for me to be following in their footsteps. Sarah was definitely more of a defensive player and Abby’s obviously a goalie, so I think I’m kind of making my own way being more of an attacking player.”