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Student Athlete of the Week -- Rachel Meek, Buckingham

Posted: 12:40 PM Nov 30, 2012
Reporter: Lindsay Joy

Student Athlete of the Week -- Rachel Meek, Buckingham

Buckingham County High School doesn't have a girl's soccer team, but that hasn't kept Rachel Meek off the field. Meek has played on the
boy's soccer team all four years of high school.

"When she first started, I was a little skeptical," says her soccer coach and father Chuck Meek.

Rachel says Knights opponents are also a little skeptical when they initially see her on the field. "You see, oh, here's this little short girl, she doesn't look like she could do much, and then I come out and I'm one of the most aggressive people on the team."

Meek didn't just hold her own on the team, she earned second team all-district honors as a junior. Only one other girl in the James River
District has accomplished that.

"She's just one of the guys, and they respect her, they know what her potential is and they push her," says Chuck. "I've told them, you have to play her like a guy because she's going to play you like a guy."

Rachel says soccer is her first love, but she also plays golf and volleyball at Buckingham. In the fall, she spent the weekends practicing golf, and the weekdays playing in matches, and practicing and playing volleyball. Additionally, she participates in the schools JROTC program.

"It's so structured, and it teaches you determination and you
know, respect," she says. "It teaches you a lot of stuff that you can use in life. I want to be a smart, diverse person. I don't want to be just in with the athletes, I want to be friends with everybody."

Even wither busy schedule, Meek has remained in the top twenty percent of her class academically. As her golf coach, soccer coach, and father, Chuck gets a first-hand look at how she balances it all.

"She might have games where she comes in at 10, 11 o'clock. And she goes straight up, you know it's kind of like, 'hey dad, I've got homework,' so she goes straight up and takes care of that. Academics come first, sports come second."