Team leaders bring people together.
Meredith Woolbright doesn’t know exactly how she does it, but she acknowledges she has a knack for making friends and relating to teammates. Whether it is with a smile or with a little constructive criticism or motivation, Woolbright can find the right way to deliver a message that helps an individual or her team.
Woolbright’s leadership ability was put to the test last October when she and her New Hope High School teammates learned about a car accident on Highway 82 that involved four friends. The accident happened when New Hope High graduate Tyler Coleman was driving back home from Starkville on Oct. 8 and he lost control of the vehicle. The car left the roadway and flipped, injuring Coleman and passengers Kyle Cruthirds and Darius Hendricks, who are juniors at the school, and Maddie Burns, a sophomore.
The New Hope High slow-pitch team was scheduled to practice the next day, but none of the Lady Trojans felt up to it. That’s when Woolbright felt called to speak up and deliver an important message after she and teammate Kelsie Gerhart talked with New Hope High coach Bobby Taylor.
“I just felt like I have to be the one that has to get this team going and the one who lets them know it is going to be OK,” Woolbright said. “The longer I talked about it I felt like it was God talking to (my teammates) through me and that Kyle didn’t want us to stop and to be sad and mourn him. I knew we had to keep on.”
Led by Woolbright, New Hope advanced to the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 5A-6A North State championship series, where it lost to eventual state champion Neshoba Central.
Woolbright hopes to get another chance to win a state title in fast-pitch softball in the spring, but she can take the field knowing it won’t be the last time she plays softball. On Tuesday, Woolbright finalized her next step when she signed a National Letter of Intent to play softball at the Mississippi University for Women in Columbus. Woolbright will join New Hope High teammate Anna Kate O’Bryant in helping to bring athletics back to The W. In addition to softball, The W will feature baseball, men’s soccer, men’s and women’s cross country, and volleyball in the 2017-18 school year. The W will add more sports for the 2018-19 year as it continues the process to gain NCAA Division III status.
The road to The W wasn’t guaranteed for Woolbright, even though her mother, Allison, and her older sister, Alex, graduated from the school. She said she made fun of her sister for going to The W in part because the school didn’t have athletics. She said her thinking about the school changed in the fall after she talked to Tatjana Matthews, the softball coach at The W. She said she then thought The W might be a place where she could turn her dream of playing softball in college into a reality.
“Once I got on campus I realized it wasn’t what I had thought of it being,” Woolbright said. “I liked it. On the visit, everything coach Matthews said I felt I was at peace there.”
Woolbright said she will study education at The W in hopes of becoming a teacher — like her mother, who works at New Hope High — and a coach, also like her mother. Allison Woolbright coaches volleyball at New Hope High. She is looking forward to building on the leadership skills she has used as a multi-sport standout at New Hope High.
“Being a leader is not going to stop,” Woolbright said. “I know I will be a freshman and there will be lots of other new people, but I am going to take my leadership and show it to them and show the skills I have and that your age doesn’t matter. You can be a freshman and still lead people. I just feel like my leadership will help me build the program there and set a precedent for the other people who are going to come there.”
Taylor knows Woolbright will fit right in as a leader. He said she pulled everybody on the softball team up after the car accident and helped to keep everybody together.
“We love Meredith,” Taylor said. “Meredith is probably our No. 1 team leader. If we have problems with something, she is the one we go to. She keeps everybody up and is positive all of the time. I am glad The W is giving her an opportunity to further her education and her athletics.”
Taylor said Woolbright, who will earn academic scholarships to The W, is such a good teammate and leader because she has a big heart. He said she gets along with everybody and knows how to react to just about every situation. It was easy to tell Taylor was right by scanning the New Hope High library and seeing so many of Woolbright’s teammates on hand to be a part of the ceremony, which included a cake that was shaped in the face of an owl, which is The W’s mascot, and replete with blue frosting. Blue is one of the school’s colors.
Taylor said Woolbright is an effective leader because she isn’t afraid to speak up when teammates aren’t doing what they’re supposed to do. He said her ability to be friends with so many people helps her get her message heard.
“She has the unique ability to say what needs to be said and they listen to her,” Taylor said. “I listen to her. She is a good kid.”
Woolbright said her teammates and friends know she will goof off with them or joke around, but they also know when she is being serious. She feels good leaders have to be approachable because you can’t be demanding or mean if you want your teammates to listen and to follow your example. Even though Woolbright likely will have to get to know a new group of teammates at The W, she is confident she will be able to take on a leadership position and help the Owls start to build history in their first season.
“I am very friendly and I work really hard for what I get,” Woolbright said. “I think that shows. My teammates and friends know I have their back and if they ever needed me I would be there for them. I feel like that is how my friendships have grown.
“You can’t be a leader if no one likes you because you’re mean and you’re constantly on them and nagging them. I have learned that over the years. There have been times when I have had to step back and say, ‘OK.’ I definitely think being a personable person and being leader has to go hand in hand. It makes you grow as a leader being friendly and nice to people. It just helps you grow as a leader.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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