Athlete of the Issue: Meryl Gilbert ’27

ALICIA YIN/DEERFIELD SCROLL

Entering her final year on the team, four-year captain of girls varsity soccer Meryl Gilbert ’27 believes that soccer has helped her develop a deep commitment to both the game and her teammates. She hopes to use her role as captain to continue building the team and leave a lasting impact on the program. 

Growing up in upstate New York, she started in town leagues before playing for a club team at 10. Since then, she spent two years balancing local league with national-level Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) soccer. After arriving at Deerfield, she continued competing with a local club team along with playing for the Academy’s varsity team. 

Over her Deerfield career, Gilbert faced challenges both on and off the field. “It’s hard to balance life and play soccer at a high level,” she said. 

Her most difficult challenge came during her sophomore spring, when she tore her labrum. The injury kept her from playing soccer and competing in track throughout the summer leading into her junior season. Although she eventually returned to soccer, she had to slowly work her way back into playing. “It’s still hard because I never got surgery and I am still in pain,” she said. “But you just have to push through.”

This experience has influenced how she approaches leadership. “Sometimes the hardest mental block is to get over yourself and stop being selfish,” she stated. “Especially as a captain, you need to prioritize the team, even if that means making sacrifices.” For Gilbert, this mindset has been vital during her final season as the team’s captain. 

Her teammates see her commitment to the team in the way she leads daily. Winnie Underwood ’28 described Gilbert as “an amazing leader” who is “sweet and hard-working” and has “so much care for the team.” Underwood especially remembers Gilbert's support for her when she played an entire game as an underclassman goalkeeper. “In my position I am supposed to yell, and I was worried to do that as an underclassman, but Meryl encouraged me to,” Underwood recalled. 

Carolyn Mountz ’28 emphasized Gilbert’s ability to balance leadership with her enjoyment of the sport itself. When asked about Gilbert, Mountz gushed, “Meryl is the best! She is so supportive of everyone.” She also added that Gilbert has “a great balance of hard work and having fun” and has consistently been an example for the team in both practices and games.

One of Gilbert’s favorite memories came during her freshman year on Choate Day. Deerfield defeated Choate after a difficult first season, ending a seven-year winless stretch against its rival in girls varsity soccer. “It was literally one of the best days of my life,” Gilbert recalled. She remembered the moment the final whistle blew and the team “stormed the field.” After a difficult first season filled with ups and downs, the victory gave the team a memorable way to end the year.

Gilbert said that moments like these have helped create the close relationships among players that make soccer so special. Even after difficult losses, she believed the team must focus on what they can control. “A lot of people focus on the refs or the bad calls,” she said, “but I think in order to move on, you have to focus on what we could’ve done better and what we can control.” Rather than dwelling on mistakes, Gilbert wanted the team to learn from them and move forward together. 

This season, Gilbert hopes the team could finish with a winning record and the best one of the past four years. However, her goals extend beyond results. She wants everyone on the team to feel safe, included, and to have fun. She also hopes the younger players, especially the juniors, would “figure out their voice and buy into the team.”

As she enters her final soccer season at Deerfield, Gilbert recognizes that the team she leaves behind is just as important as the record they will achieve this season. Her advice to younger generations in the team is to “put your all into the team.” She believes that her teammates eventually become family, and that the more players invest, the more “love and heart” they put into it will eventually come back to them.