Field Hockey, Lacrosse
Favorite athlete: Maggie Walsh, Gwynedd Mercy Field Hockey, my lifelong friend and role model
Favorite team: Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Winning a playoff game (against second-seeded Methacton) my junior year when the odds were stacked against us. My coach is very good at keeping our team grounded, and (she) motivated our team to keep our heads high and work to the best of our ability. It was Halloween night, and we went and performed as a team and won the game to qualify for states. This was the first time we qualified for states in my four years at South.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Our team was in a funk - not really playing together. Coach Toner called for a fun practice to let off steam. It really did the trick as we were going all out trying to beat each other at various events. It was my turn at the relay, and when I was racing to gather my items, a bunch of mats fell on me and my teammate. I was laughing so hard I had to change my shorts. My coach really knew what we needed because after that practice we were thick as thieves on and off the field. We tightened our relationships and bonded as a team.
Music on mobile device: I love all dance music. Some favorites that pump me up before games are: “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Diana Ross, “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys, “Better Than Her” by Matisse
Future plans: I am very interested in the medical field, for example, nursing or physician assistant, and also playing field hockey in college.
Words to live by: “Don’t run away from challenges, run over them.”
One goal before turning 30: I am looking forward to being independent and making money so I can travel and experience all the world has to offer.
One thing people don’t know about me: I have always loved Scooby Doo.
By Mary Jane Souder
Megan Weeks is one of those special players that makes a team better simply by being part of it.
It’s not so much the Central Bucks South senior’s talent – although she has plenty of that. It’s not even the way Weeks interacts with her teammates or communicates with her coaches that sets her apart, although she is beloved by teammates and coaches alike.
Rather, it’s the way Weeks – without anyone asking - is more than willing to do the most menial of tasks. It’s her instinctive nature to show others just how much she cares with a quick hug or a kind word. Throw in the fact that Weeks has the ability to laugh at herself, and it’s small wonder South field hockey coach Pat Toner thinks the world of her senior captain and calls her a natural to enter the nursing profession.
“I think it’s the perfect job for her. She’s that person who would be very nurturing and caring for everyone,” Toner said. “This is something that speaks to her parents and how she was raised – on Thanksgiving, I got a message from her saying how thankful she was to be a part of our team and thankful that I was her coach. She goes out of her way.
“There’s no need for her to do that. You know it’s coming from her heart because it’s not like she’s going to get more playing time – she’s already playing every minute of every game. It’s just that’s who she really is. She will turn around and give you a hug and say how much she cares. She is just a loving, caring person.”
In the next breath, Toner laughs as she recalls an especially amusing exchange with a player affectionately called Meeks, who laughingly admits she has her “blonde moments.”
“She said something about – ‘I really like that rapper, Canine West.’ I said, ‘Did you mean Kanye?’” Toner said “I told her it’s pretty sad when you have a grandmother – me – telling you how to pronounce the name of a rapper. She’s just that kid.
“One time she said she was doing something using two tips. I said, ‘What’s that?’ She said, ‘You know, the thing with cotton.’ I said, ‘You mean Q-tips?’ Every day there was something. She’s absolutely hysterical, everybody absolutely loves her.”
On the hockey field, the senior midfielder was a key player and contributed in every single aspect of the game from scoring goals to preventing them.
“She doesn’t get all the accolades that some people do, but she deserves it,” Toner said of the four-year varsity player. “She works as hard as anyone I’ve ever had. She’s on everything – she’s on offensive corners, defensive corners, the 7v7 team, she’d have been on one-on-ones if we’d ever gotten to that.
“She’s very versatile and just plays in everything we do and came to everything in the offseason as well.”
Weeks battled a hamstring injury her entire senior season.
“That didn’t really stop me from playing the game,” Weeks said. “I didn’t limit myself.”
As the team’s defensive flyer on corners, Weeks was fearless. She has been hit by the wild swings of opponents as well as by the ball.
“My first thing is to stop the ball, go where the ball is,” she said. “I’ve been hit multiple times, but I never really had an awful injury where I couldn’t play the next game.”
Weeks, according to Toner, was a natural choice for the key defensive position on penalty corners.
“She’s extremely quick at getting out,” the Titans’ coach said. “That poor kid got beat up all season long, and she never missed a game.
“Her hamstring was bothering her all year. It never slowed her down, and she never stopped. She would get it wrapped and come back in the game. She got hit several times being a flyer on corners and still just put herself right back in the game. She’s just a hardworking tough kid.”
******
Field hockey has been part of Weeks’ life for as long as she can remember. Basketball, however, was her sport of choice as a youngster.
“I did AAU basketball and would just do field hockey for school,” she said. “I didn’t do club.
“I decided sophomore year that I liked field hockey a lot better, and I wanted to focus on that more.”
Weeks walked away from basketball after her sophomore season and added lacrosse to her resume that spring. She played club field hockey for FSC the past two years.
“Field hockey became my favorite sport in high school when I was getting more competitive,” she said. “I still like basketball, but field hockey overpowered it.”
Weeks’ love of the sport coincided with the arrival of Toner on the scene, South’s fourth coach in four years for the once powerhouse program. The Titans’ fortunes (they won just three games the year before her arrival) changed immediately.
“She was awesome,” Weeks said. “I always enjoyed playing the sport, but once PT came she broke down every step.
“We worked on our skills. We didn’t know what to expect, and she turned the whole program around. I think I became more competitive, which made me enjoy it more.”
The Titans advanced to the postseason Toner’s first year at the helm but lost a heartbreaker to Plymouth Whitemarsh in the opening round. ? The next two years, it was the Titans creating the heartbreak. Last year, they pulled off the upset of the District One 3A Tournament, sending second-seeded and undefeated Methacton home in the second round as the result of a 2-1 upset in overtime. This year, the 12th-seeded Titans played giant killer yet again, defeating fifth-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh 1-0 in the second round.
“That was so exciting,” Weeks said. “Sophomore year we played PW in the playoffs and we lost to them.”
There have been big wins and heartbreaking losses over the past four years, but ask Weeks what she’ll remember most, and it’s not any of that. Instead, it’s the friends she’s made along over the years.
“I’ve made such good friends,” she said. “Also, PT is not just a coach but a friend I looked up to.
“(I won’t remember) winning or losing or the records or the score. It’s how we made those memories together and the little things we did on and off the field, the team bonding activities.”
Field hockey will most definitely be part of her future.
“It would be hard to give up field hockey because I’ve always played it, and I enjoy the sport,” Weeks said. “It’s also a good way to make friends and already have a family because you’re always together.”
Weeks is considering Gwynedd Mercy, Lock Haven and Widener, and wherever she goes, she will pursue a nursing major.
“I was always interested in nursing when I was little because I liked to help my grandparents – I would be their ‘nurse’ or little helper when they were sick,” she said. “I actually got to see a C-section the summer before my junior year. I was shadowing my friend’s mom at Doylestown Hospital, and I was like, ‘Wow, this is something I’d like to do.’”
Weeks also excels in the classroom and earned all-state academic recognition. She is a member of South’s Athletic Leadership Council, she is involved with Athletes Helping Athletes and LINK.
Although Weeks’ days of playing field hockey at South are over, it’s a safe bet she won’t be forgotten any time soon.
“Besides her athletic ability and work ethic, which is phenomenal – she will be the first one at practice and stay late, and she’s the kid that works extra hard,” Toner said. “She did a lot for us on the field and off the field.
“She’s also the kid that – even though she’s a senior – she doesn’t think she’s any better than anyone else. She makes other kids feel comfortable. On top of that, she’ll be the first one to help with equipment, the first one to ask if I need help with anything. That’s been all three years I’ve had her. She’s just a great kid.”
