Soccer, Basketball, Track
Favorite athlete: Ja Morant
Favorite team: Memphis Grizzlies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Beating Abington last year
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that
has happened while competing in sports: Getting a technical foul against William Tennent while we were down three points at the end of a game
Music on playlist: Mostly rap and some R&B
Future plans: Attend college and study economics
Words to live by: “I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.”
One goal before turning 30: Start a successful business
One thing people don’t know about me: I love McDonald's
By GORDON GLANTZ
When you are an excellent all-around athlete at a small school like New Hope-Solebury, word travels fast, and there are few places to hide.
Already a standout on the soccer and track teams, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before Nina Meixler was sought out to give basketball a try.
“People were asking me to come out for basketball,” she recalled. “People were, like, ‘Oh, you’re athletic. You’ll pick it up. You’ll probably be good at defense.’ I was, like, ‘Ok,’ and I gave it a shot.”
The only problem was - as per usual - that it was not as easy as the sales pitch.
Picking up basketball on the run as a sophomore was kind of like trying to play ice hockey without knowing how to skate.
“I came to the first practice, and I wasn’t even sure if I was going to like it,” said Meixler. “Every practice, we try two-ball dribbling and I couldn’t do it. The coach said to just use one ball, and I still couldn’t do it. They do pound dribbles, you do crossovers, and I still couldn’t do it.
“I usually try a sport, and I’m fine at it. With basketball, I was just horrible. The first couple of weeks, my shots wouldn’t fall. Nothing would happen. It was so frustrating.”
However, instead of going back to indoor track as her winter athletic endeavor, Meixler only became more determined.
“That’s what made me want to work at it more,” said Meixler. “(The coaches) pulled me aside at practices to help me find my shot and find my form. They helped me with ballhandling.”
For head coach Steve Polinsky, it was well worth the training.
“New Hope is a very small school,” said the fifth-year coach who recently picked up his 100th career win. “We have 488 students. Getting basketball players out for the team who aren’t yet basketball players is challenging, to say the very least. She had a friend on the team who said she was going to come out. Right away, I could tell she had the athleticism and quickness.”
Hooked on Hoops
A center-midfielder in soccer and part of the 4x800 District One winning relay team that will return intact this spring, Meixler soon found that she was more hooked on hoops than her other sports.
It even began to consume her free time.
“I watched a lot of college basketball,” said Meixler. “I just became infatuated with it. I fell in love, like I never had for a sport before. I cared so much about it. That’s why I didn’t drop it.
“Every night, I’d do my homework. If I had extra time, I’d just throw on a game. There are always college games on.”
Fast forward to the present, and the daughter of Michael and Sharon Meixler plays a key role for the Lions as a defensive stopper and senior leader.
“She was late to the dance, to the party, but she really picked it up,” said Polinsky. “To have a role like that, and to trust her to guard the best player on the opposite team says a lot about how much she has improved as a player.”
Honorable Mentions
Meixler credited Polinsky and assistant coaches John Turner and Kalie Soulsby for being in her corner.
“I’d like to thank (Polinsky) first,” she said. “He was the one who really worked with me. I attribute most of my success to him. He was patient with me, and he worked with
me. He’s a great coach. I don’t know where I’d be if I had a different head coach.
“My two assistant coaches, they help me a lot, too. If Coach P couldn’t work with me, they worked with me. If I had a bad game, they would say, ‘Hey, keep your head up, keep moving.’ They were kind of like the emotional support coaches, and I really appreciate them for that.”
Meixler has also developed a deep bond with her teammates,
“They are always texting me to say it’s okay if I have a bad practice or a bad game,” she said. “They know I can get down on myself, so they are always there for me. They are great people to have around on the team.”
Meixler’s teammates surely feel the same way about her, as she is a tri-captain for all three of her sports.
She didn’t shy away from the challenge of being a leader.
“Last year, we lost two of our leading scorers and two seniors,” said Meixler. “The spot was kind of open. I was a junior and now I’m a senior. I kind of figured that I would be in that leadership role. I embraced it. I would say I’m a louder person. I’m always able to talk. If someone needs to be yelled at, I’ll step into that.
“I have led other teams, as a captain of both soccer and track, so I’m kind of familiar with being captain.”
Polinsky is grateful to have her stepping into the leadership void left by the likes of 1,000-point scorer Reagan Chrencik (now playing at Gettysburg).
“Nina is the only senior who is starting and playing minutes for us,” he said. “Everyone else is juniors and sophomores. We are a young team.
“She is just such a team person. She really gets the team up for games. That is really helpful as a coach.”
Hitting the Books
Meixler comes from a family where academics are stressed above all else, particularly by her mother, a native of Ghana who was one of three siblings descended from tribal royalty and educated in the U.S.
While Meixler’s two older brothers never advanced beyond tee ball, she has been a revelation to her academic parents.
“It’s really more my mom,” said Meixler, who practices Judaism, her father’s faith. “Sports were never really her thing. Her dad was super strict. He went to Stanford. He has always been about education and getting degrees. She was always supposed to go to school here in America, because that’s what my grandfather wanted. That is what was embedded in her mind. She has always been focused on me doing my homework and that school comes first.
“She still supports me and comes to my games and stuff, but it’s not really about sports for them. It’s about academics.”
Therefore, if Meixler wants to compete in sports, she is expected to hit the books as if they were a punching bag.
No problem there, as she has a 4.1 GPA while taking mostly honors or AP classes.
Admittedly, it is a bit of a struggle to budget her time.
“It’s a lot of trial and error,” said Meixler. “If we have a game that’s away and starts at 7, we can get home at 10-10:30. By the time, you shower and eat, it’s like 11. If you have to study for a test or have assignments due, you could end up finishing at around 2 a.m., and then you have to wake up at 6:30 the next day.
“A lot of times, I just have to adjust my sleep schedule. There is really just no good answer to it. I just try and do my work. If I have practice, I’ll get home at 5:30 and start my work at 6:30. If I get my homework done ahead of time, that’s ideal, but I’m a high school student. I’m going to procrastinate, you know.”
Meixler added that her parents have learned to understand the challenges of a passionate student-athlete.
“They see what happens behind the scenes, behind closed doors,” she said. “If I come home and I’m sad, they’ll ask me about it.”
For Meixler, it comes from a place where she doesn’t want to let her coaches and teammates down.
“I have worked so hard for them because I know they have worked so hard for me,” she said. “I want to give back to them.”
Final Chapter
While there have been some initial talks with Division III coaches, Meixler has decided that she will go to college – likely down South (Georgia, Florida State, etc.) or possibly Penn State – and probably major in finance with the goal of owning her own business one day.
That means she will not play basketball seriously anymore.
“I do want to eventually start my own business,” said Meixler. “Two years ago, I took a summer course at UPenn. I took it in economics. It’s very fascinating. I fell in love with it. I liked some ideas behind it, but I’m still really not sure.”
While she will likely only opt for club basketball in college, the fact that she could play Division III says a lot.
“She has done a pretty job getting college looks as a senior only playing since she was a sophomore,” said Polinsky. “She must be doing something right.
“I love kids that work hard and put in the extra work. It’s showing on the court for her, and it’s really good to see.”
Polinsky, for one, has no doubts that Meixler will be successful at whatever she puts her mind to trying in the game of life.
He has seen it on the court.
“She came out for the team very raw,” he said. “She is just a great kid who has gotten better and better every year. Her work ethic is incredible.
“I’m just so proud of her starting point with basketball and with where she has ended up. It has really been incredible to watch.”
In the final analysis, though, it has all been a labor of love.
“I had to work so much to catch up to all these people who had been playing for years and years,” said Meixler of her basketball odyssey. “I don’t look at it as work, though. I enjoyed it. I loved it. It was just fun to me, but I had to really work for it.”
