Basketball, Softball
Favorite athlete: Jimmy Rollins
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Getting fourth place at ASA Nationals with my travel softball team and beating Pennridge two times in softball my junior year.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: There have been a few instances where I have tripped over my own feet running down a baseline or trying to catch a pop up.
Music on your iPod: Country, Hip-hop, and Pop
Future plans: Attend Shippensburg University to play softball and major in early childhood education.
Favorite motto or words to live by: “I can accept failure, but what I cannot accept is lack of effort” –Michael Jordan
One goal before you turn 30: Obtain a teaching job, and be successful in helping children reach their full potential
One thing people don’t know about you: I sing just about 24/7, even if it’s not always good
By Mary Jane Souder
“I can accept failure, but what I cannot accept is lack of effort” –Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan said those words, but Meghan Klee lives them out every time she steps onto the court or the softball diamond.
Mention the Quakertown senior’s name to her coaches, and it’s a safe bet they’ll mention the intangibles she brings to the team before they’ll talk about her talent.
Brittany Remmey recalls a defining moment during a difficult stretch in last year’s basketball season.
"We kind of went through a losing streak, and the kids were giving up on each other," the Panthers’ coach said. "It was a little bit of a team struggle.
“She wrote a letter on the white board for the players to read before the game. I had no idea she was going to do that. The kids played probably their best game – just the camaraderie, the intensity. She’s the pulse of the team.”
Klee hasn’t forgotten the feeling that was starting to take over the team when she wrote the letter on the white board.
“The constantly losing and the constant getting crushed by teams and that constant feeling of being down and under everybody was getting to everybody,” the senior captain said. “They weren’t feeling they could be on the court with those types of people.
“I’m a competitive person, and I really don’t like losing. I didn’t like how my teammates were so upset and I was upset, and I felt like something needed to be changed.”
A quiet leader, Klee will leave Quakertown with the unique distinction of serving as captain of her basketball team three years and her softball team two years.
“She’s a team leader and one of the players the younger girls look up to for guidance,” Quakertown softball coach Rich Scott said. “She’s definitely a positive person.
“The glass is always half full, which is definitely what you need in tough situations.”
“It’s a pleasure coaching her,” Remmey added. “She’s got that attitude that I portray myself, always erring on the side of positive.
“When you’re going through tough games and tough scenarios, it’s nice to have the pulse of the team giving you that positivity and reinforcing amongst them – ‘Hey guys, we’re still in this.’”
Klee has gone through some tough seasons in both basketball and softball, but it is her perseverance in basketball that just might be most remarkable.
During Klee’s sophomore year, the basketball team won just one game, and it would have been easy for Klee to walk away. That was never a consideration - even though she recently signed a letter of intent to play softball at Shippensburg University.
“A lot of people have asked me (why I play),” she said. “Basketball isn’t my top sport. Obviously, I love softball, but I do love the sport still.
“Honestly, the reason I have stayed with it is because of the people who I’m with – my teammates and my coaches – because they’re the most amazing people and the best friends you could ever have. They’re more than just teammates. They’ve helped me to do so much, and they just made it fun.
“Even though we don’t always win, we always work hard, and we make each other better on the court and off the court.”
Last season, Klee – a four-year letter winner - earned second team all-league honors in basketball.
“She’s our leading scorer, she’s one of our leading rebounders, she leads us in foul shooting,” Remmey said. “She does everything for us.
“It’s very obvious when she’s not at practice – not only her leadership but just her intensity on the basketball court. She brings everybody up a level, the same with Spenser Gray, who also plays softball.”
According to Klee, sticking with basketball has helped her both physically and mentally.
“It keeps me in shape, and it also helps me to push past my limits,” she said. “Basketball is both physically and mentally draining at some points, and from it, I have learned that I am stronger than I think, and that I can do more than I ever thought I could. (It) helps as a sort of confidence booster.
“Coach Remmey has been a huge asset to our program. All the players respond to her in such a positive way, and we all respect her so much. She definitely has taught us that we need to work hard and (while) we’re not the best, we’re not that bad and we can do better.”
*****
Klee has been playing sports her whole life with soccer her first sport. Basketball and softball have also been part of her life for a long time, and when she was a freshman, she opted to walk away from soccer to devote her time to softball.
She has been part of the travel softball circuit since she was 12 years old, spending most of her years playing for the Thunderbirds.
After two sub .500 softball seasons, the Panthers – who compete in the tough SOL Continental Conference – were 9-9 last year. Klee and Spenser anchor the middle infield.
“She has tremendous arm strength, and she’s very intelligent,” Scott said of Klee, who earned all-league honors at short. “They both are legitimate shortstops.
“She’s played mostly second base, but in the middle of the year, I switched Spenser to third and Meghan to short. She’s a great kid, and we’re excited for the year ahead of us. She was captain last year and will be this year again. She’s looked upon for leadership in that role that she does provide.”
An excellent student, Klee is a member of the National Honor Society and is enrolled in three AP classes with her remaining schedule mostly honors classes.
She is a member of student council, the MiniThon Committee and an editor of the yearbook.
For now, Klee’s focus is on basketball where she will once again be counted on to provide positive leadership.
“I have to credit my positivity to my parents, especially my dad,” she said. “My dad would always instill in me that in order to ‘be a leader’ you had to first lead by example and then you also had to gain the trust and respect of your teammates, and no one would trust or respect someone who is constantly bringing others down or having an overall negative aura to them.
“When there’s something negative, I always try to (balance) that with something that’s positive because people tend to respond to positivity better than negativity.”
