Kennett High School seniors Kamilah Martinez, left, and Meagan Spielman stand on the field during warmup before their game against Fredericktown High School. Kamilah and Meagan are two of the three girls on Kennett High School’s junior varsity coed team, and they play in the Missouri State High School Athletics Association’s boys’ league. 

Meagan spreads peanut butter on a rice cake while her dog, Priscilla, watches at her home in Kennett, Mo. While Meagan normally does not eat lunch at school, on game days, like today, she brings food. Meagan also packed her jersey and planned to change at school. 

Meagan, fourth from right from the flag pole, holds hands with her peers in a prayer circle during “Meet Me at the Pole” at Kennett High School. Meet Me at the Pole is a Christian organization on campus that invites students and faculty members to periodically pray together before school.

Meagan rehearses her lines for Kennett High School’s fall production of “Clue." Meagan will play Yvette, the French maid, with an accent Spielman’s “still working on.” 

Meagan, right, and Hayley Bagwell, center, take a selfie as Kayla Bradley, left, watches the Delta Fair Parade pass through downtown. Hayley had never played soccer, but Meagan convinced her to try out for Kennett High School’s team last summer. Hayley made the team and is currently the student manager. 

Meagan, center back, takes out her cleats as the Kennett High School coed boys’ league soccer teams waits to board the bus to their game against Fredericktown. Kennett elected to play at the junior varsity level for the first two seasons, which means the school’s juniors and seniors are ineligible to receive letter jackets or qualify for postseason play. 

Kennett High Schoool’s Meagan (11) races to gain possession of the ball against Fredericktown High School. Meagan has played soccer since kindergarten, but this is her first season as a forward. 

Meagan, third from right, sits on the bench next her friend, Hayley, second from right, while Kennett High School’s junior varsity coed boys’ league soccer team waits to play Fredericktown High School. Kennett High School did not have a soccer program for 15 years until last summer. “We’re hoping it stays around,” Meagan, who is a senior, said.

Sports trophies line a shelf in Meagan’s entryway at her home in Kennett, Mo. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and since Kennett High School did not have a team, Meagan could not play soccer between eighth and 10th grade. 

Meagan pets Priscilla, who is a border collie mix, in her room before school. Meagan said she intends to study biology at the University of Iowa next fall, and she plans to continue playing soccer on an intramural team.