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Meredith Speck ’15 of the North Carolina Courage is the first Eli to compete in the National Women’s Soccer League.
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When Meredith Speck ’15 graduated from Yale, she took a risk: She decided to become a professional soccer player.
Why was this so important?
Growing up, Speck saw two women’s soccer leagues disappear due to lack of funding. In 2015, the salary of a rookie in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) was just $6,842. (It’s now $16,538.) Football wasn’t as stable a career as medicine or law, to say the least. And although Speck had played an important role at Yale — she was team captain and was named to the All-Ivy first team three times — a spot on a professional team was not guaranteed.
But just three seasons later, at age 25, Speck was not only the first Yale player to compete in the NWSL, but she also boasted two national championships. In 2016, his team won the Western New York Flash title; they then moved south to become the North Carolina Courage, and they won again in 2018. She played 19 matches as a defender/midfielder for the Courage and she is currently training for her fourth season.
“Three years ago, I never would have imagined I would be here,” she says. “Going to Yale is not the stereotypical path people take to play professional football.”
Most of those who aspire to reach this level attend larger Division I schools, where they are more likely to train against the toughest competition. But when she chose Yale, Speck simply wanted to study psychology and continue playing the sport she loved.
It was his coaches who opened his eyes to his potential on the football field. Former Yale women’s soccer coach Rudy Meredith says he knew she would become a talented player because of her tenacity and rare ability to kick with her left foot. “When I was an assistant coach for the U-23 (under-23) national team, we recruited her,” Meredith recalls. “She played a few sessions and I knew straight away she could compete at this level.”
In 2015, his former high school club coach, Paul Riley, also noticed him. Then head coach of the NWSL’s Portland Thorns, he invited Speck to spring training, where she earned a spot on the preseason roster. She followed Riley to the Flash when he became the team’s head coach. “I saw her become a great professional,” he says. “Even though she’s not in the lineup every week, she’s one of those players you can’t do without.”
Speck says her biggest challenge as an Ivy League player has been earning playing time. Many of her professional teammates have played together in conferences and national team camps; she caught up.
Still, she adds, “the Ivy League worked for me. Some of my friends who went to bigger schools burned out. Football wasn’t my whole life (at Yale), so I was able to preserve the joy of playing. This joy is really important when you play professionally.
She may not make a lot of money yet, but Speck loves what she does. She also recognizes that she’s part of a larger movement: “I’m doing something that will set the stage for a successful women’s league in ten years.” One day, I will be able to say that I was one of the pioneers in developing women’s soccer in America.
