Beginning her water polo journey as a student at Andover, Girls Water Polo Head Coach Jill Meyer ʼ09 played throughout her years at Andover and returned to the sport as a coach when she became a teaching fellow in 2013. Now, as head coach, she leads the team with a supportive and inclusive mindset.
Meyer described the importance of feedback, mutual learning, and group efforts. Through collaboration with the players and Coach Howie Kalter ʼ07, the Water Polo team is able to learn from one another’s strengths.
In an email to The Phillipian, Meyer wrote, “[I] like to facilitate opportunities for students to lead. For example, if we are going to have a team meeting, I like to share goals and intentions and then let captains and players guide the conversation. I really enjoy having a co-coach to work with and create space for us to let our own talents shine. Coach Kalter has a tremendous understanding of the game and I hope that I am contributing by helping to create the culture where our players trust one another and can anticipate how their teammates will act as a result of knowing one another well.”
At Andover, Girls Water Polo is a sport that welcomes players of all levels. Sophia You ʼ26 highlighted Meyer’s willingness to help newcomers and veteran players alike with their training.
“She really takes the time to help the people who are completely new to the game, and she also takes time to train people in specific skills that they want to work on. For example, when the season started, she took a lot of time to work with the goalies separately to build up those skills through them, [which] helped to build up the team overall by focusing on that one group,” said You.
When players face moments of struggle, Meyer remains a guiding figure for members of the team to turn to for support. By working with them to identify their emotions and look at the problem from different perspectives, Meyer prevents players from tearing themselves down and viewing things as solely good or bad.
Meyer wrote, “I try to maintain an open line of dialogue with each of the players. If someone seems off, I am comfortable pulling them aside and saying ‘Hey, what’s up.’ I try to emphasize that they need to measure themselves against themselves — comparison is the thief of joy. I encourage them to use their last performance as a metric against which to measure their growth. What did you do this game that you couldn’t last time? What would you like to focus on for the next game?”
Meyer believes in the magic of little steps building on each other to achieve greater outcomes. To Sahana Manikandan ʼ26, Meyer’s consistent emphasis on the small benchmarks in practices and games is something that assists the team in its pursuit of success.
“She emphasizes always having a goal in mind, and she’s a firm believer [that] you’ll get the best results in your game or even just a practice by having one small goal in mind that you plan on achieving… So that you could add those goals together and hopefully at the end of the season be where you want to be personally,” said Manikandan.
Overall, Meyer hopes the members of the team place much more value in their experiences as water polo players than a number on the scoreboard.
Meyer wrote, “I hope that they will come away from the season with a strong sense of belonging and responsibility to one another. Working on a team is an incredibly special and dynamic experience. It’s growing and learning as a player and also as a teammate. I hope that they will work hard and be proud of their improvement and skills, no matter the outcome of a given game.”
