While most girls sit on the sidelines tying their cleats and talking about their day, one girl picks a ball up and begins juggling. A few of her teammates watch her gracefully bounce the ball off her feet and head and soon follow suit. Within a few minutes all the soccer balls are taken.

Maeve Stewart (’10), co-captain and four year member of Palo Alto High School’s varsity girls’ soccer team, is known amongst the team for more than just her ball skills. Her teammates recognize her for her leadership capabilities and work ethic, which makes her an integral part of this year’s squad.

“She is an amazing player, so she is a leader by example,” teammate Sophie Cain (’10) said.

Cain feels that Stewart has an innate ability to lead her teammates and that this leadership stems from her talent.

“She’s also a leader vocally because you always hear her,” Cain said. “She is a leader because she pumps us up and inspires us. She is the one that gets up pumped before every game, she is like ‘Come on guys, lets do this!'”

Her teammates also recognize the role Stewart has played when it comes to helping the underclassmen improve their game. This year, of the 26 players on the girls varsity soccer team, ten are underclassmen.

“She’s very good at being encouraging and helpful to the underclassmen,” co-captain Kelly Jenks (’10) said. “You just see her giving tips and advice on how to play together, and how we play, and strategy on how we work together and move around for each other.”

New to varsity this year, teammate Emy Kelty (’12) believes that Stewart demonstrates her leadership and is very helpful on and off the field.

“She’s a really good leader,” Kelty said. “She teaches me a lot and tells me what I’m doing wrong, but in a good way, like if I’m not passing well, she’ll give me great tips.”

Kelty also views Stewart as a great role model. “I have a lot of role models on the team and Meave is definitely one of them, she’s really good,” Kelty said.

According to Kelty, she and the underclassmen look up to Stewart because of her athletic ability and motivational skills.

“I think that the underclassmen do look up to her,” Kelty said. “It’s kind of weird, but whenever I refer to some of the players, like Kelly [Jenks], Erica [Hoglund] (’10), and Maeve, I always call them the superstars, because they’re all blonde and amazing, ‘super starish’. And they’re all just so motivational; I really look up to that. And they [play] at such a high level that I want to match that, and I feel like a lot of people feel like that too, you want to improve because you want to play with them, make sure you can give them good passes and stuff.”

According to Jenks, Stewart also has a talent for getting her teammates loose and “fired-up” before every game.

Stewart views her “inspiration” as being helpful to her teammates and she gives her teammates feedback to encourage them and help the team get better.

“When I am playing, I like when someone tells me when I do something well, or if I am not doing something well,” Stewart said. “So, if I see someone doing something that has helped the team or has been really good in the game, I definitely will say something like ‘good job, keep up the good work,’ and stuff like that.”

Moreover, Stewart believes that her teammates play better when they know they have the support of the other players.

“A lot of players play a lot better when [their teammates support them], especially when a coach is getting on them for doing something bad,” Stewart said. “I just want to be there for my teammates and help them out.”

Ernesto Cruz, Paly’s girls’ varsity soccer head coach, feels that Stewart’s ambition has helped the team.

“I think she has the biggest heart in the whole campus,” Cruz said. “She’s very dedicated, and she always gives you 100 percent all the time.

Stewart’s determination and drive does not go unnoticed by her teammates.

“She just never stops working,” Jenks said. “She just understands that to get farther you need to push yourself, which can be hard.”

Jenks has also come to understand, after four years of playing on Paly soccer together, that Stewart has learned the rewards and benefits of hard work.

“[She knows] that you’re going to get as much out of it as you put into it, so she’ll go the extra mile,” Jenks said. “Instead of just doing what’s required, she always pushes herself harder than other people.”

Kelty also feels that Stewart never gives up and always puts her best effort every time she steps on the field.

“She’s always working hard, and she’s so quick. She is really inspirational, I just want to play like her. And she never gives up, and even if the ball is really far away from her she’ll still sprint to it,” Kelty said.

Cruz has coached Stewart for the last four years and has also noticed that Stewart has an exceptional work ethic. “[Another] good thing about her is she is very coachable, whatever you tell her, she follows,” Cruz said. “You tell her ‘this is what I want’ and she does the job.”

Playing on varsity for the last four years, Stewart has had the opportunity to play with experienced and exceptional teammates. Stewart believes she has become a better player and learned how to become a role model for her teammates from playing alongside them.

“[I remember] playing with Teresa [Noyola] (’08). She’s such a smart player, and she was super encouraging,” Stewart said.

Noyola won the Gatorade National Soccer Player of the Year award while at Paly and now plays division one soccer at Stanford University. Stewart admired Noyola’s capability to inspire and be a leader to her teammates.

“Everything she said, everyone listened to,” Stewart said. “And I think that kind of just helps, when you look up to someone, like a role model, and you aspire to work as hard as them, and to play like them. When you are playing on the field with them and you know you can count on them, and you want to be able to have them count on you [too], it drives you to be a better player.”

Stewart has also learned that having a good work ethic is key to her success.

“I would say [that I have learned to be] a pretty hard worker,” Stewart said. “I don’t like going to a practice and not getting anything out of it, so I try my hardest at practice.

Furthermore, Stewart has discovered that after a certain point, when one’s skills have peaked, the most important thing to improve is one’s mental aspect of the game.

“Skill-wise there is not much you can do once you reach a certain point, but from just playing with the different players and from playing with people like Teresa [Noyola] and Kelly [Jenks], I’ve just learned a lot about the game,” Stewart said. “I feel like I’ve learned how to be ‘game smart’, make the smart passes, and I think that I’ve developed into a smarter player.”

Jenks thinks that Stewart was chosen as captain not only because of her talent and role on the playing field, but also because of her personality.

“It’s helped that she has been on varsity for all four years, but she also just has a good vibe that she brings to the field.” Jenks said. “She’s always in a good mood, she works hard, she is encouraging for other people, and she’s not intimidating.”

According to Cruz, Stewart was placed on varsity because she had a lot to offer to the team athletically and because of her character. “I put her on varsity because of her skills and her personality,” Cruz said. “[When I meet her] as a freshman, she had speed, and foot work. She’s the type of player everybody likes, very cheerful, she was a full package.

Stewart is also a very versatile and well-rounded player Jenks noted, and has played various positions including defender, midfielder and forward. Currently, Stewart is the part of the starting team, playing forward and outside midfielder.

Cruz has only one goal for Maeve and this year’s team; to win Central Coast Section (CCS).

“My goals for this group and Maeve is to try to go as far as we can in CCS. Its been 25 years since we last won, so we want to make history.”

Stewart also shares this goal.

“During freshman year, Ernesto told us that during our four years we would win CCS, so that is definitely the goal this year.,” Stewart said.

Another goal for this season is keeping the team happy, noted Stewart.

“I want to help the team any way possible,” Stewart said. “I want to keep my teammates happy and help them to have a lot of fun this season. I want to keep the mood light during games and lead by example on the field.” <<<

Reporter’s Note: Next year, Stewart will attend Tufts University and compete for their soccer program.