For the first time in her life, Meredith Sholder is playing for a field hockey team that is an underdog.

Back in high school, Sholder was on an Emmaus team that was anything but an underdog. Going to the University of North Carolina, Sholder joined a premier college field hockey program that is a perennial challenger for a national championship.

Her current team, the United States Olympic team, will head for Paris as a distinct underdog that surprised some of the pundits by even qualifying.

Though Sholder has had a distinguished career all through school and now in international competition, there have been a few rough spots for her to battle through.

In high school, Sholder was the best player on the best team and the top player in Pennsylvania. That changed when she arrived at UNC for her freshman season. Suddenly, Sholder was up against other top players who had been the best in their states and among the best in the country as high school players, so Sholder wasn’t the only high level player on the team, and it was a revelation for her.

“I had to go from being the top player to being just another number on a team and that knocked my confidence down a little,” said Sholder. “It also showed me the importance of fitness, which is much more important in college than it had been at the high school level, so I really had to work on that.”

Sholder suffered a broken foot during her junior season at UNC, which allowed her to play six seasons of college field hockey.

During her time with the Tar Heels, Sholder garnered a trophy case full of accolades, including being named to the All-ACC Tournament team, the All-ACC Academic team and the All-ACC Second Team in 2021.

In July of 2022, Sholder was named to the U.S. Women’s National Team and played her first international contest against Germany. That same year at college, she was honored as the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, was a member of the All-ACC First Team and was selected as a First Team All-American.

Last year, Sholder played in two international series against Canada and New Zealand, winning a silver medal in the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, before 2024 brought another silver medal at the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifier in Ranchi, India.

On the trip back from India, where she spent two months, Sholder knew she was at a bit of a crossroads.

If she were going to go for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, even with her storied background, she would have to prioritize training more than she had. She made the commitment to work toward being an Olympian and set about making her dream come true.

“It wasn’t just physical training, it was a lot of mental training,” said Sholder. “It meant meeting with a sports psychologist, watching everything I ate and drank, working on problem solving exercises with teammates, just everything. I could tell that my performance and fitness were better than ever, and I gained a lot of confidence going through the process.”

The on-field work was just as intense.

At that level, players wear GPS devices that allow coaches to determine what their top speed is, how quickly they can accelerate to that speed and how long they can sustain it. The device also helps determine a player’s stamina and allows coaches to know if they are putting in their full effort.

“The transition was insane because it’s such a fast pace and there is a lot more aggressive pressure when you are on the field,” said Sholder. “Going through this process has taught me to prioritize mental health because it is so important to everything that you do, and I learned so much about that through this experience.”

Last month, in true high-tech fashion, Team USA posted the roster for the Olympics on a document listed on MS Teams.

Sholder checked the list and saw her name. The only problem was that the information was embargoed until the actual news release went out, so Sholder was not able to talk about her achievement. She was allowed to tell her parents, but they too were sworn to secrecy.

“It’s surreal,” Sholder said of making the Olympic team. “I think about going to Paris and playing in the Olympics every day. I can’t even begin to imagine just how awesome it is going to be playing at that level and making that dream come true.”

Sholder still holds the state record with 216 goals and 134 assists and was a member of the undefeated state championship team of 2016. She remains in touch with Emmaus head coach Sue Butz-Stavin, who texts Sholder with every milestone that her former player achieves.

For now, Sholder is in Charlotte, NC, where Team USA trains and is staying with a host family. Charlotte could become home after the Olympics because Sholder loves the area, and she will be pursuing a career as a physician assistant after majoring in biology at UNC.

“When I look back at everything I have learned, it’s amazing,” said the 25-year-old. “I was put into a leadership role at an early age, and I learned how to manage pressure and be a leader while staying humble. I’ve had my confidence knocked down a couple of times, but my training in the past and my work with the sports psychology aspect of the game has helped me in every part of my life. Not everybody gets to do all of these things and I realize how blessed I am to have this opportunity.”

Team USA opens their Olympic schedule on Saturday July 27 in Paris against Argentina.