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Friday, September 19, 2008
Streight Schooters
Collin County, TX
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By: Tim Polzer
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Photo(s) By: Mateo Zeske
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Twins Meghan and Michael Streight share a bond through Boyd athletics
Those around them know that 15-year-old twins Meghan and Michael Streight just had an exceptional first year at McKinney Boyd High School. For football, Michael helped execute a successful season and was named the team’s leading corner back on defense. Meghan played on the Boyd soccer team that won the class 4A state title in 2008. Impressive stuff for sure, but many would be surprised to learn the twins have also created a new language.
Or at least that’s how their mother, Dee, tells it. “We`d find the two of them using words with each other that no one but them could understand. We tried our hardest to figure it out, but it was meant just for the two of them. They`re extremely bonded.”
At the center of that bond is a fascination and commitment to sports that’s led them to their current successes. “We were always active outside. Using any kind of equipment around – baseball, basketball – we`d just play all day,” Meghan said.
Michael found his favorite sport “the minute I picked up a football, but I didn’t play on a team until second grade.” When they did start to enter leagues, Meghan and Michael were on the same T-ball team, a shared experience that was important to them. “She held her own and was just as good if not better than the rest of the guys,” Michael said of his sister.
Despite those skills, Meghan found the sport she loved when she began playing soccer at six. “I just loved how much fun it was to be out on the field and play with a team.” Meghan found such a team in this year’s Boyd Broncos, led by coach Jimmie Lankford. “The girls all get along and play really well together. When we’re on our game, we are unbeatable.” And so they were. Meghan credits the state win to hard work from her teammates and preparation from their coach. “Winning state was incredible. It took a minute to hit me. I had to say out loud, ‘Did we just win state?’ But we worked so hard and just came to what we wanted.”
Michael played both basketball and football for Boyd this year. He said that although he loved playing basketball, he most likely would concentrate on football in the future.
He picked off eight interceptions as corner back and also played wide receiver on offense. He attributes Boyd’s success in its second season to the team’s ability to work together. “We have a slogan we chant, MTH -Meaner, Tougher, Harder.”
The ambitious Streight twins are embracing the moment, but they’re also thinking about their futures. Meghan plays select soccer, one of the best avenues in which a female player can get noticed by recruiters, Meghan has devoted a lot of energy to it. The strategy already seems to be working: at a recent showcase after Meghan was approached by interested colleges.
Michael is directing his energies toward getting noticed by football recruiters. He wants to make it his full-time commitment farther down the line and says he’s “here to win.” Like his older sister, he would like to attend Texas A & M. Michael concedes this will be a lifelong passion for them both and that Meghan can achieve whatever she puts her mind to. “She’s amazing.”
Although Meghan and Michael have close and specific bonds with their older sisters, they both agree that being twins makes their relationship more unique. Being the same age and being involved in the same activities helps them better understand what the other experiences, and support each other’s play.
Michael and Meghan also share their involvement in Young Life, a nondenominational Christian youth group focused on fun. Their father, Ray, grew up with the program and serves on the group’s committee. The twins attend Monday meetings and they recently returned from a summer camp through Young Life and call it a great experience.
The rest of the Streight family is extremely close and spend a lot of time together at home or at games. They see sports as a way to spend time together and look for any opportunity to carpool to a tournament or road trip such as an extended trip to California.
“It can get hectic when there are games and practices at the same time, but then my parents just split up and take one of us. It always works out,” Meghan explained. The family is glad for the many opportunities they can have for the rest of the family to watch one of the twins play. As Michael says, “It’s such a great feeling to look up and know someone will be in the stands, or to hear a reaction and know it’s one of them.”
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