Photo Courtesy of Marist School

ATLANTA—Kyle Snipes was enjoying his daughter’s middle school softball game when his phone began buzzing. A reporter was calling to ask him questions about his 17-year-old daughter Megan, a senior softball, basketball and shot-putter at Marist School.

Megan, the oldest of Kyle and Melissa Snipes’ three daughters, is one of the best softball players in the state. The third baseman will continue her softball career at Kennesaw State University as the only War Eagles softball player with a scholarship offer.

Kyle Snipes, a coach for more than 30 years, including currently as the head girls’ varsity basketball coach at Mount Pisgah Christian School, is always game to talk about his daughter, as a student-athlete, big sister and Christian.

“Megan is very mature for her age. She’s an old soul,” said Snipes. “She’s our oldest of three daughters, and she has taken on a sort of mom role for her little sisters.”

Megan is also a leader on the field. Along with being a power-hitting infielder for the War Eagles softball program, she told The Georgia Bulletin that she is looking forward to savoring her final seasons of basketball and track and field. But first, the softball season is underway.

Megan Snipes

“Spending my final year with my teammates and taking it all in,” said Megan when asked what she has planned for her senior seasons at Marist School. On the softball team, there are four other seniors that might be playing their last seasons of competitive softball, so these next couple of months of wins, losses, and memories will need to last a lifetime.

“This will be my last season of basketball and shot put, so I plan on soaking that up, too,” Megan said.

For a personal goal for softball, Megan said she would like to hit double-digit home runs this season. Her contact hitting and glove in the infield got the attention of college programs. In many ways, she was destined to be a college athlete.

Along with her father’s experience as a coach, her mother, Melissa, played softball and volleyball at Georgia Tech. Despite having earned a scholarship at a major collegiate program, Megan believes God continues to get all of the credit. The Snipes family worships at Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta.

“God is the biggest focus of my life. I really believe He has helped me in everything,” Megan said. She used her recent college recruitment as an example. She wanted to remain close to home and had several options. The decision to choose the Kennesaw State University Owls softball program, with a plan to major in exercise science, was all by the grace of God, according to Megan.

“I believe He has helped me make the right decision,” she said.

Kyle said he and his wife support the commitment for several reasons, including that Kennesaw State is close to home and Megan’s dream was to play softball on the highest level.

Megan is also an inspiration to her younger sisters, who are both athletes in their own right. Molly, 14, is a freshman second baseman at Marist, and Mary Mason, 12, is a seventh-grade basketball player at Marist.

“Megan has a kind heart and has a knack for making everyone feel like they are the only person in the world,” says her father. But that said, she’s still a super competitor.

“She’s a little bit like her mom. She can’t keep still,” Snipes said of his oldest daughter. “She always has to be doing something.”

Megan enjoys the team sports she participates in but also likes the individuality of the shot put. “I like that it’s all up to you in the ring,” she explained. “You know what to focus on and how to use your power.”

With all the sports and academics that surround Megan’s life as a student-athlete, she says she always makes time to pray to God for direction and peace. There is a team prayer that takes place before every softball game. After that, Megan likes to find a quiet place to talk to God. She said it’s a way she prepares to do what she has been blessed to be able to do.

“Praying is very relaxing and it gets me ready for the game,” she said. “Prayers help me slow down.”  That might be the only time Megan Snipes slows down this season.