Meyer family focuses on soccer

For the Meyer brothers of Clarendon Hills, sometimes watching the Fox Soccer Channel and playing soccer video games isn’t enough.

Brothers Will, Christian and Mitchell are planning a return trip to England later this year to see an English Premier League game involving Fulham at Chelsea. Christian and his brothers became Fulham fans while following American soccer players abroad and the brothers already saw a game last spring at Fulham.

“The fans are pretty insane,” said Christian, a Hinsdale Central sophomore. “The Fulham stadium is small and the fans are pretty loud.”

The brothers will travel with their father, Keith, who also watches NFL games and is a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. But with three boys currently playing in the Devils program, soccer is No. 1 with the Meyer clan.

The start of the playoffs next week means opportunities are dwindling to see both Will and Christian on the field at the same time. Will, a senior, is the starting goalkeeper for the Red Devils while Mitchell, the twin brother of Christian, is the starting keeper for the sophomore team.

Fifth-seeded Hinsdale Central (10-7-2, 3-2 West Suburban Silver) opens the playoffs against 12th-seeded Kelly at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 19 at Argo. The winner plays fourth-seeded Argo or 13th-seeded Proviso West on Oct. 22.

If the Red Devils can win the Argo Regional, Hinsdale will host a sectional semifinal Oct. 25.

“It’s been cool playing with one of my older brothers,” Christian said.

Christian is the only sophomore playing for this year’s varsity squad and has been watching his brother as a learning experience for future leadership roles.

Will and Christian have played in nearly every game this season, but missed wins over Sandburg and Willowbrook Sept. 30-Oct. 1 to attend their grandfather’s funeral.

Christian started the season opener at Metea Valley as a midfielder, but settled in as a defender for most of the season.

“I play defense for my club team, the Eclipse Select, with Mitchell,” Christian said.

Christian joined the varsity for last year’s playoffs, but had a feeling he would be promoted to varsity permanently when he spent time over the summer with the team.

“It’s been really special seeing him develop a lot throughout the course of the year,” Will said of Christian.

With two junior keepers behind Will, Harley Pranger and Philip Pielet, Mitchell will have to wait until next year for a spot to possibly open on the varsity.

“I think it’s good for him to get playing time on the sophomore team,” Will said.

The Red Devils enter the week with four wins in their last five games with a 1-0 loss at Lyons Township likely costing Hinsdale a shot at the conference championship.

Now the team’s focus is on the playoffs.

“We want to get back to Hinsdale Central as a host for one or two sectional games,” Will said. We have 10 seniors that would love to host a sectional at home.”

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.