Katie Meyer

Kathryn Diane Meyer (January 20, 2000 – March 1, 2022) was an American college soccer player who played as a goalkeeper for the Stanford Cardinal. She led Stanford to an NCAA championship in 2019, making two saves in the title game penalty shootout, and captained the team for the next two years. She trained with the United States youth national team from the under-16 to under-18 levels.

Early life

Meyer was born in Burbank, California, the middle of three children born to Steven and Gina Meyer, and grew up in Newbury Park. In 2015, she was featured on the Nickelodeon reality show Soccer Superstar.

Meyer attended Newbury Park High School for her first three years of high school before transferring to Century Academy in Thousand Oaks, California for her senior year. During her time at Newbury Park High School, she was also the kicker for the varsity football team for two seasons. She played club soccer for Real So Cal and Eagles Soccer Club as well as the United States youth national team. She committed to play college soccer for the Stanford Cardinal on October 10, 2015.

College career

Meyer became the Stanford Cardinal's starting goalkeeper after redshirting her freshman year. She did not lose a game in her debut 2019 season, keeping clean sheets in 10 of 16 appearances. She played a critical role at the NCAA tournament. In the semifinals, she saved a penalty kick by Mia Fishel in a 4–1 win over UCLA. Stanford faced North Carolina in the championship game, which went into a penalty shootout after a scoreless regulation and extra time. Meyer saved Taylor Otto's opening penalty kick and the sixth-round kick by Tori Hansen to set up the Cardinal victory. Meyer was recognized as the most valuable player of the match, and video of her goalkeeping went viral online.

She became team captain of the Cardinal in the 2020 season, which was abbreviated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and made a career-high 49 saves in 14 games. She started all but one game as captain in her redshirt junior year in 2021.

Meyer was pursuing a degree in international relations with a minor in history. She was part of the 2022 cohort for the selective Mayfield Fellows Program which develops Stanford students to lead technology ventures.

International career

Meyer trained with the United States national under-16 and under-17 teams in 2015 and 2016. She represented the under-16s at the Tournament of Gradisca in Italy in and was named as an alternate to the under-17 team for the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. She trained with the under-18 team in 2017.

Death

Meyer passed away in her dorm room in Crothers Hall, a residential housing building on the Stanford campus, on March 1, 2022. When asked about the situation surrounding her death, Meyer's mother said that she had received an email about disciplinary action, and that "She had been getting letters for a couple months... This letter was kind of the final letter that there was going to be a trial or some kind of something. This was the only thing we can come up with that triggered something." Meyer, who had no legal representation in the action and suffered from anxiety and depression, received the email in the evening while on the phone with Stanford teammate and future U.S. National Team player Naomi Girma.

Dee Mostofi, the Stanford Assistant Vice President, stated "We [the Stanford University administration] are not able to share information about confidential student disciplinary matters". A statement by Santa Clara County on March 3, 2022, stated that the coroner's office determined the death to be "self-inflicted", with "no indication of foul play".

The Meyer family filed a wrongful death suit against Stanford on November 23, 2022 in Santa Clara County Superior Court. The suit reported that Meyer had been "facing disciplinary action for allegedly spilling coffee on a Stanford football player who was accused of sexually assaulting a female soccer player. Meyer's father said his daughter was defending that teammate, who was a minor at the time." The complaint was through the Stanford Office of Community Standards and possible sanctions included having her diploma withheld. It was reported that Meyer was hoping to attend Stanford Law School after graduating.

In 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1575, or Katie Meyer's Law, introduced by Assembly member Jacqui Irwin. The law mandates schools allowing for a college student facing a disciplinary issue to have an outside adviser, in order for the schools to receive state aid for student financial assistance. A nonprofit started by Meyer's parents hopes to have a version of the law in all 50 states.

College career statistics

Honors

Stanford Cardinal

• Pac-12 champion: 2019
• NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship: 2019

Individual

• College Cup All-Tournament Team: 2019
• United Soccer Coaches All-West-Region: 2019 (third team)
• Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll: 2019, 2020–21
• CoSIDA Academic All-District-8: 2021

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