By Sara Hinds
If there’s one thing you’ll learn about Cindy Meyer upon first meeting or conversation, it’s her passion. Her presence and voice carry an infectious energy, inviting you to enjoy whatever it is you love, too.
She spent 26 years coaching volleyball at Doane. She now focuses on teaching physical and health education at Doane, where her students are consistently recognized by the Society of Health and Physical Educators (SHAPE) Nebraska.
And when she suffered a stroke in December 2025, her passion for life propelled her through a month-long hospital stay and rehabilitation. She returned to teaching within weeks, almost like she had taken a winter break alongside her students.
The presence of passion doesn’t negate challenges, though. Recovery has been especially frustrating for someone as active as Meyer, who used to walk 20,000 steps a day. But her athleticism also meant the therapists could test her with more advanced exercises.
“They would bring out balls and one day I was weaving the balls underneath my legs,” Meyer said. “They came up with a lot of different fun activities for me, too. They appreciated I was in good shape, and they were excited about trying some new things, trying to get me to that next level. But I've had to be patient, and that's what's so hard about it, [it] just takes a lot of time.”
Meyer attended physical and occupational therapy sessions three days a week at the Crete hospital. She wore her “lucky” long-sleeved shirt the Doane women’s basketball team gifted her.
The stroke impacted the right side of her body and in turn, her balance and strength. Daily activities like walking and writing still require physical therapy sessions. Meyer remained unscathed at her core, though.
She built an obstacle course and used her “teaching voice” to lead fellow patients through it. And even though Meyer hasn’t coached in 13 years, many people still call her ‘coach.’
“People were visiting the first week a lot, and they'd always go, ‘where's Coach Meyer’s room?’” she said. “So when I got moved to the third floor for skilled care, on my door it said ‘Coach.’ Everybody at the hospital was calling me ‘Coach.’”
A physical therapist introduced herself to Meyer as a former Nebraska Wesleyan student-athlete who played against Meyer’s team more than a decade ago.
“I said, ‘And you never beat us, did you?’” Meyer laughed. “I had to rub it in a little bit.”
Another therapist was Hastings College alum. In fact, Meyer’s primary occupational therapist was supposed to be a Doane alum, but she was on maternity leave.
On Meyer’s last day of required therapy, a dozen therapists and nurses showed up wearing Doane shirts — even those who had longstanding rivalries with the Tigers via their alma mater.
“That was hard for some of those gals, but they surprised me,” Meyer said. “I need to go back and visit them, I miss them a lot. When you spend that long with them, you get to really know all of them.”
She may have retired from coaching and experienced a medical event that forced her to complete exercises she teaches in the classroom, but neither diminished her passion for what coaching and teaching revolve around: leading and leaning on people.
“That’s been the whole key is just having a lot of friends and family and all the health professionals help you,” Meyer said. “That’s been the whole key in this journey.”
