Kayla Smith has been playing defense for so long she didn’t remember Wednesday she spent one season as a midfielder for the New Hope High School girls soccer team.
“I guess it was a forgettable experience because I didn’t really enjoy being a midfielder,” Smith said. “I didn’t feel that was my place, but I was just trying to do what was best for my team.”
Even early in her high school career, Smith knew she felt out of place not playing defender. After all, when you have been told, “Kayla, defense” ever since you were “itty bitty,” it’s natural to develop an affinity and a comfort level for that position.
But as much as she liked playing defense, it wasn’t until Smith’s sophomore season at New Hope that she truly started to make the position hers and to develop the voice of a field general who could organize and position the Lady Trojans to fend off attacks.
“I think the leadership quality in me (helped her become such a strong defender),” Smith said. “I like to direct people, but help them because when that girl comes down the field, I know exactly what foot she is going to use and what move she is going to do.”
Smith’s maturation into a lock-down, take-charge defender who can read the game and communicate with her teammates has helped her realize a dream to play soccer at the next level. Last week, Smith joined three of her teammates when she announced a verbal commitment to play soccer at Meridian Community College. Smith will join forward Effie Morrison. Sam Vogel and Abby Wilson gave verbal commitments to Jones County Junior College.
Smith has played an integral role on New Hope’s back line for the past two seasons. She figures to play a prominent role again this season as a senior in hopes of leading New Hope back to the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A state title match. Last season, New Hope lost to West Jones 2-0 in its first appearance in a state championship game.
New Hope coach Mary Nagy saw Smith’s potential as a flank defender early in her high school career. She said she saw Smith emerge as a sophomore when she moved to center back. She said she watched as Smith began to study the game and to understand how to possess the ball, to thwart attackers, and to break the habit of just kicking the ball out of bounds.
“She has such a fun personality and she loves to play and be funny, but when she takes that field, it is soccer time and it all about seriousness and doing what she can to be her best out there,” Nagy said. “Her hard work and her studying of her opponents has paid off for her.”
Nagy said Smith has become a vocal beacon for the Lady Trojans. She said Smith’s knowledge of the game allows her to read opponents’ body language and strengths so she and her teammates anticipate moves so they can be in better position.
Smith said she doesn’t realize she is as vocal on the field as Nagy says she is. In addition to learning how to read and to study the game, Smith said she developed the mind-set she needed as a sophomore to be an effective center back who works well with the goalkeeper to direct the defense.
“I came in with the mentality that no one is getting by me and this is my box and no one is getting through it,” Smith said. “I would watch the defenders and see they would talk, so I realized I could talk like that, too. I didn’t recognize I was talking. It just came as a habit. I am always in a zone when I am out there. It is crazy.”
Nagy believes Smith will be a great addition to the Meridian C.C. team because of her prowess on defense. Smith also is confident about taking her game to the next level because she said she is an extremely competitive person who calls her goalkeeper and her defense “her baby.” She said defender need to have that special relationship with their goalkeepers. This season, she hopes she and goalkeeper MacKenzie Harvey can continue a soccer relationship that started when they youth soccer teammates.
“That relationship is very, very, very important,” Smith said. “We have to have good communication to save both of ourselves, like give her confidence when she is going for the ball and saving me from running when she is going to get it.”
Smith hopes to develop a similar relationship with her next goalkeepers. She said the chance to play soccer in college “means the world to her.” She said she wants to work on other parts of her game and improve her versatility so she can help her teammates even more because she has that experience.
Nagy said the Lady Trojans have been “blessed” to have someone who has played such a prominent role in so many ways. She said Smith has thrived in the role of “Indian chief,” which makes it so difficult for her to imagine what it will be like without her next season.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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