STARKVILLE — Carly Mauldin had second thoughts.
A decision to return home to Laurel meant she would have to miss four days of training with Aaron Byrd and the Women’s Premier Soccer League’s Motor City FC.
But Mauldin had a good reason. She wanted to attend the wedding of her cousin, Sawyer Taylor, a Mississippi State graduate, to Lana Ishee on July 15 in Ellisville.
“I am a big family person and that was a big day for my cousin,” Mauldin said, “so I decided I should go and be with the family.”
Before Mauldin left, though, she asked Motor City FC coach Aaron Byrd if he minded if she went home for the wedding. After seeing Mauldin miss hardly any training sessions for the three months she was with him, Byrd gave his blessing for Mauldin to go to the wedding.
“She said I want to surprise my mom and dad,” Byrd said. “She said, ‘If you want me to stay and train, I will stay,’ but that wasn’t a thought that crossed my mind.”
Mauldin’s surprise return home was a hit. She said she hid in her parents’ home until the evening of the wedding rehearsal. When she arrived at the event, she saw all of her family members and everyone cried.
The wedding was a break in an otherwise intense summer of training that saw Mauldin play a key role for Motor City FC in the WPSL, which is a national league in the United States and Puerto Rico that is on the second level of the U.S. soccer pyramid below the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
The training and the match experience has given Mauldin, a midfielder with the MSU women’s team, a new sense of confidence. Mauldin will get another chance to show off what she learned at 11 a.m. today when MSU (4-0) plays host to Colgate (1-3) at the MSU Soccer Field.
MSU had a rare Friday night off after its match against Houston was canceled due to Hurricane Harvey. MSU will have two more non-conference matches before it opens the Southeastern Conference season against Arkansas at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 15, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Mauldin, a 5-foot-5 junior, has started all four matches and played a key role in helping the Bulldogs allow only one goal. Only Catalina Perez, Kelly Dorney, and Kristen Malebranche have played more minutes than Mauldin (340).
Last season, Mauldin started all 18 games for the second-straight season. She led the team in minutes (1,653).
Mauldin said her experience with Motor City FC — teammate Mallory Eubanks also played for the team — was “unreal” and that she hopes to return to play in Detroit next season.
“It was a great environment,” Mauldin said. “I have never been in that type of soccer environment growing up in South Mississippi, so I learned a lot about myself.”
Byrd said he knew nothing about Mauldin when she arrived but that he would welcome her back any day. He said she made such an impression that she stood out over more experienced and accomplished players.
“Carly is the most committed, kind, hardest working, loyal player I might have ever encountered,” Byrd said.
Byrd said Mauldin didn’t complain when he put the players through an intense 45-minute workout the day before a match. He said it is a credit to her work ethic that she messaged him the following week to ask him if he would put the team through the workout prior to the team’s next game.
Byrd said Mauldin’s attitude wasn’t only way she impressed him. He praised Mauldin’s work rate, consistency, and presence. Byrd said he would like to help Mauldin become a more creative player going forward and a more dangerous option in the attacking third.
“She was a player we couldn’t afford to take off the field,” Byrd said. “The first thing she said to me is I want to come back next summer. We set a date for her to come back and she already has sent a message that I can’t wait to come back.”
Mississippi State coach Tom Anagnost said he hasn’t see Byrd train players, but he said MSU associate head coach Jason Hamilton has. He said Byrd and Hamilton were the best man in the other’s wedding.
“He trains the best players, so the best players in Michigan are going to him, males and females,” Anagnost said. “Reputation is a big thing. All of the feedback is that (Byrd’s training) is intense, high tempo. He has his niche and it is uniquely different. If I could have more of my kids be trained by him with those great players daily, I would do it. I was really proud Mallory and Carly did that. All of the feedback from everyone I have met since basically 2017 has been incredibly positive about him.”
Anagnost praised Mauldin for putting herself in a summer environment where she would be challenged. He feels she returned to Starkville a better player and a better person. As a result, MSU is benefiting from her growth as a player.
“(Training with Byrd) opened her eyes to things,” Anagnost said. “She was a kid that was a little skeptical and she loved it.
“She is an extraordinarily hard-working person. She just exemplifies that with hard work you can do anything.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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