STARKVILLE — Growing up, Kase Kingery never saw playing with a soccer ball as “work.”
Like a lot of kids who had discovered a sport that fit them, Kingery spent as many hours as he could with a soccer ball honing his skills. The drills he did in and around Starkville often included dribbling exercises and shooting tests with his right and left foot. He would try to hit the crossbar again and again, or he would use a T-shirt as a target and place it on the crossbar.
“I have always felt shooting has been a strong part of my game,” Kingery said. “I have always taken pride that I can use my left foot pretty well.”
As much as the practice appeared to be ordinary, Starkville High School boys soccer coach Brian Bennett said that work has helped make Kingery special.
“What amazes me is that ever since I have known the kid, even before he started playing (at Starkville High), anytime I went to the soccer field in town he was always out there with a couple of balls taking shots from distance,” Bennett said. “His dad would take him out there, and he would shoot and do other things like juggling.”
Repetition built strength and confidence and laid a foundation Kingery hopes to build on in the future.
The first step will come at 3:30 p.m. Saturday when Starkville will play Pascagoula for the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A state title at Clinton High.
Starkville (13-3) is in position to win its first state crown in boys soccer thanks in large part to Kingery and a senior class that has played together for years.
In fact, Kingery, who is naturally right-footed, said many of his classmates share his technical skills and are equally adept at playing with both feet. But few possess the ability to strike the ball with accuracy and with pace like Kingery. In the regular season against New Hope, the 6-foot-1 senior midfielder was moving from right to left in the middle of the field. With the ball on his left foot, Kingery uncorked a laser that sizzled into the back of the net. For an older player, the shot might have been considered ordinary. But for a high school player, the shot showed a polish and a level of dedication to his craft that belied Kingery’s age.
Bennett said repetition is crucial to developing the ability to hit the ball so well. He said Kingery has his body at the right angles, he has his chest over the ball, and he has vision focused on the goalkeeper and defenders to identify where he has to shoot the ball.
“If I had to teach somebody the form, I would show them a video of Kase and how he hits the ball,” Bennett said. “A lot of kids can put it where they want to, but to put it there with a lot of power is difficult.”
Years of practice have helped Kingery develop that ability. He said he doesn’t train as much as he did when he was in grade school in part because of the demands of high school. But he agrees that the work he did when he was younger helped him grow comfortable with the ball so he has the confidence to work in and out of any situation.
Oliver Weiss, Kingery’s coach with the Under-17/U-18 Birmingham United Soccer Association U.S. Development Academy team, saw those skills immediately early last year when Kingery was invited to an open tryout. Weiss liked what he saw enough to offer Kingery a spot on the team.
“He is very comfortable with the ball and technically superior with the ball compared to many of the players in our region,” Weiss said. “It is something that is hard to change and to improve as kids get older, so if you don’t have the technical ability there is not a whole lot you can do at the higher levels of play.”
After completing his season with a club team in Jackson, Kingery joined BUSA. From September through December, Kingery played in more than 20 matches against some of the region’s top players and got a taste of what he will face at the next level.
Weiss said it was easy to see Kingery has a “genuine love” for soccer because it takes a significant commitment to travel more than two hours one way to train with a team, as well as all of the time it takes to travel to and from matches.
Kingery said he learned a lot about the sport and about himself. He said Weiss, who is from Germany and who coached former Heritage Academy soccer standout Robby Thomas, who recently completed his freshman season at Charlotte, exposed him to a more defensive manner of playing the sport, which included moving him to center back, which he enjoyed.
“I knew it would definitely help with the college scene, but as of now I am not too sure where schools are,” Kingery said. “I am leaving a lot of things open. There are a lot of options open.”
Weiss feels the experience with BUSA showed Kingery there is a greater soccer landscape open to him. He said it is important for Kingery to be in a training environment where he is challenged on a daily basis because he has the potential to play soccer at a very high level.
Where Kingery goes after he finishes his career at Starkville High remains to be seen. He has attracted interest from several elite colleges, including the University of South Carolina. Weiss also said Kingery could use his love and knowledge of the game to go a different route — possibly overseas — to gain additional experience. From there, he could return to the United States and go to college or pursue a dream of playing professional soccer. Whatever route Kingery chooses, Weiss feels there are plenty of options.
“I think he is truly a student of the game who wants to get better and who is looking for an environment to help him do that,” Weiss said.
Kingery said he would like to give professional soccer a try. He doesn’t have a preference whether he begins his career in the United States or overseas, but he remembers when he was 12 and he played soccer against grown men in Starkville. He also recalls all of the technical work he did in the park to help elevate his game to the point where he has so many options available to him.
Kingery still has the passion and love for the game that he had when he was 12. He hopes his next step Saturday will help him and his teammates earn some championship hardware.
After that, Kingery will keep his goals in line and work to achieve everything before him.
“The work I did when I was younger helped with my technical ability, and that is the first thing coaches notice about me, my technical skills,” Kingery said. “I am a bit above average height, so they think a bigger guy like me might play more physically. It usually kind of shocks coaches when a taller guy like me can use such technical skills.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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