STARKVILLE — Abby Phillips was pleasantly caught off guard.
Phillips grew up playing soccer and earned a chance to play at the NCAA Division I level when she signed with Mississippi State. But an injury ended her playing career and forced her to make the transition from player to coach.
Although she isn’t coaching at the professional or college level, Phillips has found something she really likes: coaching young people. Earlier this month, the Mississippi Soccer Association (MSA) recognized Phillips for her work as coach with the Starkville Soccer Association (SSA) Under-14 girls team when she was named Girls District Competitive Coach of the Year for the North District.
Phillips will be recognized at the MSA) Awards Luncheon on Saturday, Feb. 11, at the MSA Annual Conference in Jackson.
“It was a surprise,” Phillips said. “I was like, ‘Wow, I’m so blessed.’ To be nominated for this after only my second year of coaching, it’s a blessing and an honor to receive that.”
Phillips didn’t know she had been nominated and was surprised when she got a text message form Phil Rose, the director of coaching for the SSA.
Rose wrote, “Did you know that you are Mississippi’s Girls Competitive Coach of the Year? Congrats.” Phillips responded immediately and couldn’t believe the news.
Rose wasn’t surprised.
“She’s got a lot of great qualities,” Rose said. “She’s great with the girls, she’s very consistent, she’s very organized, she’s very positive, she’s played the game, and she has all of the good things you’d like to see in a coach. She’s all of those things. I think the award is very well deserved.”
Kay Bouler, the executive director of MSA, has never met Phillips, but she was impressed with everything she heard from the two people who nominated her and others who wrote recommendations for her. Bouler said team manager Jennifer McPherson and a parent, Bobby McReynolds, nominated Phillips for the award.
She said there were at least a half of dozen coaches nominated from Phillips’ district for the award, but Bouler was blown away with the support and the job Phillips has done.
“In looking at the letters of recommendations she received, one of the things that struck me right off the bat was the fact that she’s only 21 years old,” Bouler said. “For parents to think that someone that young is demonstrating the character and the leadership and the qualities that they want to be a role model for their girls just says so much about Abby as a person. I don’t know her that well, but just reading everything, they talk about how dedicated she is in teaching the kids the game of soccer as well as the sportsmanship, which is so important at the age these kids are.”
Phillips, who played at Tupelo High School, began her college career as a freshman at MSU in 2013. She suffered an injury during her sophomore year in 2014 and received a medical release. She played in nine games and scored one goal.
Mark Farmer, who was the SSA director of coaching at the time, reached out to Phillips and wanted to gauge her interest in coaching kids soccer.
Farmer, who also was helping the MSU soccer team at the time, offered her the coaching position of a U-5 boys team. Phillips coached the U-5 boys team for a season and she recalls Farmer telling her, “You really worked well with the boys. How did you like it?” She responded with, “I loved it.”
Farmer offered her the coaching position of a U-12 girls competitive team. She is still coaching that group of girls.
“I was blessed with an amazing group of girls,” Phillips said. “The group of girls were so amazing that they made me love coaching. They were such special girls and they loved the game of soccer. Just their love for the game and wanting to learn as much as they could about the sport, just encouraged me more to be that person to teach them those things and to make them love the sport as much as my father and previous coaches made me love it.”
Phillips, a senior at MSU, said her father played soccer and was a driving force behind her getting into the sport and loving it. She began playing soccer when she was 4. Although she would still like to play, she has enjoyed the coaching and has found a place where she belongs.
“I’ve never really thought about coaching,” Phillips said, “but I’ve enjoyed it.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
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