STARKVILLE — Some soccer players can adapt to any position on the field.
Starkville Academy sophomore Payton Allen is the perfect example.
Armed with speed — she”s also a sprinter for the school”s track team — and a top-notch work-rate, Allen featured on all three levels for the Lady Volunteers this season.
As a right winger or forward, Allen was close to unstoppable, especially on the counter attack.
As a midfielder, she provided the Lady Vols a box-to-box presence that could deliver a cutting pass to spring a teammate or a crucial challenge to win possession.
She even played defender for first-year coach Robert Gardner, who made the mid-season decision to play the quick-footed Allen next to transfer Bailey Clark in central midfield.
“I don”t know if it was a natural position for her, but she definitely excelled this year,” Gardner said. “She”s going to work in any position you put her, but in my opinion she defends very well. If we have her in the middle of the field she can release and get into forward positions. As far as putting the team structure first, I felt like it was important to keep her in such an important role in the middle of the field.”
Allen, The Dispatch Soccer Player of the Year, admits the switch to central midfield required her to raise her defensive awareness.
As a natural attacking player, the mindset adjustment couldn”t be made before the game. Allen, with the help of Gardner, had to constantly be aware of defending before attacking.
“He (Gardner) would have to get onto me because I would have a tendency to go forward and want to be in the play all the time,” Allen said. “I like playing both, but it kind of depends on what team you”re playing. If we”re playing a team that”s better than us, I”d rather play defense because you get more action there. If you”re playing a team that”s more equally matched, it”s better to play offense.”
When she was able to get forward, Allen provided quality service to standout forwards Sallie Kate Richardson and Tiffany Huddleston, who combined for 38 goals this season.
Allen, a team captain for SA”s 9-6-1 record and first-round playoff berth, accounted for 11 goals this season.
Allen would welcome a full-time switch up top but is comfortable playing anywhere.
“When you”re up front and in on offense, you get the adrenaline of going up against somebody and you get more opportunities to score, which is fun,” she said.
Gardner said Allen”s greatest role was becoming a leader of a team that had only one senior. But as a fixture in the starting 11 since her eighth-grade season, Allen is accustomed to leading with her play and effort.
Taking the reins of the team, especially as a central midfielder, was vital to the team”s success, Gardner said.
“It”s tough to ask a sophomore to be a leader of the team, but that”s one of the roles and the most important we”re going to ask her to fill in these next two years while she”s with us,” Gardner said. “As she ages, she”ll do better with that. I think she kind of understood it at the beginning of the year but really started to embrace it at the end.”
Helping the team”s younger players through a mixed-bag schedule is a priority for Allen, who admits the disparity in quality teams is more challenging than people think.
Granted, all sports face teams that range from poor to mediocre to great in terms of play, but routing a team 10-0 Tuesday before facing a Jackson-area team at the weekend can affect a young player”s focus, Allen said.
“Here”s some teams that we just completely demolish, and when you play a team like JA (Jackson Academy) or (Jackson) Prep, you really have to step your game up more,” she said. “You kind of get used to whenever you play Mag. Heights and Heritage, it just comes easily. The younger players weren”t used to having to play at their absolute hardest to even tie. So we just have to really encourage the younger players.”
Heading into the offseason, Allen will be unusually idle on the soccer field after deciding not to play Select soccer. Traveling to Jackson, where Mississippi United is based, and trekking to tournaments limited Allen”s free time. As a track runner and cheerleader, she didn”t want to go through the Select grind.
To help compensate, Allen and Select teammate Huddleston will practice with the Starkville Academy boys in the winter.
“Select ball definitely makes you a better player,” Allen said, “but I”m hoping that playing with the boys and getting on their level a little bit will help when I get back to playing with girls in the spring. I don”t know, maybe it will toughen me up a little bit for next year.”
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