A Positive Soccer Force, Clinton’s Mallory Coleman leads by attitude
By Angela Crane Cole
Since her youth sports days in Clinton, Mallory Coleman has always been
positive and competitive and she still is today playing on the Ole Miss
women’s soccer team.
Ole Miss Soccer Coach Steve Holeman says Coleman is an inspiration
to her teammates. “Mallory has a wonderful attitude and a competitive
drive that combine to make her a joy to coach,” says Holeman.
Mallory credits her father, Jay, for instilling her positive outlook
and strong work ethic.
“My dad coached me when I was playingU-10 soccer,” Mallory recalls. “Our team, the Crush, went 56-0-0 that year. At state tournaments, he’d always quote Philippians 3:12: ‘Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ.’”
Though it’s been a decade since Mallory was coached by her father,
his words have remained with her. “He said to play my best no matter
what, but to remember that the important thing was that Christ died for me.”
Since beginning soccer at age four, Mallory has played on eight
different teams, traveling the nation, from California to New York.
Soccer, Mallory says, has helped her grow athletically and as a person.
“Soccer’s not just about running around and kicking a ball. It
teaches you so many things to use later on in life. Through soccer I
have learned discipline, with all the training and preparation we go
through. I’ve also learned how important it is to work as a team and
what it means to want something so badly and how to work hard to achieve
it.”
At Clinton High School from 2002 to 2005, Coleman won MVP, best
midfielder, and best offensive player, among other distinctions. She was
named first-team All State by The Clarion-Ledger and was a four-year
member of the Mississippi Olympic Development Team.
This article was excerpted from an in-depth story on Mallory Coleman in
Victories in Metro Jackson magazine, a Christian sports publication.
Read more at www.victoriesinmetrojackson.com. To subscribe go to the
website or contact publisher and editor Robert Wilson at
rwilson@integrity.com or 601.506.2276.