Abby Wilson had never considered the notion, so it wasn’t surprising that she laughed.
A go-getter? The New Hope High School senior couldn’t help but smile at the thought. The more she contemplated it, Wilson liked the idea and credited her parents, especially her father, David, for encouraging her to work hard, to be the best she can be, and not to quit at anything she does.
It’s fitting them that Jones County Junior College women’s soccer coach Dolores Deasley saw that trait in Wilson earlier this year when she was the coach of the New Hope High School girls soccer team at the Paul Harbin Soccer Camp at William Carey in Hattiesburg. At the end of the camp, each Lady Trojan received an evaluation. When Wilson received hers, she noticed a special notation on the bottom: “You can play for me.” Wilson was the only member of her team who received that message.
“She said, ‘I would pick you for my team, and then she put exclamation points and a smiley face,” Wilson said. “It was exciting. (New Hope High assistant) coach Will (Taylor) told me they were the best junior college in the state and they have the best facilities.”
It didn’t take long after that for Wilson to visit the JCJC campus in Ellisville and to realize she had found the place where she wanted to continue her soccer career. Wilson and three of her New Hope High teammates recently took the next step in making their college plans official when they gave verbal commitments to play at the next level. Wilson and Sam Vogel made separate decisions to attend JCJC, while Effie Morrison and Kayla Smith also made separate decisions to go to Meridian Community College.
Wilson has been a mainstay on the New Hope High varsity team for the past two seasons. A former softball player and a volleyball player at the school, Wilson had six goals and four assists (16 points) last season to help New Hope advance to its first state title game, where it lost to West Jones 2-0. Wilson appeared in 18 games as a sophomore and had one goal and one assist. She also saw action in nine games as a freshman and one as an eighth-grader.
Wilson said she didn’t know Deasley prior going to the team camp and didn’t consider the experience to be an opportunity to impress someone who could possibly become her coach in college. Little did she know Deasley was watching and taking notes.
“I went to camp and worked hard and tried to get better,” Wilson said.
After she received Deasley’s positive remarks, Wilson thought about the possibility of going to JCJC and waited a few weeks. She then emailed Deasley to make sure they stayed in touch so she would be assured of having a chance to make the team. Wilson said she likely will have a chance to step in at defender next season when the team loses several players to graduation.
“I have worked hard and done what I am supposed to do,” said Wilson, who has played club soccer for the Mississippi Flood in Oxford, a Division I team, and Columbus United. “I was worried. I wasn’t sure (I would get a chance to play soccer in college).”
Nagy and Taylor felt differently. In fact, they told her something to that effect last year.
“We told her she would get an offer based alone on how she warmed up because the way Abby warms up and practices also is the way Abby plays, 100 percent hard work, effort all the time,” Nagy said. “If people were running slow around her, she would start running fast. It didn’t matter. People notice that. Her general attitude and the way she stood on the field because of that hard work and effort, it just stands out above others. She didn’t slack off in her fundamentals. She still does them properly, even though she has done them millions of times. We new people would recognize that just in the way she walked out onto the field and presented herself.
“Coach Dolores is one who noticed Abby was a go-getter. I believe that is what she noticed first about her.”
Nagy believes Wilson’s knack for being a go-getter stems from her younger days when she was still playing softball. She said Wilson still had the skills, but the softball team’s success kept her on the diamond longer, so she had to work doubly hard to catch up once she returned to the soccer field. Nagy said Wilson has the ability on and off the field — she said Wilson is a “straight-A student” — to thrive in the pressure of the moment and perform at a high level. Nagy’s term for that is a “perfectionist procrastinator.” She isn’t sure if Wilson considers herself a perfectionist, but she said Wilson has that drive to reach the expectations she sets for herself and to match the expectations others have for her, too.
Last season, Wilson moved from defense to forward because of the Lady Trojans’ depth at defender. Injuries forced Wilson to move back to defender, and Nagy said Wilson thrived in the move back. She said Wilson and Smith, who grew up playing soccer together, have a natural teamwork that doesn’t require communication. She said their ability to work together is a big reason why New Hope had the success it did last year. She hopes Wilson can use those skills this season in a variety of ways to help New Hope play for a state title again.
“Jones County is getting the best of both worlds, a true student-athlete,” Nagy said. “She is super intelligent and super talented athletically as well. Abby is a student of the game and she takes her job seriously and she is going to make sure she is positioned where she is supposed to be. … She is probably the most versatile player we have. We can put her anywhere on the field and know we are going to get quality time without any serious repercussions. Abby does what she has to do to be successful on the field.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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