Belhaven University women’s soccer coach Kimberly Harrell was impressed the first time she saw Melanie Echols at one of the school’s ID camps.
“This is where the athlete showcases their skills, works with the coaching staff, tours the campus, etc.,” Harrell explained. “Essentially, it’s a day for our recruits to work with the coaching staff.”
It didn’t take long for the Starkville Academy senior to get herself noticed.
“She was an immediate standout amongst the other campers,” Harrell said. “Her natural ability to play center back, knowledge of the game and work ethic were a few things that drew us to Melanie.”
And Echols was drawn to Belhaven, signing a letter of intent to continue her soccer career at the Jackson school this week.
Echols was one of three SA players to make their college choices official this week, as Anna Claire Heflin signed with Southwest Mississippi and Mia Kate Cade signed to play at Northwest Mississippi. This marked the second time in three years that all of the Volunteers’ seniors signed to play soccer in college.
“Two years ago we signed both seniors to Meridian Community College,” Starkville Academy coach John Morgan said. “We pride ourselves on if you want to play college ball, we can get you there.”
Morgan was enthusiastic about each of the senior’s chances to succeed at the next level. Harrell showed some of the qualities needed while playing center back for the Vols.
“She’s got a great work ethic, great competitive drive,” Morgan said. “She’s extremely physical, which is hard to find at the high school level. A lot of time people try to rely on pure athleticism, but she can read the game.”
The third-year SA coach said Harrell’s leadership skills have grown since he’s been at the school.
“As she’s gotten older, she’s definitely felt more comfortable in that role,” Morgan said. “Her communication, ‘move here, shift here,’ she’s done a pretty good job of that.”
Belhaven, founded in 1883 with longstanding ties to the Presbyterian Church, competes in the American Southwest Conference, an NCAA Division III league made up of 11 schools, mostly in Texas.
Harrell believes it’s a perfect place for Echols to continue her academic and athletic career.
“She offers much more than just her skill level,” Harrell said. “We also admire her Christian values, hard work in the classroom and competitiveness. We know she will be a great fit for Belhaven.”
The Blazers went 10-8-1 this past season, posting a 4-5-1 conference record.
Northwest Mississippi has a solid women’s soccer program which fashioned a 15-3-1 record this fall, reaching the second round of the region tournament. All three losses and the tie came against ranked teams.
Northwest coach James Beattie sees Cade contributing to the Rangers’ continued success.
“We’re really excited about Mia to come in and join our program,” Beattie said. “We had a successful year last year and we are looking to build on it, and Mia is going to be a big part of the hopeful success we are going to have next year.”
“Mia is a very technical player, very good with the ball,” Morgan said. “She can create, she can beat people one on one or get people involved in the play. She’s a very dangerous player at the high school level, and that ability will make her such an asset at the college level.”
Cade played attacking midfielder for two years under Morgan, then played up front.
“All the girls can play multiple roles, which is an asset to the program,” Morgan said, praising her leadership and communication skills while also noting “some of the things she did off the ball improved” as well.
The Bears of Southwest Mississippi had a rough 2021 season, going 3-11-2 and going winless in division play. But Morgan expects Heflin to help give the program a boost.
“Her knowledge of the game improved over the three years,” Morgan said. “She understood how the game was supposed to be played. I thought her soccer IQ got better as time went on.”
If that wasn’t enough, Heflin, who played left and right wing for the Volunteers, showed her determination in coming back from a serious injury.
“She’s such an inspirational story,” Morgan said. “She played last year, and then we found out during the summer she was trying out for a college and tore her labrum. She had to get surgery on that, which put her out for the entire summer and half the season.
“She was able to finally get back in the last third of the season and helped us make a semifinal run. It’s not easy coming off an injury, especially in your senior season.”
Morgan said the senior trio conducted themselves exactly the way you want seniors to be.
“I think it’s so easy for senior leadership to be almost authoritarian, to come off tyrannical, but all three of them worked hard,” he said. :”If you can’t lead by example, you’re not much of a leader, and they all did that. They set the standard for what that should look like.”
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