In signing Mackenzie Alford, Kosciusko soccer coach Greg Cooper said East Central Community College is getting a team-first player who is not shy about stepping back and assuming a different role for the betterment of her program.
In her years at Kosciusko, Alford played defender, midfielder, forward and a host of other positions. That team-first mentality, Cooper said, will greatly benefit East Central.
“She’s very unselfish,” Cooper said. “She’s played everywhere from forward back to defense, back to the defensive-mid position, up to playing mid-field and offense back again this year. She’s somebody who’s very versatile.”
Alford committed to East Central last Friday during a ceremony at the school library that was well-attended by family, teammates and members of the Kosciusko community.
“It was really special for me because it’s like a once-in-a-lifetime thing that I’m never going to be able to do again,” Alford said. “To have my closest friends beside me and supporting me means a lot.”
Alford is a four-year member of the Lady Whippet soccer team, and she said she has played the sport from the first moment she was able to do so through area soccer leagues.
She compiled 20 goals and 13 assists during her prep career, including four goals her in senior season. As a junior, Alford was named co-defensive player of the year for Region 4-4A and she earned a spot on the Region 4-4A All-Region team.
“Mackenzie will be not only a great addition to our team, but a great addition to the community in Decatur,” East Central soccer coach Ryan Joiner said in a press release last week. “She is strong in her faith, with her family, and has a great support system. There is no doubt that Mackenzie will come in and fight for a position in the first eleven as the season beings in August. We are excited to watch her grow as an individual and also see her demeanor on and off the field be a positive for our program.”
Alford will join an East Central team that went 5-11 last season and looks to improve in year No. 2 under Joiner. The Kosciusko senior said she fell in love with East Central during the recruitment process and she is excited to help contribute to Joiner’s rebuilding efforts.
“I really like the campus, and the coach really attracted me,” Alford said. “He seemed like a good leader, and he was telling me about their grade-point averages, and the school seemed like it had a really good academic system. I was really drawn to the Baptist Student Union and by how much the soccer team went there, and they were just really involved.”
Alford aspires to one day have a career as a Christian therapist, and she plans to attend either Mississippi State University or Mississippi College upon her graduation from East Central. But for now, Alford’s excited for the opportunity to play soccer at the collegiate level.
“I’m really looking forward to getting better at soccer itself,” she said. “I’ve learned that hard work and practice is expected, but the hard work outside of practice is what’s going to make me successful.”
