The journey to find our true passion is different for each of us and can come in various ways.
Kennedy Ball's parents were both athletes and from a young age she gravitated to sports. Her parents put her into as many sports as they could because they could tell that she enjoyed being active. They put her in soccer, basketball, swimming, tennis, all of it she just wanted to be playing and competing. However, how did soccer rise above the rest?
"Soccer just came so naturally to me... I remember I would sometimes play with the guys or the older girls at a young age because they played really well, and I was just more advanced at a younger age."
She grew up in Charleston, South Carolina until she was in the fourth grade, that's when the family moved to Chattanooga, where her dad was originally from for work.
When young Kennedy was in the fifth grade she attended a soccer camp at the Girls Preparatory School (GPS) where head coach, Patrick Winecoff said that he could usually anticipate what moves players would make throughout the camp. Still, Kennedy did some things that he didn't expect and that caught his attention. After that camp, Kennedy knew she'd be attending GPS.
Ball recently finished off her high school soccer career which she began as an eighth grader back in 2018, she not only played but started, and helped the Bruisers to their second State Title in program history. Now, as an eighth grader coming into that spot and playing with girls who were a bit older than her I had to know, what was that experience like for her?
"Definitely nothing like I had ever experienced before, thankfully there were so many encouraging and kind upperclassmen that were able to help me out and steer me towards what I needed to do... I was super thankful as a tiny eighth grader to be playing up with some awesome players." She went on to talk about what the most difficult part of that experience was like, "I would say my height and size was kind of hard at times, I would definitely get pushed off the ball a lot but I had to deal with it."
After failing to capture another State Title for three years it came down to her senior year to leave her mark and wouldn't you know it, she went out the exact way she came into GPS, a State Champion.
The success she had at GPS was quite remarkable, during her time at the school the soccer team had a combined record of 72-12-5 and she also accounted for a ton of their goals, 40% to be exact. While she was there the Bruisers scored 336 goals, Ball scored 75 of those and assisted on 60.
Of all the statistics and honors there was one that was given to her recently that stands out above the rest, being an All-American. In being named an All-American she was the first Chattanooga area female high school soccer player to achieve that honor.
"The feeling definitely hasn't sunk in but I feel like I only really knew what an All-American was my freshman or sophomore year."
As it pertains to that award, she said that from that point on she identified that as one of her goals, she wanted to become one of 62 to be named an All-American soccer player.
Ball will be continuing her soccer career playing in the SEC as she's going to be attending Arkansas in the fall where she says she hopes to bring home a National Championship one day for the Razorbacks.
You can check out the full conversation here.