On a summer day in the year 1995, Robert McCormick, a Marine Corp pilot, husband and father, came home from work. The day was typical. That was until he noticed what the youngest of his three children, three-year-old Kelly, was doing in the backyard.
“There she was just kicking the ball,” he said. “There was no reason for her behavior. There was no reason for her to even know what soccer was. She was out there just methodically kicking the ball against the wall.”
Little did he know the unexplainable act was the beginning of what would turn into an intense passion.
Now, 42 collegiate wins, 292 saves and 6,732 playing minutes later, goalkeeper and lone senior on the Ole Miss soccer team Kelly McCormick will play what may be the final game of her career.
Nineteen years ago, at age four, she began her athletic journey playing on an American Youth Soccer Organization team. Her desire to become a goalkeeper blossomed at age six.
Eventually, her unusual determination and extreme work ethic landed her a spot on the highly competitive club team, the So. Cal Blues. Under her coach, Ron Downer, McCormick developed into a fierce competitor. She and her team went on to win five consecutive Surf Cup Championships as well as a U.S. Youth U-17 National Championship in 2010.
Unfortunately, her beloved coach passed away a year ago.
“He was very instrumental in my life,” McCormick said. “He was the one that taught me how to be a goalkeeper at a very young age, and spent countless hours teaching me all the ways, and how to be the best I can be.”
At the beginning of her high school career, the Laguna Niguel, California, native was being heavily recruited by universities across the country. After considering Texas A&M, McCormick settled on attending college 1,800 miles away from home at The University of Mississippi.
“When she came, her answer was the best, and it was, ‘You know, if I get hurt, where will I want to wake up in the morning and still go to school?’ That was here (Ole Miss),” her father said.
Since, McCormick has recorded an illustrious career, shattering every record held by previous goalkeepers with the exception of one. She is tied at 22 for most number of shutouts.
Her unique style of keeping is aggressive. She stands resolutely before the goal, always watching, always alert. When an airborne ball comes McCormick’s way, nothing thrills her more than pinning it down.
“I absolutely love sticking the ball without bobbling it or double catching or anything,” she said. “I like to focus on every shot that’s taken on me to make sure I move my feet correctly, have the right footwork and make sure I can stick the ball the first time.”
Because McCormick is the sole senior and most experienced player on the Ole Miss soccer squad, she has harnessed her teammates’ respect on and off of the field.
“They know that I put my heart and soul into this team, and that I’ll do anything for any girl if they need help whether it’s soccer or outside of soccer,” she said. “We know at the end of the day that we have each other’s back. We can pick up anyone and be there for one another.”
McCormick walks firmly in her role as a leader as well as in her faith as a Christian. Her pregame playlist is unconventional. Instead of being motivated by high tempo, top-40 music, many songs she listens to before taking the field come from the Christian genre.
“I want to play for Christ,” she said. “He’s given me this amazing ability to play soccer and to be a part of the Ole Miss community, and I just kind of want to give back to him.”
McCormick is the soccer team’s chaplain. Before each game she leads her teammates in prayer.
“A lot of times when people say that teams pray before the game, usually they think they’re praying to win,” she said. “I don’t like when people say that, because that’s not true. We honor and respect him and thank him for all the many blessings that he has given us.”
McCormick attributes her stout faith to the supportive community she has become involved with at St. John’s Catholic Church. It was at this church that McCormick met the woman she now affectionately regards as her “Oxford Mom,” Millie Smith.
Smith met McCormick one Sunday at mass.
“There’s a part of mass where churchgoers do a sign of peace, and say, ‘The peace of Christ be with you.’ So she turns around, you know, and shakes my hand,” Smith recalled.
“She has a very firm handshake, and I knew it was sincere, but the look in her eyes – you could just see the Lord in her eyes.”
Smith, a self-proclaimed sports-oholic, said when she found out Kelly was on the Ole Miss soccer team she began coming to every home game.
“I have three sons, and they were all athletes. So this is just great now that I have a daughter who’s an athlete,” Smith said with a laugh.
Smith described approaching the end of McCormick’s career as a bittersweet feeling.
“Kelly is a very gifted young lady on the field and off the field,” Smith said. “She is just so good for our university. She’s good for our church. She’s just good for mankind, and for all the people who love Jesus. She walks the faith.”
McCormick’s father agrees.
“I’ll miss it. I really will,” he said. “I have gone through from day one, and now it’s coming to an end. It really will be sad, but everything has to change, and that’s OK.”
McCormick and her fellow teammates on the Ole Miss soccer team will face off in the final home match of the regular season tonight against Tennessee. As if this game weren’t special enough for McCormick, both teams will be fighting for the final spot in the upcoming Southeastern Conference Tournament.
With a win or a draw, the Rebels can secure their spot.
“If you go this far and you’re that dedicated, you like to see a good ending to your career. Not a mediocre one,” Robert McCormick said. “I’d like to see them end this year with a quality game to put a stone cap on her career and all her hard work and dedication. That’s all I could want.”
Win, draw or lose, one thing is for certain – those fortunate enough to have met McCormick in her four-year career at Ole Miss consider themselves lucky.
“Life truly has meaning and purpose for Kelly McCormick,” Smith said. “She’s a magnet – just full of charisma and life. She is truly a child of Jesus, and he is so proud of her.”
