White hot future

Published 12:11 am Sunday, October 9, 2011

NATCHEZ — The Adams County Christian School girls’ soccer team finished up its 2011 season Thursday with an 8-7-2 record.

After winning just one game last season, the Lady Rebels made the playoffs in just their second season as a team, and head coach Jim Allgood said his young 2011 team, with only one senior, cleared a path for future teams to follow.

ERIC SHELTON | THE NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT — ACCS sophomore Brandis White kicks the ball down field during the Lady Rebels’ soccer match Sept. 27 against Lamar. White finished the season tied for the team lead in goals with eight.

One member of the 2011 squad that personifies both the growth and potential of Lady Rebels soccer is sophomore Brandis White.

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White’s soccer career started just four months ago at the Lady Rebels summer soccer camp. She had played basketball since age 6 but decided she wanted to give soccer a try, she said.

“Some of the junior varsity players were just telling me how fun it was, and I wanted to try something new,” White said.

Allgood saw potential in White and wanted her to play varsity soccer this fall, he said.

“She has raw athletic talent,” he said. “Her foot skills combined with her speed and aggressive quickness allowed her from the first game to (the end of the season) to have a goal or several attempts in each game.”

White said she started picking up the game fairly quickly with the help of her teammates and coaches.

“I got the hang of it, and I felt I was good at it,” she said. “I learned in practice games and by people telling me about it. I know a lot more now than I did when I first started.”

Brandis quickly became one of the offensive stars on the Lady Rebels squad and finished the season tied for the team lead with eight goals. She also netted a hat trick against Brookhaven Academy, a feat that even surprised herself.

“I didn’t know what it was until after the game,” she said. “But after that I knew I wanted to keep doing it.”

Allgood said he explained to Brandis that scoring a hat trick was comparable to scoring 50 points in a basketball game, and it was a great accomplishment for a first-year player.

“To get a hat trick at the level we are playing against is amazing,” he said.

Allgood said White’s performance in her first year is a sign of good things to come for the young ACCS girls soccer program.

“For (Brandis) the sky is the limit,” he said. “She has several years left and with the junior varsity girls following along with her by the time she’s in 11th and 12th grade it will be very special.”

With her first soccer season behind her White will look forward to starring on the court for the Lady Rebels basketball team and also practicing for next year’s soccer season, she said.

“I’m looking forward to (next year),” she said. “(We should be) pretty good.”