Quick Chat: Mallie McKenzie

By John Frierson
Staff Writer

Mallie McKenzie is taking an anatomy and physiology class, as many college freshmen often do. And with that class comes the requisite weekly lab class, which in the Georgia soccer defender's case is at 8 a.m.

In that lab, as McKenzie, an Exercise and Sport Science major from Roswell, Ga., explained during a recent Quick Chat, is, well, not something most folks see every day — or want to see first thing in the morning. McKenzie also talked about superstitions, adjusting to life as a collegiate student-athlete and much more.

Here's some of what she had to say:

Frierson: Do you have any pregame or pre-practice rituals, anything that's sort of bordering on superstitions?

McKenzie: I have to put on my right sock and my right shin guard first, and then left sock and left shin guard. I have two different-sized shin guards and the small one goes on my right side and the big one goes on my left. And my spandex and sports bra have to be the same color, before games.

Frierson: When did all of this originate?

McKenzie: The shin guards happened here but the sports bra and spandex started, I think, in high school. I think I just thought it looked cool and ever since I was like, all right, I'm going to stick with that.

Frierson: Do you believe in superstitious stuff?

McKenzie: Oh, 100 percent. My club team, we were probably the most superstitious team ever. One time we went to a game and had chicken tenders in our cooler, and we won the state tournament with that, so every game after that we were like, "Is the chicken in the cooler?" [Laughs.]

Frierson: Will you immediately switch things up if you have a bad game?

McKenzie: One hundred percent. [Laughs.] Especially with hairstyles — if I do bad with one hairstyle I'll be like, I'm not wearing that ever again.

Frierson: How long did it take to get comfortable with everything that's thrown at you as a freshman soccer player, between the school and soccer and everything else?

McKenzie: At the beginning it was nice because when we came in in the summer it was sort of like, I've got this figured out, because we only had one class in the summer and there were practices but the coaches weren't there.

Then when preseason and classes started I was like, I've never experienced anything like this.

I think it was after my first round of tests when I figured out what worked for me and what didn't in my classes — after that first round I sort of figured out what I should do from there. Before that, I was like a chicken with his head cut off, [laughs] just all over the place.

I think I've got more of the hang of it now, but I definitely don't want to say I've totally got things under control [laughs] because there is definitely a lot going on — but it's worth it, for sure.

Frierson: Is there a class you're taking that you find the most interesting or compelling, or challenging?

McKenzie: Probably the class that's the most interesting and challenging is my anatomy class, anatomy and physiology. Just learning how the body works and we have a lab, and you get to look at cadavers and look at the muscles inside their body.

It's really cool but it's definitely super hard because there's a lot of memorization of all the muscles and bones of the body and their functions. When I get the material down it's definitely a very cool and fun class.

Frierson: You're looking at an actual cadaver?

McKenzie: Yeah.

Frierson: Did you know that going in?

McKenzie: No [laughs], I was terrified. At first when they said that, "So we're going to be looking at cadavers, if you get queasy just walk out," I had that in my head, am I going to be one of those people? It's actually not bad, it's just the smell, the formaldehyde, is a lot.

It gives me an uneasy feeling but it's not terrible. It's actually really cool seeing the inside of an actual body.

Frierson: Do you have a creative side? Is there something creative you do or wish you could do?

McKenzie: I wish I could sing and dance. I am a very musical person, I love to sing — my roommate Haley (Sorrell), who's also on the team, is a really good singer and can play the guitar and the ukulele. She's super musical and is always doing stuff like that, and I wish I could do it because I love music and I love dancing even though I'm not the best at it.

Frierson: If you could sing one song really, really well, what would it be?

McKenzie: Ooh, I would say probably an Adele song. She can sing really well and if I could just do a great Adele song I would be satisfied with my singing career.

Frierson: When did soccer go from a sport you did for fun and to be with your friends to something you take more seriously and really begin to put in the work to get you to where you are today?

McKenzie: It eighth grade I played for a club that was in my city and it was with all my best friends, but we were in pretty low classifications and if we didn't win the state tournament we were going to stay in the low classifications. And so we didn't win the tournament and I was talking with my parents about being kind of frustrated.

They were like it's your decision, do you want to push yourself with soccer or just do it for social reasons and stay with your friends? And I decided that for me I wanted to pursue it, so I switched club teams. It was really tough because I was going into my freshman year of high school, so it was just a big transition with everything.

Luckily I got on a team with girls I really, really enjoyed and it worked out well for me.

Frierson: I ask that question to a lot of student-athletes and I'm not sure I've heard such a stark example of making that transition. For you, there was a very clear fork in the road and you had to decide which to take.

McKenzie: That was just one or the other, for sure. Luckily it worked out well for me and I sort of got the best of both worlds because I got a new group of friends that I really enjoyed and I got to further my soccer career.

(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)

John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.

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Mallie McKenzie

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