Mallory Eubanks spent her summer going up against some of the biggest names in women’s soccer, so coming back home to coach a team of 11-year-old girls should have been a piece of cake to prepare for, right? Well …
“At first, coaching was intimidating. That first day, I was like ‘man’ (shrugging) in practice,” said Eubanks, who has signed on to coach the Lexington FC 07 Blue team while at home on hiatus from her pro playing career. “I prepared hours and hours for our first session, just because I didn’t want to mess it up. Now, it’s just been really fun.”
Eubanks was part of a Tates Creek High School state championship team before signing with Mississippi State and getting drafted in the second round (16th overall) by the NWSL’s Washington Spirit. Even as a draft pick, her spot on the Spirit was not assured. She trained with the team in preseason before getting cut.
She made an impression, however, and when a roster spot opened due to an international player having to go play with her national team, Eubanks was signed to a replacement player contract. When that ran out, she went back to Mississippi State for graduation and then got called back into the team. She remained of the roster for the rest of the season and started five games, the last two at right back.
“I think just being in the NWSL is really awesome just to play and just experience, because of the people in the league, no matter how you’re doing or how your team is doing,” Eubanks said. “If you love to play, you love to play against good competition. That’s one of the most exciting things is knowing who you are playing against.”
She had to get used to playing against superstars pretty quickly.
“The first time I played outside back, I was marking Christen Press,” Eubanks said. Press happens to be one of the most famous female forwards in the world, known for her speed and striking ability. “Great, the first time I get to play this, and I get to play against Christen Press. No big deal.”
Eubanks also plays internationally for the U.S. Women’s National U23 Team and had to delay her return home to travel with them to Norway for a tournament in September. At 22-years-old, she’s looking to keep her spot on the U23s and still hopes to one day make the main squad. With the Spirit next season, she’ll have to earn her spot all over again, especially with a new crop of draftees coming in.
“I think right now is just doing what I can do to train in the offseason to prepare myself for next season and just go into it confident and work hard,” she said. “That’s the only thing I can control, so I’m not going to sit and worry about anything else.”
The LFC 07 Blue team was put in a tough spot with the unexpected loss of its originally assigned coach, but anxiety soon subsided when parents learned who their fill-in coach would be. Eubanks reached out to some of her former coaches at Tates Creek and LFC for advice and is also getting coaching help from her older sister, Madison.
“It’s been fun to watch them see how professionals do this,” said one of the parents, Ken Gish. “You see it in how they warm up, … it’s still fun but they get up and do their stretches like they’re supposed to and the passing is a little more controlled.
“And they love playing for her. They play hard.”
Eubanks can only be with this LFC team for a short time, but it was important for her to help out for however long she could.
“Obviously, I was with this club growing up, so anything I can do to help out or be around it, I want to do that,” she said. “I love to work with the girls and younger athletes in general to motivate them and inspire them to work hard and see where you can get with it.”
