Deer Creek's Madi Smith is Girls All-City Soccer Player of the Year

After Smith, then a 4-year old, finished her first recital, she told her mom during the car ride home that she wanted to play soccer.

“I thought she was going to tap holes in the floor during her first recital,” said Sarah Smith, Madi's mom.

So to the soccer field Madi Smith went, and the rest is history. She is The Oklahoman's All-City Girls Soccer Player of the Year after leading Deer Creek to the Class 5A state championship last month.

“It's perfect,” Madi Smith said. “You run a lot, but you have to use your head. It was never easy. There is always something to learn.”

Madi Smith began her soccer-playing career in Kansas City, where her family lived until she was 10. While there, she played on teams with both boys and girls.

“They roughed me up a little bit,” she said. “It made me more tenacious and feisty. Playing with boys is take no prisoners.”

Madi Smith was always full of energy, and the soccer field was the perfect outlet for it. But sometimes that energy got her in trouble.

“She's always had a ball in the house,” Sarah Smith said with a laugh. “She's smashed out I don't know how many lights playing soccer. Streetlights, garage lights, lamps, everything.”

As she got older and began honing her skills, the recognition and honors began pouring in. She was invited to National Team Camp in Coral Springs, Fla., and played with the Olympic Development Program in Costa Rica last spring.