West Lauderdale’s Railey Mayatt (15) fights for the ball against an Amory player during the Lady Knights’ second-round playoff game this past February.

COLLINSVILLE — Around midnight the morning of Sept. 25, West Lauderdale senior Railey Mayatt was called downstairs by her mother, who urged her to look at the online posting of her ACT score.

“She said I made a 36, and I was like, ’No way,’” Mayatt recalled.

But the computer screen confirmed her mother’s excitement, as Mayatt had taken the test Sept. 14 in hopes of getting that elusive extra point — she had previously scored a 35 twice — and her goal was finally reached.

“I was pretty excited,” Mayatt said. “I wanted it pretty badly and was super close.”

The excitement caused her to not fall asleep until 2 a.m. that morning, a small price to pay in order to soak in the accomplishment. A midfielder/defender for the Lady Knight, Mayatt has always managed to find a balance between travel soccer in the fall and spring and high school soccer in the winter while maintaining a grade-point average above 4.0. 

“I kind of take each day as it comes,” Mayatt said.

The approach works, as West Lauderdale head coach Alex George called Mayatt the perfect embodiment of a student-athlete.

“I have her in my class, and she’s polite to her teachers and classmates,” George said. “She’s a really quiet individual, but she’s laser-focused. She knows what she wants, and as a player, we use her all over the field. In the classroom, she has the highest GPA in my economics class, and she’s definitely the blueprint of what a student-athlete should be.”

While her studies come first, Mayatt said soccer complements her academic pursuits, and she couldn’t imagine growing up having not played the game.

“It pumps me up,” Mayatt said. “I’ve been playing it all my life.”

George said having a player who scored a 36 on the team is something in which to take pride, and the accomplishment is a reflection of Mayatt’s high character.

“Word gets out,” George said. “I think it’s one of the most positive features for a team is to have good student-athletes — kids who go in the classroom and perform and don’t cause any detriment to the campus and do what they’re asked to do. She’s exemplary of that, and Railey will go on and be successful in whatever Railey wants to do.”

After graduating in May of next year, Mayatt plans to attend Mississippi State, and she one day hopes to go into the medical field. She’s considering majoring in biomedical engineering for undergrad. If she had any advice for a younger wanting to excel both academically and athletically, it’s to never give in to the frustration that trying to balance everything can bring at times.

“Don’t give up, even if it seems really hard and you feel like you can’t keep up,” Mayatt said. “Just keep pushing. As long as you’re passionate and driven, you should be able to accomplish anything.”

Mayatt is the daughter of Cliff and Kristin Mayatt.