Kat Torrance

Former Meridian High School and Meridian Community College soccer player Trey Torrance was a bit of a local legend during his playing days.

Now, his daughter, Northeast Lauderdale freshman Kat Torrance is doing her part to carry on the Kat Torrance legacy. 

Kat Torrance, who made the Premier Preps girls soccer team as a midfielder, finished the season with eight goals and seven assists, and she was named MHSAA Region 4-5A’s Most Outstanding Midfielder for the second year in a row. Not bad for a freshman, and for someone who has her father’s name to live up to.

“I do feel pressure,” Kat Torrance admitted, though she also said she wouldn’t be the soccer player she is today if not for her father. “Everything I know about soccer came from him.”

It started at a young age. Kat Torrance recalls being 5 or 6 and doing dribbling drills around cones both inside and outside her house. She’s always looked up to her father, she said, and no matter what other sports she tried, soccer was the only one with which she fell in love.

“I would cry when I got dropped off at the gym,” Kat Torrance said with a chuckle, recalling her younger days playing multiple sports.

Trey Torrance said training his daughter was something he loved doing due to his love for the sport, and he’s been pleased to see Kat Torrance develop that same enjoyment.

“I loved to play soccer, and I love the game, and she likes it a lot, too,” Trey Torrance said. “It’s definitely some time we can spend together.”

And the elder Torrance said he wanted to make sure his daughter got good instruction.

“She plays simple, one-two touch soccer,” Trey Torrance explained. “That’s her strongest point, and when she was younger, that’s how she was taught. In a pro game, a soccer player keeps the ball for less than two touches. She knows how to play it correctly now because she was taught it when she was young. She reads the game well, shoots well and crosses well — she’s a good player.”

When she settled on soccer, Kat Torrance honed her game by participating in the Meridian Youth Soccer Organization and eventually travel ball. She tried out for Northeast Lauderdale’s team when she was in eighth grade.

“I knew I’d make the team, but I didn’t think I would start over the high school players, because they had been there longer,” Kat Torrance said.

Initially, she didn’t start on the varsity squad, but when Lady Trojans coach Candice Maloney watched her practice, it didn’t take long to realize she needed Kat Torrance to move up a level.

“It was probably a mistake,” Maloney said of Kat Torrance initially being a JV player. “It was quickly corrected. Once we had our first practice, she was moved to varsity.”

Region 5-4A is a tough district that includes two-time Class 4A state champion West Lauderdale, so to be named Most Outstanding Midfielder for two years — as a younger player — is quite an accomplishment, Maloney said.

“She’s second on the team in assists, which is a big deal, and she’s one the players I always go with if the game is tied and we go into penalty kicks — and she hasn’t missed any yet,” Maloney said.

Maloney described Kat Torrance as a player who gives 100-percent effort and  can play any position on the field. With numbers short, Kat Torrance split time between the varsity and JV squad, and she even played some keeper for the JV team. Kat Torrance is also someone on whom Maloney relies to do corner kicks for the Lady Trojans.

“It’s definitely beneficial to the team,” Maloney said of Kat Torrance’s versatility. “She can be trusted to play anywhere, and she takes coaching well and plays well with the rest of the team.”

Playing travel ball has allowed Kat Torrance to specialize in soccer, and she admitted high school soccer is a different experience. Luckily for Kat Torrance, she was familiar with several of the Lady Trojan players when she first tried out for the team.

“It’s more aggressive,” Kat Torrance said of high school soccer. “I’ve played with some (of my teammates), so there’s some familiarity, mostly because my dad trained them and made me go out there with him.”

Though she has three more years of high school, Kat Torrance is already thinking about college, and she’s camped at both Vanderbilt and Ole Miss.

“I want to go to Ole Miss,” Kat Torrance said.

For some children who specialize in a sport, they might feel like it’s more of a job than it is a fun hobby. No matter how much she plays, Kat Torrance said she hasn’t gotten tired of it.

“I’ve never felt soccer was a job,” Kat Torrance said. “I like to play it a lot.”

Trey Torrance said soccer was like an escape for him, and he hopes she feels the same way whenever she’s on the field.

“I always told her that, when I played, before the whistle blew, I’d be nervous,” Trey Torrance said. “Throughout the rest of the game, I couldn’t be more at ease. It was total relaxation for me, and she said she felt the same way. I’m sure she has her own reasons (for liking soccer), but you’re free from the stress of the rest of the world. She works really hard at it, so she has to enjoy it.”

Kat Torrance is also the daughter of Camille Boler.