Defender helped Lady Horns to unprecedented soccer success

By Rick Pedone
Sports Editor
If Kendall Pollock was so inclined, she might have slightly tweaked former President Harry Truman’s iconic quote to: “The ball stops here.”
Pollock, a Harmony senior who played outside and middle defender for the Lady Longhorns stalwart soccer program, usually was the team’s last line of defense. And she was very effective at it.
Pollock earned scholarship offers from several Division I universities and made her decision official by signing a national letter of intent to the University of North Florida in Jacksonville recently at the Harmony gym.
“I just felt at home there,” she said. “I’m very excited about the next four years there.”
The Ospreys compete in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
North Florida Coach Linda Hamilton knows a thing or two about soccer and how to be successful on the international stage since she was a member of the U.S. National team for eight years and won a gold medal for the U.S. on the 1991 World Cup team.
“That’s always been a dream of mine, and with her experience I thought she would be the person who could help me reach my goal,” Pollock said after signing her scholarship papers in front of a large group of teammates and family members.
Her father, Dave Pollock, said Hamilton’s Olympics experience proved to be the deciding factor to his daughter.
“It came down to USF and UNF, and the fact that Coach Hamilton played for the Olympic team carried a lot of weight with Kendall,” he said.
Pollock is a multi-sport athlete. She also played volleyball for the Longhorns and throws the discus in track. She competed on two state tournament teams: the 2011 soccer team under Coach Stephanie Jones, and the 2011 volleyball team under Coach Eric Trowbridge.
But, when it came time to decide what sport to play at the next level, soccer won easily, Dave Pollock said.
“She enjoyed volleyball, but it was more like something for her to do,” he said. “Soccer has always been her main sport.”
She followed two siblings through Harmony. Her older sister, Brittany, and brother, Aaron, both were soccer players for the Longhorns.
Pollock was primarily an offensive player until a couple of years ago.
“The coaches said that my skills would be better utilized in the back,” she said. “I like it because my teammates do a great job of keeping possession of the ball, but the few times they let it come through, they know I’m there to cover for them.”
Jones said Pollock was an important piece of Harmony’s soccer program through her varsity career.
“It’s been a thrill and a pleasure to coach you, and now you know what to do when you get to the next level ­ – stay focused,” Jones said to Pollock after she signed her scholarship.
Pollock joins teammate Kaley Ward in the college ranks next season. Ward, a forward, signed with the University of Tampa on National Signing Day, Feb. 6.