4/28/23
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
Presli Taylor wasn’t much more than a small tadpole, a tiny 12-year-old a few bites shy of five feet tall, the first time she pulled on her Alma Lady Airedale seventh-grade basketball jersey.
By the time she launched her last 3-pointer on a cold night in late February, Presli Taylor was more shark-like than a smallish tadpole — an old-school two-guard with enough quickness to find a crease in the defense.
“It’s pretty crazy to think about, honestly,” Taylor said. “All I’ve done is sports for four straight years, and haven’t really stopped, so it’s definitely bittersweet. But I’m excited about the next chapter, too.”
Taylor’s dad, Brent, and mom, Amanda, moved to Alma just before the start of Presli’s third-grade year at Alma Intermediate School. Younger brother Jack, a young basketball and golf prodigy in his own right, wasn’t even in school yet.
So how do you become a two-sport record-breaker?
Before you build the statue, you have to plant the seed.
Taylor’s dad, a former Alma football and baseball standout, spent countless hours rebounding for Presli amid the stillness of the Auxilary Gym — no frills, no risks, no rewards.
Not at first, anyway.
“It taught me how to be a leader and how to fight through adversity,” Taylor said. “On top of that, I’ve learned to work for everything and that nothing is given to you. You have to work countless hours when nobody’s looking; you have to have integrity on and off the court. The biggest thing is to be you — do what you’re best at and try not to go out of your lane.
“I try to be the best leader and role model on and off the court.”
“Stepping up and trying to be the best version of yourself for your team, we are really going to miss what all she brings to the table — team commitment, leadership, but most importantly being a role model for all Lady Airedales,” Alma soccer coach Cory Sturdivant said. “I’ve been blessed to have her these four years … you don’t get players with this positivity, mentality, and work ethic combination every year or cycle.
“She’s special.”
Taylor credits her parents, who, for better or worse, always had her back.
“They definitely don’t get enough credit,” Taylor said. “I definitely wouldn’t be the shooter I am without my dad. My dad has been to the gym with me. Every night, when I wanted to shoot in the gym, he was with me … we went for like three years straight. He just sat under the goal and rebounded for me. Everyday reps are so important.”
“Even when COVID was a thing, he would go outside and rebound for me,” Taylor continued. “The support of my mom has been important, too. She’s not the most knowledgeable (sports) person, but she’s there, and that means the world to me.”
This past basketball season, while the Lady Airedales were competing amid the rigors of a tough 5A-West conference, and battling the injury bug, Taylor put her stamp on the program by breaking assistant coach Chanlee Bottoms’ career 3-point shooting mark of 186 made 3s — almost 40 more than what Bottoms had accomplished almost 20 years earlier.
This season, Taylor broke Kailey Fagan’s 2015 record for 3-pointers in a season by hitting 73. She also broke Abbye Ostrander’s single-game mark of seven by connecting on eight 3-pointers in the fall of 2021.
“You see one go in, and for me, it’s hard to miss the next one,” Taylor said. “I love seeing it go through the net, especially having a target on your back. When you’re No. 1 (player to stop) on the other team’s scouting report, their goal is to not let you shoot it. And when you make that first one, it gives you so much confidence throughout the game. Not only does it give the player confidence, but it also lights the team up a little bit, too.
“I love the 3-ball; I think it helps the team out a lot.”
Taylor averaged 10.7 points per game while being the target of every team’s scouting reports.
“It’s pretty cool. I’ve worked really hard for it, especially the basketball record,” Taylor said. “I’m privileged to get to hold this (record) for now, Soccer, that means a lot because I’ve played soccer for such a long time.”
In addition to holding a trio of basketball records, Taylor is also Alma’s all-time soccer scorer, having passed Alyssa Thomas in this week’s loss to Van Buren with a pair of goals.
Thomas finished her shortened career in 2020 amid the COVID shutdown with 21 career goals — though she likely could have finished in the 30s.
Taylor currently has 22 career goals.
“When we moved to Alma (third grade), there wasn’t even a soccer program here,” Taylor said. “I think it was my eighth-grade year, they started the soccer program. Getting to grow up and be one of the first ones to come through as a four-year letterman, means a lot to set some standard for the upcoming youth. There are definitely some good players coming; it’s a good standard to set.
“Hopefully, (records are) easily broken in the near future.”
“Presli brings a work-hard mentality to practice, but is encouraging at the same time,” Alma soccer coach Cory Sturdivant said. “She raises everyone up and gets them lined out at the same time. Yesterday, during practice, we held her out in the rain and she organized the drills and got after coaching the girls through what they were doing. (She) even gave another player her rain jacket. That’s leadership.”
The Lady Airedales started the season with four wins in as many games.
But the constant grind of the 5A-West has been tough, especially when you’re facing established teams on a regular basis.
“It’s frustrating, because we’re a new and growing program, compared to the other schools, who have been pretty established for a while and have played together for a long time,” Taylor said. “It’s hard, especially in conference, because you have so many teams that have played together for years and understand the game and have a really high IQ when we’re still growing and learning a lot about soccer.
“Competition is definitely a big factor. I think we’ve learned a lot from it, but it’s hard to play against some of the best teams in the state.”
Taylor is confident better days are ahead for the Lady Airedales.
“There’s definitely a great youth program being built by the Sturdivants (Cory and Chelsea),” she said. “I think there is a good future for Alma soccer.”