Maya Davidson is a star soccer player for Ozark High School, but she can also tell you a thing or two about a good salad.
“I could eat salad about every day of my life,” Davidson confesses.
It’s her go-to meal for lunch or dinner. While chicken Caesar salad tops her list, Davidson said any good salad should have the following ingredients: croutons, cheese, ranch dressing, onions and either chicken or ham.
VOTE FOR DAVIDSON IN THE 1 AWARDS
The meal fuels Davidson’s performance on the pitch, where she has established herself as a cornerstone piece of Ozark’s soccer resurgence.
This past spring, the second team all-state selection scored 30 goals and dished out 17 assists for an Ozark team that went 20-5 overall and earned an outright conference title.
A team captain, Davidson takes equal pride in a being a good player, teammate and leader.
“I don’t like to be selfish; I like to let everyone be involved,” Davidson said. “I feel like I’m a good leader and can help everyone, whether they miss a shot or don’t make a good pass and get frustrated, I can be there to pick them up or help them out.”
Soccer runs in Davidson’s family.
Her older sister, Morgan, graduated from OHS a few years ago and is currently No. 2 on the program’s all-time scoring list. Maya could surpass her next season.
Younger brother Troy Davidson will be a freshman this fall and play for the OHS boys’ soccer team.
Maya Davidson’s dad is Ozark coach Tom Davidson, a longtime area coach with over 600 career wins.
But it was all soccer for Maya Davidson growing up. She split her time between soccer and volleyball, before devoting herself full-time to the former once she reached high school.
“I think I realized that I was just really passionate about soccer,” Maya Davidson said. “I knew a couple of years ago that I wanted to (play soccer) in college and I wanted to keep it going.”
The 2015 season was Ozark’s best yet during Maya Davidson’s high school career. A talented freshmen class joined an established junior class to help the Tigers beat the likes of Northwest (Cedar Hill), Bentonville, Ark., Harrison, Ark. (state champion), and Nixa.
Ozark’s quest for a Class 4 state playoff run was derailed in its district opener in heartbreaking fashion, as the Tigers lost in PKs to Nixa.
“It’s hard beating them once and then having to play them again,” Maya Davidson said. “I feel like if we would’ve kept playing, instead of going into PKs, it would have been a different outcome. It was hard to go through that.”
The 2017 season outlook looks bright for Ozark. The Tigers had no seniors this year and have formed a club team this summer.
