STATESBORO - Georgia Southern redshirt junior Kendall Wilson was always destined to have a competitive mindset at whatever sport she chose to play as a kid.

Growing up with four siblings, the Eagles midfielder was born into a sports-oriented family. "My sisters did track and softball, and my older brother played soccer," Wilson said. "So we were always competing against each other, and asking our parents who was better and everything. They could never really give us an answer!"

The Fort Walton Beach, Fla., native played tennis and flag football while growing up, but once she got to high school, she knew that soccer was the sport for her.

"High school is where I really figured out that soccer was what I wanted to do," Wilson said. "There's a lot of different things that you go through, a lot of adversity, but soccer is what always brought me back to being calm. That's who I was, not only as an athlete, but as a person."

Her journey to Statesboro was not a journey she took alone. Her club teammate, Bri Conley, also ended up joining the Georgia Southern program and the pair have been almost inseparable since becoming Eagles.

"I was always like, 'what if we went to college together? and what if we roomed together?' that would be so fun. And then it actually happened," Wilson said.

It wasn't just her closeness with her once and future teammate that brought her to the 'Boro, however. 

"The GATA mentality brought me here also," Wilson said. "Knowing that, Eagles want to do everything they can for their teammates and the athletic program. Wanting to go above and beyond anything they set their mind to."

In a collegiate career full of good memories on and off the field, one that sticks out for her was the team's season-opening trip to Hawai'i in 2024.

"That trip, as a whole, was fun," Wilson said. "It was the first time I've ever been there, and the farthest I've ever been away from home, that was pretty memorable. And scoring my free kick against Hawai'i, it was a good one too."

Kendall will be graduating this May with her bachelor's degree in psychology, but her soccer journey is not over yet. She redshirted the 2023 season and will have one more season of eligibility remaining, which she will be taking for the upcoming 2026 campaign. Still, she already has an eye on what she would like to do professionally after soccer.

"I want to do sports psychology," Wilson said. "What they do for our team, and for all the other teams here at Georgia Southern, is pretty important. So I'm going to continue on that path."

For someone who's had that competitive drive instilled in them since they were younger, it's no wonder that she would like to pass that spirit along to others. And perhaps give back a little of that GATA mentality that she learned in Statesboro as well.