More than meets the eye

To Madi Race's knowledge, there is no technical name or description for what she physically deals with on a day-to-day basis.

A very general explanation for it is this: Her hips are built in such a way that it causes her knees to bow outward. Yet, she is pigeon-toed as well with her feet pointing inward. The result is she doesn't walk in a normal manner, and she's been questioned about it all her life -- from people genuinely curious and those who are cruel and hurtful alike.

"I've had people ask me, 'Why do you walk like that?'" said Race, a senior girls soccer player at Siloam Springs High School. "They'd make fun of me and stuff like that, but I feel because of what I've had to encounter and deal with, it's made me stronger. Because a lot of people don't have to learn how to do things differently."

Race hasn't let her condition keep her from doing what she loves most though -- playing soccer. And not only playing soccer, but excelling in the sport.

"My parents, they've always told me, 'You're special -- use it. It makes you unique. Be unique. Be Madi; don't try and be someone else that you're not.' That has really gotten me a long ways," Race said. "I would say I'm very competitive and stubborn, and so when someone says, 'You can't do that,' I'm like, 'Watch me. I'm going to show you that I can do it.'

"I just want to show them I'm more than what you see in me. Look at what else I can do because I'm not going to let this hold me back. Pushing through, I guess my stubbornness has carried me a long way."

High school standout

Heading into the Class 5A state tournament this week at Siloam Springs, Race is second on the Lady Panthers (13-3-1) with 13 goals and leads the team with 11 assists.

A contributor since her freshman season in 2018, when the Lady Panthers won their fifth straight state championship, Race has scored 29 goals and registered 25 assists for her high school career. Race signed to play soccer at Evangel University in Springfield, Mo., back in February.

Siloam Springs head coach Abby Ray was an assistant on the Lady Panthers' staff when Race joined the varsity team in 2018.

Ray recalls her first impressions of Race back then -- particularly her speed.

"I remember that her speed is just shocking," Ray said. "You see her walk and jog and because of the way her legs are you'd think the girl is not going to be fast, and then she takes off and she's always one of the fastest people on the field. I think that shocks everybody the first time they see her take off."

"I've always been very, very fast," Race said.

Saving the day

Race also plays fast and extremely hard. Sometimes that hard work rubs off on her teammates. In the 2018 Class 5A state quarterfinals in Russellville, with Siloam Springs trailing host Russellville 1-0 on the Lady Cyclones' home field and appearing listless, then-coach Brent Crenshaw moved Race from defender to the top of the Lady Panthers' attack, looking for some energy.

Race provided just that, putting two shots on goal, including going in hard against Russellville's keeper. That play energized her teammates and Siloam Springs rallied for a 2-1 victory and went on to win the state title.

"She was the spark that ignited that win," Ray said. "We were playing slow until Madi came in, and Madi just would chase every ball because that's what Madi does. I think that fired up the entire team that game."

Race remembers the moment well.

"When coach Crenshaw said 'you go play forward,' I just thought this is my moment to show who I am, and I really do feel like it was a turning point in my career as a high school soccer player," Race said. "It was one of the moments that defined me as a player. I could do it. They didn't just see me as fast anymore. They saw me as an actual player."

Race finished with one goal and five assists her freshman season and went on to score 13 goals and eight assists as a sophomore in 2019. She was an all-conference selection in 2019 as well as being named to the all-state tournament team.

In a covid-19 shortened 2020 season, Race scored two goals and had one assist.

Race started the season a bit slow goal-scoring wise, scoring just one goal in her first nine matches. She has come on strong in 5A-West Conference play with 12 goals in her last eight matches.

"Recently I've been scoring quite a bit," Race said. "At the same time I want to help my teammates. ... Putting the two together has really helped me realize the kind of player I am and the kind of player I want to be."

Ray said Race wants to be unselfish with the ball and wants her teammates to succeed just as much, if not more, than herself.

"She shares. She looks for those moments," Ray said. "She'll work just as hard to set somebody up for a shot than she does to set herself up for a shot. She'll run the full length of the field just to save it and slide it across for somebody to have an easy shot. Then she will sprint to that girl and celebrate with her and take none of the credit."

The future

Following high school season, Race said she won't have long before she's supposed to start training for college at Evangel.

"We already have our summer schedule and everything," she said.

After that may come a time for decisions for Race, regarding her physical condition.

She said she takes pain medication for her back, which she believes stems from her hips.

The solution isn't an easy one, she said.

"I do know that in order to fix it, they would have to break my hips, and then put them back in place," Race said. "I would be in a wheelchair for six months and then crutches and learn how to walk. My parents, when I was younger, just thought it wasn't that big of a deal because I was fine. I was healthy. It was a little weird, but I was healthy for the mostpart. They thought we could just hold off on the surgery and if it gets bad when I'm older then choose myself if I want to do it or not.

"I take so much pain medication right now so my back doesn't hurt, which I do believe is from my hips going downwards and being an athlete is really hard on my hips. If it gets worse and I'm constantly taking pain medication, then probably when I'm older and out of soccer and I want to calm down and not be an athlete anymore, (I'll have the surgery) and just take life as life."

But right now, she's squarely focused on finishing out her high school soccer career.

The Lady Panthers, the No. 2 seed from the 5A-West, play 5A-South No. 3 Sheridan at 10 a.m. Thursday in the opening round of the Class 5A state playoffs. The winner will advance to Friday's quarterfinals against the winner of East No. 1 Searcy and Central No. 3 Benton.

Race hopes the Lady Panthers can make it back to the state finals for the first time since 2018.

"Don't underestimate us," she said. "It takes a lot of hard work to be able to play in a state final. I didn't realize that my freshman year because I do feel like there was really five people that carried the team. We were just kind of there to help.

"This year we play more as a team than we ever have before. We connect really well. ... I really love our new formation, how we're able to attack so many people. ... I think going into the state tournament we can't let up our guard. At the same time we have to be ourselves and play the soccer that we know how to play."