When Texas senior midfielder Lexi Missimo was 4 years old, she wore a UNC-Chapel Hill cheerleader uniform and sat on the sideline of a Solar Soccer Club game, watching her 7-year-old sister Gabriella play soccer. was.
Missimo was fascinated by the sport and wanted to be like her sister. But Missimo not only caught up with his sister, he surpassed her.
“She could dribble past anyone…but I can’t even do that,” Gabriela Missimo told Mint Farm Films. “That’s when we thought, ‘Wow, she has a true God-given talent.'”
Misimo had three main coaches throughout his career. His father, Derek, Solar’s technical director, Adrian Sorca, and Texas head coach, Angela Kelly.
Derek and Kelly also wore Carolina blue, as did 4-year-old Missimo.
Although Missimo’s father remains a top UNC career prospect, he first met Kelly at Carolina. The two occasionally ran into each other between practices, and a friendship developed.
Years later, Derek rekindled his friendship with Kelly, and it was also around this time that Lexi met Coach Kelly.
Misimo committed to play for Kelly in the seventh grade with the goal of winning Texas’ first national championship. Her goal wasn’t to get another name in the North Carolina state championship book, which already features 21 titles, but to make history.
“(She) is just an extraordinary talent and we are incredibly lucky to have her at the University of Texas,” Kelly said.
Kelly himself was a very good player, winning four national championships and losing only one game during his entire collegiate career at UNC. The coach later attended Misimo’s games, and the bond between coach and player developed into a close relationship. For Misimo, it has always been about more than coaching. Kelly became family.
“I’ve known (her) since I was 7 years old,” Misimo said. “For me, she is not only a coach, but I consider her family. (In matches) my job as number 10 is to score assists and goals, and I just did my job. I couldn’t have done it without my team.”
Despite Lexi’s impressive list of accomplishments, she is the active leader in NCAA Division I with 0.71 assists, 2.05 points per game, 60 assists, 56 goals, and 172 points per game. That’s what matters most to her father. Derek credits Kelly for not only shaping the Texas football team on the field, but for guiding the players in their lives.
“Rex’s competitive nature and commitment to excellence, her endless hours of training, and the discipline of always prioritizing training to be the best version of herself are what set her apart,” Derek said. Ta. “But Rex’s humility and the fact that she is so well-respected by her teammates is what I am most proud of as her father and former club coach.”
When Derek talks to Lexi’s teammates, he only asks one question. “How is she as a teammate?” The soccer part is her job, he said.
“Athletic competition defines character,” he continued. “(Athletics) provides a moment of how individuals respond to success and adversity. Trust me, Rex is humble and gracious in victory and defeat.”
