MALIBU, Calif. -- Senior midfielder Mckenzie Hill (Santa Clarita, Calif./Canyon HS) is the most experienced player in the Pepperdine women’s soccer program, with 51 games played entering the 2007 season. She’s also one of the leaders and serves as a co-captain. Mckenzie is majoring in advertising with a minor in Spanish. This summer, she and teammates Emily Wynne and Jenna Shay went on a mission trip to Uganda, where they taught soccer, worked in clinics and shared their faith. She took a few minutes to talk about her Pepperdine career:

 

Q: You’re in your senior year now and how would you describe your first three years at Pepperdine?

 

A: “I came in my freshman year just really excited. I was a sub my freshman year. I started maybe one game. I was excited to be part of the team. Last year was really the first year I really got in and felt like an integral part of the team, I was starting, I was playing consistently every game. That gave me a lot of confidence coming into my final year. I am a part of this team and feel like I’m a person that can get it done.”

 

Q: What kind of goals did you set for yourself this year?

 

A: “I wanted to be a good captain and a good leader on and off the field for my teammates. I wanted to be someone that people look up to and respect. And then also, I do want to score goals for this team. I have a number in my head that I want to reach. I’m going to keep that number to myself.”

 

Q: Being a co-captain and perhaps the most experienced player on the team, what do you try to do in terms of bringing leadership to the team?

 

A: “On the field, I like to be vocal. I can tell when the team gets quiet it’s not good for our team. When I notice that it’s starting to quiet down, I’ll start clapping or pick someone out and try to lift them up.”

 

Q: After a slow start, where do you want the team to go from here?

 

A: “I think that we will turn our season around. The win (against Denver) will be a turning point. I think that we are able to win the rest of our games and to win the WCC. That’s still a team goal for us. We still want to get as many shutouts as possible. Our goals are still alive.”

 

Q: Do you have a favorite moment or game or memory from your time here at Pepperdine?

 

A: “Last year against Kansas I scored this goal and it was pretty ridiculous. It was with the outside of my right foot and it was outside the 18. Tim (Ward) and the other girls on the team like to call it the ‘EPL goal.’ It was really good. That was my favorite goal I ever scored. It would be hard to pick a favorite memory in general because there are so many.”

 

Q: What’s been the best part of being a student-athlete at Pepperdine?

 

A: “The girls on the team and the friendships you make. I don’t know what I’d do without them. I love my teammates, on and off the field. It’s just a great connection that we all have.”

 

Q: How did the Uganda trip come about?

 

A: “It started with Casey Gillam, he works in campus rec. He approached the entire team about it, and myself, Jenna and Emily were interested in it. We didn’t really know what we were doing other than we were going to Uganda. Kelsey Baker’s mom collected so much stuff from Hawaii, jerseys and everything, so we took it all over there. We got over there and we still really didn’t know what we were going to do. We were working with the Church of Christ in the camps and one of the guys at the church found schools for us to go to. So we’d go to schools and play with them all day, and pass out our stuff and talk about God with them.”

 

Q: How did you decide this was something you wanted to do, since this would take you far from home and out of your comfort zone?

 

A: “It was something that I’ve never done before. I realized that I had been given so much in my life, my life has been pretty pampered, so I thought I needed to experience something new and different. And I thought that coming into my last year here, it would give me good perspective on the season and life in general.”

 

Q: Are there any particular stories or memories you have from the trip?

 

A: “The first school that we went to was a really small school made out of like mud. There were so many kids in five classrooms. We’d walk in and the kids would go crazy. They’d start clapping and cheering and they were treating us like celebrities just because we were Americans. And then would want to touch our skin because they don’t see white people that often. They wanted to take pictures of us and look at our cameras. We were treated like royalty. It was crazy.”

 

Q: What did you learn from the trip?

 

A: “I love soccer, but there’s so much more than winning games. God gives us ability to share with others. So that’s what I’ve taken the most out of it. We have all these skills and there’s so much we can do with them. This soccer missions trip was the perfect thing for it.”

 

Q: Do you see yourself continuing to play soccer?

 

A: “Since there’s no current professional league, the future is kind of dim. But I know I’ll always play, whether it’s on indoor team or something, I’ll always play.”

 

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

 

A: “I’d really like it if everyone could come to our games. We need a lot of fans. Especially on Friday when we play UCLA.”