Junior midfielder Taylor Davenport has grown up with a soccer ball at her feet, and now she is helping drive Bishop Kelley High School’s girl’s varsity program forward in Tulsa.
Davenport, a junior, has played soccer since she was 4 years old and gravitated toward the game watching U.S. legend Carli Lloyd. The Bishop Kelley standout said her parents are her biggest role models because they have shown her what real hard work looks like and “how to be the person I am on and off the field.” That example has shaped her approach in the classroom as well, where biology is her favorite subject and Mrs. Zigler tops her list of teachers.
On the field, Davenport embraces the challenges that come with competing in one of Oklahoma’s most successful athletic programs, where teams are expected to play with resilience and leadership. She said the toughest position for her is center mid, the demanding role in the middle of the park that asks players to defend, distribute and create all at once. Even so, she leans into that difficulty, seeing it as another way to improve her game and help her teammates.
Davenport said her favorite part of being on the Bishop Kelley squad is the sense of family that forms over a long season. “My favorite part about being a part of a team is the friendships you make and learning to work with others,” she said. Those relationships extend beyond practice and matches; in her free time, she enjoys simply being with her friends.
Through it all, the Comets midfielder said athletics have taught her lessons that go far beyond wins and losses. “Athletics have taught me how to work with a team and how to work to better yourself,” Davenport said, a mindset she carries into every drill, every class and every challenge still ahead in her Bishop Kelley career.
