GPS May queen Kennedy Ball at May Day
photo by Emily Lester
GPS May queen Kennedy Ball, center, with May Court members on May Day
photo by Emily Lester
GPS May queen Kennedy Ball, center, and May Court members in school uniforms
photo by Kiersten Williams
Kennedy Ball in her soccer uniform
photo by Emily Lester
Some might say Kennedy Ball has been a queen of local prep soccer in recent years with her standout offensive play for Girls Preparatory School that helped lead the Bruisers to two recent state championships and a personal scholarship to Arkansas.
Recently, she was crowned queen in an entirely different realm. On April 25, she served as May queen during the school’s tradition-rich May Day ceremony that dates to 1914.
And in contrast to her constant preparation and skill level in soccer that help her be ready for all kinds of scenarios, Miss Ball was totally caught off guard when she learned back in late November that she would be selected.
Being chosen as May queen at the school involves possessing a variety of positive traits related to character, school loyalty and leadership, and Miss Ball learned the surprising news she had been voted to be a member of the May Court after the seniors voted. And during this schoolwide chapel program on Nov. 30, she learned the also-surprising word that she was selected as queen after the entire student body had voted.
“I was shocked to even be on the court,” she said recently from the school as she reflected on the experience. “But it was a huge honor to be elected and to be thought of as someone who could represent that role.”
She admitted that she had been getting ready to hug another girl after thinking she was going to be the queen before Miss Ball’s name was announced.
And after going through the process of getting a dress, talking with former alumnae about the experience, and perhaps not being in the same comfort zone as on the soccer field, the ceremony all worked out perfectly.
“It was definitely a very weird experience, but in the best way possible,” she said, admitting she does not like to be in the spotlight. “But I had good support and encouragement the whole day. I definitely had nerves, but going out and walking the promenade was fun. The fun aspect of it outweighed the nerves.”
She also said it was a great and positive experience being on the May Court with some other girls she did not normally have classes with or hang out with away from school.
The GPS May Day program involves the introduction of the seniors and court who are wearing formal dresses, with the queen wearing a special white one. It is kind of a formal introduction into young adulthood for them and a salute to their careers at GPS in front of their families and the rest of the GPS community.
After that, the program involves several dances by students in various grades and culminates with the dance around several Maypoles by sophomores waving long ribbons connected to the poles, with the queen walking under one of them at the end. GPS officials had organized the dance where Miss Ball could walk right past her sophomore sister, Ellison.
Although several schools in Chattanooga and elsewhere traditionally held varying May Day programs around May 1 and had a queen, very few have them today. So, Miss Ball said she was curious how some relatives who came in from out of town would comprehend something new and different to them.
“I was interested to see their reaction afterward,” she said with a laugh. “They were just blown away. I think they enjoyed it.”
While being a center of attention during the May Day program was new for her, she has experienced that quite a bit on the soccer field. In fact, she might be one of the most decorated GPS athletes ever to serve as May queen.
She had been a member of the varsity soccer team at GPS since the eighth grade, when the Bruisers won the state in 2018. She then helped lead coach Patrick Winecoff’s team to a state championship again her senior year of 2022.
Miss Ball had 15 goals and 15 assists as a forward and attacking midfielder during the season and was named all-American by the United Soccer Coaches organization. She also finalized plans to play for Arkansas, one of the SEC’s top women’s soccer programs of recent years.
She also formerly played basketball and participated in track and field at GPS until this year, when she has been focusing on soccer getting ready for Arkansas and being involved with the Lady Red Wolves’ local soccer program.
Miss Ball, the daughter of Hannah and Clint Ball, said she started playing soccer when she was 3 or 4 and has been in love with the sport ever since.
“I was an on-the-go child, and my parents were looking for something to keep me occupied, and I fell in love with it,” she said.
She spent her early years in Charleston, S.C., before her family moved to the Chattanooga area and she began attending Fairyland Elementary on Lookout Mountain near Covenant College, where her parents had met after growing up in Florida. She enrolled at GPS in the sixth grade.
She said she enjoys soccer for a variety of reasons. “When I’m playing, I am fully present and not thinking about anything else,” she said, admitting she enjoys the assists as much as the goals. “And you get to have great relationships through it.”
She ended up choosing Arkansas to play collegiately in part because the Razorback program was one of the first to reach out to her in the recruiting process.
“They really made an effort and I just visited there and watched them play and really loved it,” she said. “Once I saw the team and chemistry there and experienced the coaching staff, I said this is the place.”
She also enjoys the outdoors, and the outdoors opportunities in the Fayetteville area near the Ozark Mountains of Northwest Arkansas were also a draw. In fact, she said that area reminds her a little of the mountains and outdoors opportunities around Chattanooga.
She plans to leave for orientation in late June and then will begin focusing on the upcoming fall season with her new teammates.
The new GPS alum, who last weekend took part in GPS’ graduation, said she plans to study business but also hopes to look at potential pro soccer opportunities down the road if they become available.
Miss Ball, who received her first name from her mother’s maiden name, was also co-president of the Health Club at GPS. This oldest child from a family with four children has recently followed in the footsteps of sister Ellison by becoming interested in baking, too, she said.
She also has such other fun hobbies as playing with a Rubik’s Cube and doing crossword puzzles.
Her senior year also involved filling in plenty of proverbial empty squares while enjoying the dual blessings of soccer success and getting to serve as May queen.
And despite the seemingly different realms of soccer and May Day, she found a way to link them like across and down words in a puzzle by focusing on the larger team concept involved in both.
“The whole senior class is my team,” she said. “Both the senior class and the senior May Court are very supportive in similar ways. And in soccer, you are out there together.”
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Other members of the GPS May Court included Maid of Honor Megan Jones, Crown Bearer Santana Etchison, Scepter Bearer Hannah Grace Kornberg, Right Train Bearer Anya Parambath, Left Train Bearer Anabel Wilson, and Lady of the Court Soree Kim.
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According to GPS, here are the criteria considered when selecting a May queen and Court members: 1) The May Queen and Court should be representatives of the senior class in the highest sense. 2) They should be gracious, friendly, and loyal to friends and to GPS. 3) They should be actively and enthusiastically involved in the life of GPS, eager to give of their time and their talents. 4) They should stand for the highest ideals in character and integrity. 5) They should be respected and admired by fellow schoolmates and faculty alike.
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GPS May queens over the years:
1914 Margaret Anderson Coffey
1915 Sue Devin Smith Gooch
1916 Lucille Thomas Williams
1919 Helen Hughes Caine
1920 Helen Glover Miller
1921 Dorothy Brizzie Hedges
1922 Geraldine Thatcher Glascock
1923 Augusta Allison Lasley
1924 Charlotte Ferger Signiago
1925 Sarah Robinson Sharp
1926 Mary Sanford Patten
1927 Martha Lanier Graham
1928 Evelyn Allison South
1929 Rowena Kruesi Frierson
1930 Helen Gatewood Chenault
1931 Elizabeth Finlay Chadwick
1932 Charlotte Fowler Maclellan
1933 Kate King Efurd
1934 Mary Alice Thompson Chalfant
1935 Marjorie Wallace Pontius
1936 Betty Bryan Conroy
1937 Virginia Johnson McKenzie
1938 Betty Marus Thomas
1939 Mary Katherine Fred Moore
1940 Jane Brown Marlin
1941 Hilda Hude Chapin
1942 Mary-Claire Dorscheid Hailey
1943 Elizabeth Carothers Gibson
1944 Bonnie Johnson Graves
1945 Janet Johnston Strang
1946 Dorris Chapin Wells
1947 Sally McClellan Currey
1948 Anne Cahoon Stratton
1949 Ann Nichols Goess
1950 Sarah Key Patten Gwynn
1951 Sally McCoy Garland
1952 Dorothy Brown Ellis
1953 Charlotte Patten Gauss
1953 Phyllis Patten Hardin
1954 Hildagarde Reeves Sutherland
1955 Nan Chamberlain Smith
1956 Elizabeth Montague Lewis
1957 Betsy Chamberlain Tuller
1958 Grace Elizabeth Moore
1959 Barbara Boone Stabler
1960 Anne Dudley Griffin
1961 Sally Bacon Smartt
1962 Katherine Frances Kendall
1963 Diann Estabrook Seals
1964 Barbara Johnson Prickett
1965 Suzanne Smith Allen
1965 Cynthia Kemp Battle
1966 Helene Striebinger Reisman
1967 Martha Smith Voght
1968 Emily Bryan Grimes
1969 Louise Chamberlain Tual
1970 Allison Goree Willson
1971 Honey Brown Doramus
1972 Cathie Ault Kasch
1973 Mary Rebecca Grems
1974 Kim Lupton Strang
1975 Eleanor Bryan Billington
1976 Lynn Winningham
1977 Carla Sinor Bush
1978 Katie Lonas McKenzie
1979 Frances Williamson McCallie
1980 Nancy Collins Petty
1981 Stephanie Petree Christian
1982 Anne Duvoisin Halliburton
1983 Margaret Austin Curtis
1984 Etoil Bowles Brown
1985 Frances Sholar Clark Howard
1986 Jana Weekes Olson
1987 Lisa Portera Grafton
1988 Elizabeth Rose Provence
1989 Lesley Denise Walker
1990 Joy Rucker Clements
1991 Christy Leigh McArthur Moore
1992 Janet Ensign Neder
1993 Jeannette Rae Sebes-McDonald
1994 Toy O’Ferrall Harmon
1995 Florrie Louise Glendenning Cook
1996 Ayieta Sabina Mbeche
1997 Frances Sayle Milne
1998 Crystal Yvonne Brooks Pourciau
1999 Amber Leigh Swafford Tucker
2000 Jessica Ann Cofer LaFoy
2001 Amita Mohan Chhabra
2002 Mary Katherine Dann Ogden
2003 Vivian Grace Parham
2004 Whitney Bell St. Charles
2005 Erin Felton Lopez
2006 Sarah Katherine Neall
2007 Brandi Javon Andrews
2008 Caitlin Alison McAloon
2009 Rachel June Smith
2010 Laura Elizabeth Laughlin Dickinson
2011 Mary Anna Caldwell Djire
2012 Rachel Austin Kelly Blackmon
2013 Tiana Nichole Mills
2014 Jessica Lynn Erhart
2015 Mackenzie Michelle Hobbs
2016 Alyson Michelle Parris
2017 Iman Ali
2018 Phoebe-Agnès Sinclair Mills
2019 Myra Kruesi Brock
2020 Kshama Ashish Patel
2021 Mary Adella Youmans
2022 Shalizeh Fatima Rizvi
2023 Kennedy Noel Ball
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jcshearer2@comcast.net