Mellano plans to continue soccer career at TCU

Kathleen Mellano hasn’t let an injury during her junior season at Fallbrook High School deter her from playing college soccer. Although the inactivity due to her torn meniscus deprived her of a college scholarship out of high school, Mellano will be seeking a berth on the Texas Christian University women’s soccer team.

Mellano is a “recruited walk-on” at TCU, meaning that the coach was interested in having her play for the team but had no scholarships available for the 2008 Fallbrook High School graduate. “I hurt myself last year, so it put me back,” she said.

Although Mellano will not receive an athletic scholarship for 2008-09, she was able to secure a partial academic scholarship. Her walk-on status doesn’t prevent her from obtaining an athletic scholarship for subsequent years. “Since I got recruited so late, most likely I’ll have a scholarship my second year,” Mellano said.

Texas Christian University is located in Fort Worth. “It’s got everything I’ve looked for in a school,” Mellano said.

School pride was one of the factors which attracted Mellano to TCU. “You can’t get more pride than Texas,” she said.

The school’s nickname was also appealing. “They’re the Horned Frogs. How much better can you get?” Mellano said.

Although Dallas and Fort Worth are considered to be in the same metropolitan area, Texans often comment that Dallas is cosmopolitan while Fort Worth is more Western. The population of Fort Worth hasn’t deprived the town – or the school – from a small-town Western attitude. “The people were really, really nice and were welcoming,” Mellano said. “Kind of feels like home.”

Another benefit of attending TCU is that it is in the Mountain West Conference, which also includes San Diego State University. TCU is scheduled to play in San Diego on October 31, although there is no guarantee that Mellano will be on the traveling squad.

Mellano, who is leaning towards attending medical school after her college graduation, also cited a strong physiology department at TCU. She is currently planning to major in sociology but may minor in physiology and may obtain a double-major in sociology and physiology.

Mellano has cousins in Texas, although her father was raised in Orange County and her mother is from Montana. “It’s a change for sure, and it’s going to be hot,” Mellano said.

Mellano, who was born in Tri-City Hospital but is a lifelong Bonsall resident, began her soccer career with recreational youth play. At the age of nine she commenced club soccer with the Fury and later played for the Temecula Soccer Club and the Southern California Blues.

Mellano was a starting forward on Fallbrook High School’s varsity team for four years. She earned honorable mention all-league honors as a freshman, second-team Avocado League honors for her sophomore season, and first-team league recognition as a junior and senior. She also earned first-team all-CIF honors both as a junior and senior.

The junior honors came despite the injury during a game against El Camino in February 2007. She missed three games, including the Warriors’ playoff match. Mellano tried to avoid surgery but eventually deemed it necessary. She initially had surgery in June 2007 and had a second operation in December 2007.

Mellano also played field hockey at Fallbrook High School for four years after taking up the sport as a high school freshman. She was on the junior varsity squad as a freshman and on the varsity team for her final three years. She earned honorable mention all-league recognition as a sophomore, second-team Avocado League honors as a junior, and first-team all-league distinction as a senior, and her senior year also included second-team all-CIF recognition.

Mellano and Devon Holman shared the field hockey team’s Most Valuable Player award for the fall 2007 season. As a junior Mellano earned an invitation to the National Field Hockey Indoor Tournament in Virginia and played in the March 2007 tournament despite her soccer injury the previous month. Mellano was a defender on Fallbrook’s field hockey team.

Mellano did not play spring sports for Fallbrook High School, although she kept statistics for the varsity baseball team. “I got to hang out with a bunch of boys,” she said. “I played baseball when I was younger.”

Mellano, the third of four children and the oldest of two girls, played Fallbrook Youth Baseball with boys through eighth grade. Her brother Joey, a 2006 Fallbrook High School graduate, played on the Warrior baseball team and currently plays baseball for Brown University.

Mellano also played basketball at the Boys and Girls Club and at Sullivan Middle School and played volleyball at Sullivan Middle School. Girls volleyball and field hockey are both fall sports, and basketball and soccer are both winter sports. “It all came down to choices like that,” she said. “I’ve kind of done it all.”

TCU does not have a field hockey team, although college athletics requires more of a commitment than high school sports. “Soccer in college is kind of a year-round thing,” Mellano said. “I think I’m just going to take it one sport at a time.”

In addition to her athletic career at Fallbrook High School, Mellano was involved in the California Scholarship Federation, Warriors for Christ, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Breaking Down the Walls, Invisible Children, Link Crew, and National Charity League.

Mellano was recruited to TCU as a forward. “As long as my knee holds up well, I think I can do it,” she said.

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