JMA celebrates two soccer signees

Published 4:21 pm Tuesday, April 15, 2025

The soccer careers of two current John Milledge Academy student-athletes will extend beyond high school after they signed letters of intent recently.

Seniors Mia Glisson and Canon Hitchcock put pen to paper on April 9 to make their college destinations official. Glisson will continue her family pedigree of playing soccer at the next level as she’s bound for Georgia Southern while Hitchcock is headed to Point University in west Georgia.

Glisson has filled up the goal for JMA girls soccer while playing center forward this season. She’s found the net an astounding 30 times through 12 games, giving her close to a hat trick per outing. Glisson is also among the team leaders in assists. Her play, along with that of her younger sister Sophie, is helping guide the Lady Trojans to what could be their first winning season in years. The team was 8-4 entering play Tuesday and was ranked third in its classification, setting JMA up well for a playoff bid.

Statistics and team success aside, watch her play and it’s easy to see why Georgia Southern showed interest. This is only Jordan Walters’ first season coaching JMA girls soccer, but it didn’t take her long to figure out she had a very talented player in Glisson, whose passion for the game shows every time the Lady Trojans compete.

“I think fire is a good word for her,” Walters said. “It’s very noticeable on the field.”

In choosing a college destination, Glisson said she wanted a school that wanted her. She felt that down in Statesboro from head coach Chris Adams and his staff.

“It’s an amazing opportunity, one of the best I’ve ever had,” Glisson said. “It shows that if you put years and years of hard work in you can get where you want.”

Glisson is following in the footsteps of two of her two older sisters in getting this chance to play collegiate soccer. One, Reagan, was a University of Georgia Bulldog and another, Layton, started at Auburn before transferring to Samford University.

Mia plans on majoring in education with the goal in mind to teach elementary grades and coach high school soccer.

Boys soccer signee Hitchcock’s future is at Point University, an NAIA school located in West Point, Ga. His recruitment there was a case of hot, then cold, then hot again.

“I had gone to camps and met Point’s coach before,” Hitchcock said. “They were doing a whole evaluation of me for a couple of months, which I had no clue about. I thought the opportunity to play was slipping away.”

Then the Skyhawks reached out with an offer and Hitchcock took a visit.

“I fell in love with the campus and it basically reset my passion for the game,” he said. “It made me love the game a lot more and take pride in a lot of things that I do.”

That pride and passion were what JMA interim boys soccer coach Mitch Risley honed in on when talking about his player at the recent signing ceremony.

“Your love for the game is very evident,” said Risley, who recently took the program over from previous head coach Nathalie Boelen. “I’ve seen that and your dedication to the sport and your determination to get better ever since I started coaching you your freshman year. I’m really excited to see what your future holds at Point University.”

Hitchcock knows first-year starters are rare in college, especially at a program like Point that competes in a very difficult conference. He’s buying in.

“They’re getting somebody who works hard and understands the process,” the Point signee and future information technology major said. “I have high expectations for how I’m going to grow and develop, but I’m not necessarily thinking I’m going to be a starter first year.”

A do-anything player at the high school level, Hitchcock has signed on to play either left or right back once he arrives at Point. The defensive end of the field is where he’s spent a majority of his time throughout his soccer career. While defending may be his specialty, he’s also shown the ability to put the ball in the net. Scoring has been slim for the Trojans this season, but Hitchcock was tied for the team lead in goals at four heading into Tuesday’s game at FPD.