Athletes double up in spring sports
May 17, 2018
Multitasking is something that dual sport athletes have become accustomed to. Each season, there is the opportunity to play more than one sport during that time period.
“Students who play more than one sport per season first have to fill out a form,” Athletic Director Michael Bakker said. “With the form, they’re required to attach calendars of the two sports schedules and figure out any conflicts between them.”
To help smooth out any problems, an athlete must choose which sport out of the two will be the primary sport and which will be the secondary. The primary sport will always get priority over the secondary.
“If there is a game for one sport and a practice in the other, game always takes first priority,” Bakker said. “If there is a game in both primary and secondary sports, the athlete would have to go the primary sport’s game, no questions asked.”
Signatures from both coaches and a parent are required to be a dual sport athlete. Academics are also a big role and is not compromised even with the extra hours of practice.
“Making time for both sports (track and soccer) is not any easy task, and it often involves a lot of compromise,” junior Hanna Chapin said. “Most days are really tiring. No two days are the same, some days are going to soccer after school, then track to work out. Other days are going to track first to practice hand offs and then soccer. The plan for each practice usually determines what my schedule looks like.”
Dual sport athletes are treated as just another member on the team. School is monitored closely as well, to ensure the increased workload of athletics isn’t impacting their academics.
“School is hard to juggle with both soccer and track but I try to do my best and keep up with it,” freshman Emma Hall said. “Practices on the other hand, aren’t usually that hectic because my coaches are very understanding and communicate with each other to work out any conflicts, so I do not have to figure it out by myself.”
In order to be a dual sport athlete successfully, it takes some who is strong academically, dedicated and committed to making this busy schedule work.
“Time management is one of the hardest things,” Hall said. “Doing homework after games or meets can be hard because I’m usually very tired.”
Dual sport athletes not only have to worry about their school work and performance, they also have to make sure they are physically healthy as well.
“One of the biggest challenges is the physical aspect of participating in two sports at once,” Chapin said. “I really need to be on the top of my game health wise for it to work out.”
Each season, the number of dual sport athletes varies. Spring is when it is usually the most common, but it is not the only time that it is available. Any student can be a dual sport athlete any season.
