Entering their high school career, some student athletes initially intend to play multiple sports, often without the knowledge that they are limited from participating in multiple sports during the same season.
Senior Viggo Paetau is one of the many students limited to one sport per season, prohibiting him from playing both soccer and basketball in the winter and playing golf and tennis in the spring, so he must decide which sport he favors.
“I definitely think that this is a problem many students struggle with, and it’s a hard decision for a lot of people to make. I believe that it is limiting a lot of students from being able to play the sports they want to,” Paetau said.
Similarly, freshman Victor Ma, who would like to participate in both boys’ swim and volleyball in the spring, has to consider multiple factors when deciding which sport to stick with.
“I’ll take into consideration how I do, how well I do in the tryouts, how the community is, how much fun I have playing the sport, and which friends will be in the sports I play,” Ma said.
Currently in his final season, Paetau reflected on past goals and how they look different now.
“I always wanted to work my way up in basketball and play varsity as a starter and get better – like how everyone wants to do when they’re playing a sport – but switching to soccer doesn’t let me do that anymore,” Paetau said. “It opened up new goals to get better at soccer, the same goals, but in a different sport.”
Although students advocate for playing multiple sports in the same season, varsity baseball and varsity flag football coach Pedro Martinez believes that allowing athletes to participate in multiple sports will make it difficult for them to thrive in one sport.
“If I have to choose (which student to play) and they’re both about the same skill level, I’m going to choose the kid who’s committed over somebody who’s been there two or three times a week,” Martinez said.
Despite a passion for playing two sports at the same time, some athletes may not realize that splitting time between them can be challenging. Senior Tessa Williamson, who has been part of flag football and cross country, noted that different sports require more commitment than others, and many require an athlete’s full attention to be successful.
“I don’t think it would have been an option for me to go to cross country practices if I had to do flag just because one’s more athletic – one’s more skill-based – so they both would have been demanding for me,” Williamson said.
Agreeing with Williamson, Martinez compared practices to classes in school. He showed the effect that playing multiple sports can have on both the athletes and coaches.
“It’s just like a class. If you only go to math two times a week, you’re not going to get all the information,” Martinez said. “Coaches don’t want to reteach something because you missed it for another sport, so they are going to prefer players who are fully committed.”
Martinez mentioned an instance, however, when he could potentially accept an athlete who played both track and baseball during the spring season.
“If there’s a gifted track athlete who’s interested in running the bases but wants to run track because they’re gifted at running, I can see where I might want to reach out (to the coach) and work it out,” Martinez said.
No matter the sport, Paetau encouraged athletes to prioritize finding joy in the sports they participate in rather than worrying about opportunities that could have happened.
“Go with your gut. Do what you think you will have the most fun doing because at the end of the day, that’s what it’s meant for: to have fun,” Paetau said. “Just have fun playing the sport and play with your friends.”