Being a multi sport athlete has many struggles but is also worth it. It’s very time consuming and the biggest thing you have to do is learn how to manage your time. During the fall I play tennis, golf, flag football, and during winter, I do soccer and wrestling. In the spring I participate in track and swim. As a senior in high school who does seven sports, it gets challenging at times, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
The most important thing is balancing games and getting from game to game. I have my grandma pick me up from one game and take me to the other and luckily, they are normally at different times. Practices can be challenging making it to all of them especially during the fall when I do three sports at the same time; however, I split the times equally to make it go all three. During the spring it’s different due to sharing the pool with the other school so practice times are later for swim and track is right after school.
A big factor in what helps me do so many sports involves being healthy and strong. I always make sure to have time set aside for the gym, and I try my best to eat a lot of protein and eat healthy and watch what I eat on game days. At times it can be a lot for my body to manage doing all of these things and shifting from each sport to the other is a big change. For example going from tennis to wrestling can take a toll on my body. From practice to even matches, it’s a huge difference in the difficulty levels but it doesn’t take long for my body to adjust.
One of the downside is some coaches aren’t fond of me and others playing multiple sports. Most coaches want their players to have full focus and undivided attention on one sport. I have had problems with it being an issue for coaches, especially when I make it to sections. It pushes back when I can actually join my next sports; however I always make it work with the support from my coaches.
Although I don’t plan to move on to play sports in college, I strive to be healthy and strong even after high school. My plans for after high school is to join the Marine Corps in hopes for it to make me stronger mentally and physically.