Seniors share their experiences of being on two teams since freshman year

The Shield: What two sports do you play? 

Hannah Smith: I play softball and soccer. I started both when I was 4. Well I started baseball when I was 4, and then I transitioned into softball when I was about 11. I have three older siblings, and they each played baseball and soccer growing up, so it was just kind of like tradition in our family.

TS: Why did you continue to play them through high school? 

HS: I got the chance to play soccer in middle school, and I played softball on an outside league, but I guess I kind of wanted to pursue both because I hadn’t focused on one, and I liked both of them equally. Like I get asked all the time which one is my favorite, and I don’t really have one. I guess I just didn’t really want to pick one over the other.

TS: What has each of them taught you? 

HS: I guess softball has taught me that if I really love something, to just stick with it because we had a hard time with our coach, so just learning to deal with that, I learned how much I really loved softball when I realized I could put that part aside and keep playing. Soccer has taught me how to w

ork towards something in order to achieve it because I was on JV freshman year and that was a bummer, but I worked really hard and made varsity sophomore year, so it was like a goal I set for myself, and I achieved it.

TS: What’s that overlap time like? 

HS: It’s really hard because there’s not really any break at any point. So like instead of having two games every week, I have up to four per week. So I’ll have like a Monday night soccer game, and then a Tuesday night softball game, and then I’ll have a Friday softball game and then a Saturday soccer game. And then whatever days I’m not having a game, I’ll be at one or the other’s practices. So I’ll have like two days out of the week that I’ll actually come home from practice and be able to work on homework, and that’s really tough. Like sophomore year during the research paper, the bulk of it was right in the middle of the season, so that was really hard. I guess school work just always adds up at this point, and that’s like in the middle of both seasons.

TS: Do you feel like fans are more supportive of one sport than the other? 

HS: I feel like softball is kind of the butt of the joke sometimes. Like my friends are more willing to go to my softball games than my soccer games. Whenever my friends are at my games, it’s kind of distracting. It’s nice that they come and support me, and it’s encouraging. But at the same time when it’s just my parents and the other parents in the stands, I can focus more on the game and not worry about messing up in front of my friends.

TS: How has both sports shaped your high school experience? 

HS: It feels a little bit like my whole high school experience has revolved around sports. But at the same time since both sports happen in the spring semester, I don’t feel like I’ve only done my time doing sports because I have time to do other things. But I’ve definitely made a lot of friends through both of them, and I remember trying out for soccer freshman year and not knowing anyone trying out, and I was really scared, but now I know the entire team and a bunch of the JV players as well, which is cool. And it’s really cool to interact with people in other grades since they’re not in your classes.

The Shield: What two sports do you play?

Jesse Levy- Rubinett: Baseball and basketball. I’ve been playing both of them since I was like 4 or 5, basically my whole life. I guess my dad got me into it. It was a familial thing.

TS: Are you gonna continue any of them into college? 

JLR: Yeah, I’m going to play baseball at Wesleyan University. I did get recruited, but it was kind of like a mutual process because I contacted them first and then told them what camp I was going to be playing at, and they saw me play there. And then I just emailed the coach and went and visited, and so they recruited me, but I kind of had to reach out first.

TS: What have each of them taught you? 

JLR: Basketball has taught me that you have to put in a lot of energy and effort and focus and positive attitude to be able to succeed. Baseball taught me that that stretching is important. No, I’d say that baseball has taught me that you have to be confident in yourself and have a really short memory because a lot of bad things can happen, and you can’t let them affect you the next time you’re hitting or something. You have to sit around and wait to hit for a couple of innings so you can easily just be thinking about it the whole time whereas in basketball the next play happens right after the last one, so there’s a lot of time in baseball when you’re just sitting there not doing anything, and you can get yourself worked up in your head over time.

TS: Is it difficult juggling school and two sports at the same time? 

JLR: It is, but I don’t really notice it as much anymore because I’ve been doing it for so long. But I would say there’s just significantly much less free time, and when I do have it, I’m just really tired. If I get home from practice around eight or nine, I don’t really feel like doing a bunch of homework, so it makes it a lot more difficult in general.

TS: Which season do you get more excited about? 

JLR: I’d say I get more excited about basketball, not because I like it more, but because when we start school, we’re in basketball class for a month or so before the season starts, so we’re working towards it like all year so it’s more of a buildup, whereas in baseball I go over when basketball is finished, so it’s hard for me to get excited for the start of baseball when I’m still playing basketball.

TS: Is one sport more nerve-wracking during games than the other? 

JLR: Yeah. I would say baseball. Just because with basketball I can kind of work around the nerves because I get in the game, and I’m going full speed, and I get in the game. But in baseball you’re standing around so much, it’s a lot harder to ignore your surroundings when you’re standing there waiting between all the action.

TS: What will it be like leaving both teams this year? 

JLR: I haven’t really thought about it honestly. Wow, that is kind of weird. Honestly, I haven’t really thought about it at all. I think it’ll be sad, but I feel like I probably won’t think about it that much. I’m sure I’ll be sad when I can’t play basketball anymore when I’m done, but I guess until that point I won’t think about it.