Being a student-athlete can range from only playing a sport for a single season, playing a sport year-round, or, for some, playing several sports in a single year. Senior Galia Harmelin plays club tennis year-round and is also on the varsity volleyball team.
“I’ve been playing [tennis] since I was five, so I’ve always played it pretty competitively,” Harmelin said.
Playing multiple sports often means that one will take priority over the other. Harmelin focuses primarily on tennis, expecting to continue playing after high school.
“It’s definitely going to continue being a part of my life in some way,” Harmelin said.
This mindset also applies to Junior Sonya Carter, who runs year-round, both for Uprep’s Cross Country and Track and Field teams and by herself. She also plays basketball for UPrep but sees it as more of a casual hobby.
“I love running, and for basketball, I’m not super competitive at it,” Carter said.
Despite varying levels of dedication, she enjoys playing any competitive sport.
“I really like having something that I can work for,” Carter said.
Harmelin also enjoys playing sports for this reason.
“I like the aspects of pushing myself to win, but also having fun while I’m at it,” Harmelin said.
Unfortunately, playing multiple sports as a student-athlete comes with its challenges, especially at an academically rigorous school like UPrep.
“It’s a big time commitment because there’s two hours of practice after school every day,” Carter said. “and that’s less time to do homework, especially because I’m a junior.”
Harmelin agrees that playing multiple sports at once can be challenging, which is why she only plays one at a time.
“I tried my sophomore year to play both tennis and volleyball,” Harmelin said. “it was just exhausting, so I stuck to one sport per season.”
In addition to keeping up with schoolwork, playing competitive sports can be very demanding, even outside of practice.
“It’s more than just going to practice, you have to get enough sleep and get enough food, stretch outside of practice, everything,” Carter said.
Despite the challenges of playing multiple sports at a high level, Carter still enjoys the experience.
“Go for it. I’ve been playing multiple sports my whole life,” Carter said. “I’ve jumped around to so many different sports like soccer, lacrosse, and I did gymnastics once.”
Harmelin agrees that there’s no harm in trying new things, as a leap of faith can result in a great experience.
“I would say just to experiment, don’t be afraid to try things, because you never know how much fun you can have,” Harmelin said.
