New Post: The art of balancing two sports

The Art of Balancing Two Sports

BY CHRIS HOGAN

MANAGING NEWS EDITOR

            When it comes to playing more than one sport in college, student-athletes know that it will come with a lot of difficulties when it comes managing your entire college lifestyle.

 For the University of Bridgeport, their athletes try to get the most out the sport they are playing and getting the full academic support they need in the classroom. There are many student-athletes at UB that play multiple sports throughout the year and some of them maintain a normal lifestyle for all four year.

UB men’s cross country and basketball head coach Mike Ruane can reflect on what it is like as a student-athlete with his own experiences being a dual sport athlete at Alvernia University.

“I remember when I was an athlete, I had a district cross country race at 3 p.m. and then we had a basketball exhibition game at 8 p.m., but it gives you an excuse if you are thinking I can’t go really hard because I got the scrimmage later but you have to go as hard as you can in the one time and when the other thing is coming up,” Ruane said.

There are several athletes at UB that are dual athletes including junior Sandra Schmitz and graduate student Sarah Santos, who are both on the women’s swimming team and cross country team. Another is junior Julia Colley, who is a forward on the women’s basketball team and a goalkeeper on the women’s soccer team who compiled a 7-3 record for a 14-4-2 team this past season. For male athletes the list includes junior Omari Howard, a runner for the men’s cross country team and a guard on the men’s basketball team.

“My mindset for both sports (volleyball and softball) is the same as any athlete, one-sport or dual-sport,” sophomore Taylor McBeth said. For any athlete when it comes to our sport we all have one common goal, to win.”

McBeth, who is an outside hitter on the UB volleyball team and a shortstop on the softball team that hit .301 as a freshman, acknowledges she has progressed as a student-athlete, because of more stability in her college life.

 “I think this year I have finally found the balance for school, sports and a social life, McBeth said. “I have made some sacrifices not going out as much, but I know in the end it will pay off.”

Santos, recently earned honor by being named on the East Coast Conference all Second-Team after her eighth place finish at the 2010 ECC Championship meet in Brookville, NY on Nov. 7, 2010.

 Josh Bland, the Compliance Director for the UB Athletics Department for the past six years, knows it is hard for student athletes to balance their daily lives but in the end most are successful at doing so.

“It’s a delicate balance for everybody and its difficult to manage time but it’s also why athletes are generally successful when they leave school because they have that responsibility already balanced in time,” Bland said.

Ruane feels that athletes that play more than one sport turn out to be a committed person in whatever sport they.

            “Someone who does play a lot of sports or two or more is usually a true team player and they are selfless,” Ruane said. They really love athletics and so it isn’t really hard for an athlete to play more than one sport or focus on it because it’s their passion.”