It’s undeniable that Edina’s athletics are the focal point of many students’ lives. From starting PeeWee hockey at age seven to joining the Edina High School track and field team in the spring, Edina’s athletics are something that students and families integrate into the seasons of the year from a very early age. When one sport is in its offseason, students often switch to others, extending their ability to compete with a team and accelerating their athletic skills through another season. But for the average Edina multisport athlete, multiple sports seasons can take a toll in many different ways.
“When you’re younger, especially in middle school, doing two sports at the same time is fine because the coursework isn’t as hard,” said EHS junior Addie Botts.
Botts plays Edina flag football in the fall, rows with Twin Cities Youth Rowing throughout the year, and is a junior board member for the Edina Girls Athletic Association. She credits the casual one-day-a-week schedule of flag football and the general practices with rowing for helping balance her athletic and academic life this year. However, Bott’s sophomore year wasn’t this low-stress.
“Last year was crazy. That’s when I was doing rowing, basketball, and soccer. I’d have an hour to maybe 30 or 40 minutes in between [practices],” Botts said. “I’d go from one sport that was at the high school, go home, change, and then go next to my club sport, which might go really late. Then I’d go home, shower, try to get all my homework in, and then wake up early again the next day to do it all over again.”
Another aspect athletes can experience is stress on their bodies while playing multiple sports at once. “It’s really hard on your body using different muscles for different sports. Just focusing on one sport and trying to give it your 100%, and then 30 minutes later try to reciprocate that or improve on it for the next sport is just really hard on your body,” Botts said.
On the other hand, junior Kaylee Idrogo-lam felt pressure this year between her fall and winter sports, especially with how competitive high school sports are. When the Edina Girls’ Varsity Soccer Team entered the state tournament, soccer midfielder and hockey forward Idrogo-lam had to miss varsity hockey tryouts to play with the soccer team.
“Fortunately for me, I was already on the varsity hockey team this year when my soccer team made it to state. But I know for others, they weren’t able to try out because our soccer coach wanted us to be as healthy as possible for the state tournament,” Idrogo-lam said. “And those people didn’t get an opportunity to try out and showcase their skills. I know lots of them were disappointed that they weren’t able to make the team.”
But being on the hockey team didn’t stop Idrogo-lam from feeling behind when she missed practices for the soccer tournament. “With the overlapping seasons, I missed a few system practices, which is where we go over our plays and our zone coverages and things like that at the start of the season. So it kind of set me back but I was familiar with a lot of it,” Idrogo-lam said. “[My coaches] were understanding with each other about some players missing some things, but I was pretty stressed just because I didn’t want to let either of my teams down.”
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on November 30, 2023.
