College athletes have difficult, monotonous days. From 6 a.m. lifts to classes and afternoon practices, student athletes, even at the Division III level, are under intense pressure almost every single day. In-season athletes practice five-six days a week, while out-of-season athletes are still working on their skills four days a week.
With daily academic and athletic expectations, stress, and physically taxing activities nearly every single day of playing just one collegiate sport, one may ask: why play two sports in college?
Four first-year athletes are willing to handle the stress of playing two sports at DePauw. Evan Bohrer, Trey Shaw, Mark Broderick and Danny Sheehan will take the field to play on both the football and baseball teams.
These four first-years felt encouraged to play both sports and did not want to pass up the opportunity to play on two collegiate level sports teams.
Sheehan, both a running back and infielder, couldn’t see himself not playing. “I loved playing both sports in high school and I wasn’t ready to give one up,” Sheehan said. “So since I was given the option, I decided to do both.”
Shaw, both a quarterback and infielder, made the decision to play both sports because he felt like he had the support of both football and baseball coaches.
Shaw said, “When I was given the opportunity to play both, I couldn’t pass it up,” he said. “Coach Lynch and Coach Allen both encouraged the idea of me playing both, and the programs that both sports have made it an easier decision for me.”
Of the boys, Coach Pustay, assistant baseball coach, said, “They wanted to help out two programs, and that was really attractive to us.”
Bohrer, defensive end and catcher, felt this was a great opportunity.
“Both sports helped me like the other sport more,” he said. “I had the opportunity to play both here at DePauw, and I was not ready to hang up the cleats in either sport.”
Broderick was also prepared to play both sports. He said, “Both teams seemed like a good group of guys and the coaches on both teams are amazing. I saw more benefits coming out of [playing two sports].” Broderick currently plays wide receiver and in the infield.
All four first-years expressed an uncompromising love for both sports, and will participate with each team in their respective seasons so practice schedules will not overlap.
As a coach, Pustay also recognizes the possibility of them burning out with either sport.
He said, “It’s a tough thing to do in college because it’s a juggling act. There’s always a possibility of burning out, but whether he starts or not normally decides if a particular guy wants to play one sport or the other individually.”
However, all four are used to the demands of being multisport athletes: Shaw, Sheehan, and Bohrer played football and baseball in high school, and Broderick played basketball in addition to football and baseball.
With it only being the start of football season, time will tell how these four athletes do at juggling two sports, but the two teams are prepared to work together. Pustay said, “We want football to succeed as much as we want [baseball] to succeed. It was also a way to get them to DePauw, and playing two sports was the cherry on top for them.”
