It takes skill and natural talent to participate in college sports, but it takes determination and organization to participate in two college sports.
Balancing academics, practice and finding some time to hang out with friends is a challenge for student-athletes involved with multiple teams on campus, but that does not mean it stops them from enjoying their time at DePauw.
Although it is difficult, students participating in more than one sport still maintain lives outside of the gym.
Lewis Brown, a senior from Poway, Calif., plays offensive line for the football team, defenseman for lacrosse and serves as the current sports director for WGRE. He is also a former sports editor for The DePauw.
"I'm not missing out on experiences at DePauw," Brown said. "The more I'm involved, the better I am."
But they may have to sacrifice a night or two out on campus to keep up with their studies. Practice every day, tournaments on the weekend and games on Saturday mornings or Friday evenings make socializing with the non-athletes of DePauw challenging.
Junior Myron Burr, a defensive back on the football team and sprinter for the track team, understands sometimes he has to make some sacrifices.
"The hardest thing to do is have a social life," Burr said. "Not being able to go out because you have to crush work or you have a game or meet the next day."
Relationships between teammates are an integral part of any team, but for student-athletes who are constantly involved with some sort of sport on campus, these relationships go farther than adding towards success on the court.
Chelsea Courtney, junior, dives and competes in multiple events on the track team, thinks of her teammates as friends and is not hesitant to admit she has fun with the team.
"A lot of social activity comes from being with the team," Courtney said. "I still get to be social with the team. I got to know them well." Courtney explained that these strong bonds on the team help students push through what can turn into long seasons.
Even with the added friendship and support, it can be difficult to understand why students devote so much time to a sport, considering that DePauw student-athletes are not on scholarship.
"I am a competitor," Burr said. "I like to compete. The adrenaline from competing outweighs any partying."
The tight schedules and heavy training call for student-athletes to stay in shape for both sports. Being in season though makes it difficult to condition for the other sport simultaneously. Burr and Brown have the luxury of competing in two sports that require similar assets. Both focus on becoming faster, more agile, increasing strength and gaining explosiveness.
Skills for diving, however, do not necessarily transfer over to track. Courtney combats this with "a lot of cross training." She said the coaches are accommodating to keep her legs fresh, especially during the period of time when diving and track directly overlap. There are times when Courtney does a different work out than the other girls because she has a meet that weekend for diving.
Brown and Burr do have breaks between their two sports from the fall to the spring, but for each, spring football does interfere with track and lacrosse. If there are morning workouts for football and afternoon workouts for track, Burr said he feels like he's just running from one to the other.
But for these athletes, college may be their swan song in the sports they love.
"College is the last chance to do athletics," Courtney said. "I'm not going to graduate and be training for track meets."
