By: Evan Roney

High school athletics allows for athletes to participate in two sports in the same season, but why is it so uncommon? At RCHS, there are no athletes who are participating in two spring sports, though some have tried and been denied by the coaches. The allowance of a second sport should be given consideration as it could benefit RCHS athletics.

Junior athlete Aidan Roney ran cross country as a fall sport and was one of the top performers during the season, placing first on the team in all but two races and ending the season with the third fastest time. He attended all the practices as well, but once spring sports began, he chose to play soccer. Roney inquired to both the soccer coach and both track coaches about playing both sports, as he had shown commitment in the season before and felt he could handle doing both. But even after demonstrating he can handle one sport, he was denied the ability to play two chose to play varsity soccer.

Soccer is a leg sport which focuses on kicking and endurance, while baseball is an upper body sport which requires high levels of hand eye coordination and speed. It would not make sense for an athlete to participate in these two spring sports at the same time. They are team sports and playing both could disrupt the team chemistry among the players. But track and field is primarily an individual sport which only requires its athletes to be good runners, any physical activity can be considered training due to the nature of the sport. A good soccer player needs to be a good runner, this is why an athlete could participate in both sports.

The allowance of two sport attendance is completely up to the coaches. It is understandable to prevent team sport players from only attending competitions and not the practices. Allowing an athlete to play two sports would not only undermine the importance of track and field as a sport but could also upset those who choose to run track as their main sport. It might influence those who are choosing track to do the same, thus creating a lack of runners at practices. Allowing athletes who have shown commitment and responsibility to play two sports would benefit RCHS athletics and allow athletes to use their full potential for our sports.