Balancing two sports in the same season can be tough for some, but it can keep you on your feet and ensure that you’re always moving or keeping busy.
Emiley Callison (9) plays both club soccer and high school golf, which both happen to be in the same season.
“The hardest thing about balancing the two sports is balancing out all of the homework and all of the tests we have,” Callison said. “So I don’t really have a lot of time for studying for big tests I have the next day, especially when there is not ANP the next day.”
A typical day for Callison includes going to school, then right after she goes to Castle Bluff for golf. Some days her matches end at 7 p.m. She then needs to leave for her soccer practice at 7:20 p.m, which ends at 9:30 p.m. According to Callison, she has had to miss some soccer for golf, but her coaches are understanding given that she plays overlapping sports. However, despite both of these sports having multiple differences to them, they also have some similarities.
“I would say the main difference between the two sports is that soccer is a way more physical sport and a way more athletic sport that you need to be able to run a lot. And golf is definitely not a big physical sport — you do a lot of walking,” Callison said. “But they both need teamwork to be involved. Golf can be mostly individual, but we do have this thing called scrambles and that’s where you and a partner work together the whole time and use the best ball throughout the hole…and soccer, as you guys know, it’s a big teamwork sport and you have to work together with your team.”
Not only do soccer and golf share physical differences, but they also require a different mentality when it comes to playing.
“Both the sports I approach differently. For soccer, of course, you have to come out on the field very hyped, pumped up, and you have to be very aggressive right when you start the field,” Callison said. “But for golf, you want [to be] more calmed down, slow your pace, and really think. But overall I work just as hard for both sports and try my best every time I have a golf match and every time I have a soccer game.”
Callison’s mentality going toward her sports has helped her in many ways, leading her to higher achievements. In soccer, she won the President’s Cup as well as many victories with tournaments and games. In golf, she and her teammate got second place in a tournament against seniors. These achievements have all affected her in a great way.
“There are a lot of ways that sports have impacted my life, but one of the ways is that it gave me a lot of different friendships during this time and it showed me how to interact with other people and really work together as a team,” Callison said. “It also just taught me all of these new things, like working hard, showing hard effort, and teamwork overall and having everyone in your team trying to achieve the same goal throughout your sport.”
It isn’t just the achievements she has made that make her continue to play these sports, but it’s the memories made by making new friends and learning life lessons that will impact her for the rest of her life.
“Overall I would say that both sports gave me a lot of friendships and helped me with teamwork abilities and gave me a lot of different things that helped me throughout my life, ” Callison said. “And if you haven’t tried out these sports, you should, because they are really fun and can help you in a lot of ways.”
