From spikes to a swim cap: How I switched sports in college

College is hard, and at times college sports seem impossible. The stress of it all seems too much and the pressures of college make you want to give up what you have worked for the past fourteen years of your life.

To add to the strains of being a college athlete, I am different than most – there was a bit of a learning curve. In high school I played sports with a bat and a ball. Now, as a sophomore at The Ohio State University, I am a member of the Club Swimming team.

Thank you, dad

My dad coached high school baseball for twenty-two years. I have always looked up to him. He is my role model and my best friend, and when I was younger I wanted to be just like him.

When I was born, I attended his games with my mom. I remember “working” on the field with him. Even though I was much too little to realize it then, I think it was at that moment, as I drug around a rake that was approximately three times my size, that I fell in love with the game.

I like a little dirt on my diamonds

In West Jefferson, you play sports for the West Jefferson Youth Athletic Association from elementary school to 7th grade: I played fall soccer, basketball, and spring soccer. However, while I was playing spring soccer, the majority of my friends were playing softball, and in middle school soccer is only a fall sport. So in 5th grade, I decided to give softball a shot.

I was the closest thing my dad had a to a son, so when I told him that I wanted to play softball, you can imagine his excitement. I started pitching lessons immediately. After realizing that was not my forte, he bought me a left-handed mitt and a set of catchers’ gear. For the next seven years, I played softball for West Jefferson in the spring and on a travel softball team during the summer, participating in various tournaments throughout the state of Ohio every weekend.

It’s more than a game

If you are an athlete, at one point in your life, you dedicated yourself to a sport and after you started playing that is all you ever wanted to do. After my senior softball season came to an end, I still wanted to play. More than the game, I would miss the teammates who became more like family and the coaches who encouraged me and helped me become not only the softball player, but the athlete and person I am today.

I traded in my cleats for goggles

I stayed so busy in high school, especially while I was in-season, it saddened me to be so uninvolved freshman year. Of the three sports I played I thought I would miss soccer the most. But after returning home for summer break in April last year and attending our high school softball practices and games, including the district tournament, the void in my heart grew.

I had every intention of trying out for the Club Softball team upon returning to school in August. I practiced every day at the beginning of the summer -throwing in the backyard with my sister and hitting in the batting cage at school with my dad – but eventually realized that the void I felt was created by high school sports and playing in college would not fill that void. So I decided to try something completely different and joined the Club Swimming team.

The average person on our team swam, at the very least, during high school. Come to find out, most members have been swimming since the age of seven. And before our home meet on September 24th, I had never swam competitively.

During the second week of practice my coach told me, “This sport is an emotional roller coaster. Let it be one.” He was right. The most valuable lesson I have learned from this experience thus far has been how to overcome obstacles. CSOSU has given me the opportunity to continue my athletic career at the collegiate level, enhanced my character, and positively influenced my studies.

It is an honor to be a member of Club Swimming at Ohio State.