As a child, playing multiple sports was easy, one practice a week, maybe a game or two on the weekends, rinse and repeat throughout the different sports seasons. Nowadays, this is no easy task. Morning workouts, afternoon practices, long school days, and homework that will keep you up past midnight all make participating in a sport, let alone multiple sports, challenging for students.
Because of the rigorous class loads, students have to learn how to best set themselves up for academic and athletic success. “Time management is very important to achieving success, and thanks to the study habits instilled in me during my time at Mount Michael, I was able to see success on the football and baseball fields along with in the classroom,” Rocco Zimmerman ‘24 said.
To other schools competing as a dual sport athlete at a high level is “uncommon” or “rare,” but to athletes at the Mount, it’s like second nature. Due to the generally small class sizes and sports teams, there are many opportunities for students to show off their hard work. This is why nearly 70% of the 129 students who took The Mount’s November survey find themselves participating in at least two sports.

Studies done by the National Strength and Conditioning Association show that being a multi-sport athlete has direct influence on the following: Improved health and wellness, decreased injury rates, improved athletic performance, improved leadership skills and teamwork, better attendance in school and better academic performance. “I like how my wrestling success can help translate to furthering my success in football,” Brady Quinlivan ‘26 said.

Along with helping each athlete develop their athletic abilities, playing multiple sports can increase their longevity and athleticism. “Running cross country has prepared me both physically and mentally for soccer. Through running, I build up stamina and strength that I can use to transition to soccer while also setting a strong mentality I can use to fight through adversity,” David Barkemeier ‘25 said.

Not only does it help competitively to have multi-sport athletes but it helps supportively as well. An example of this is the cross country team, where most of the runners on the team wouldn’t consider running their first sport, instead opting for basketball, baseball, or most commonly soccer. But they show up, practice, compete, and support each other. That’s what makes multi-sport athletes so useful. Their competitive drive pushes themselves and their teammates to be the best they can be.

Here at the Mount, each and every student has the opportunity to participate in the activities that they want to without sacrificing playing another. “At other schools to even have a chance to make a team you most likely need to specialize in one sport, however, here, we have the opportunity for everyone to play and excel in the sports they like,” Barrett Sykora ‘25 said.