In the fall, he was a linebacker for the varsity football team that led the team in interceptions, and was top three in tackles and sacks. Now in the spring, he is an outfielder/infielder for the varsity baseball team usually fixated in the third spot of the lineup. Red Mountain senior Skylar Edmonds can do it all.

At the high school level, playing multiple sports at the same time is pretty common, but playing two sports at an extremely high level is what separates Edmonds from others that pull it off.

Most athletes that play football participate in track and field in the spring to get faster, but with his second sport being baseball, Edmonds notices the major difference that comes with the two.

“Definitely football you’re going to be a lot more hands on. Every day, seven days a week really. It’s a lift, practice, film, recovery, and baseball it’s a little more relaxed, You can just come out here get a few swings in and you don’t really need to go into film and recover after your game,” Edmonds said. “You can ice your elbow or ice your arm, but it doesn’t really compare to football.”

Red Mountain varsity baseball just wrapped up its regular season on Monday, going into the playoffs on a 10-game winning streak. On the year, Edmonds hit .312 and led the team with three triples. Edmonds has been a part of many teams throughout his athletic career, but this baseball team in particular stands out.

“We really just want to win and we have a team of straight dogs that really want to eat and get somewhere and have a future and a goal,” Edmonds said. “And really it comes down to your goal and the culture you set at the beginning.”

When balancing two major sports throughout the year, it comes with its pros and cons. One of the major cons is having to choose which sport to pursue beyond high school and into college and further.

“The (best) part is you get to do what you love regardless of which sport it is. The worst part is it’s hard to make a decision at the end of the day where you really want to go,” Edmonds said. “Especially if you have a little bit of success in both.”

At the end of the day, a choice had to be made. On Feb. 24, Edmonds announced on Twitter that he will continue his football and academic career at Northern Arizona University starting in the fall.

“Football, I just like the energy entirely, it’s a different game,” Edmonds said. “My success is a little different in football and I think I have a lot more potential, a lot more to grow, and a lot more to go with football.”

As an incoming freshman into a highly known high school swimming program, I came in with the confidence that I was coming in as one of the faster freshmen. Okay, I’ll be honest, I actually came in with a lot of nerves and fear because of how much of a jump the competition level would be. However, over the upcoming four years, I would find out that I would be just fine primarily due to the fact that my head coach built a relationship with me.

Ken Dory has been a swim coach for 38 years, spending: 20 years at Irvine High School, seven years at Concordia University, nine years at Mater Dei High School, and three at Costa Mesa Aquatic Club. Accolades he has accomplished during his career include 13 league titles between Irvine and Mater Dei, Orange County high school coach of the year in ‘98, ‘99, ‘00, ‘01, and ‘16, and National Men's Coach of the year (NAIA) in 2012.

Dory took pride in getting to know his athletes along with helping them along the way through high school, guiding them to not only better themselves in the pool but as a person as well. For the past two years, Dory has served as a learning center support coordinator, a job that he started during my last year of high school.

He was aware when specific students needed help whether it was academically or if they just needed a break from training. He understood that “being a multi-sport athlete helps you manage time better, practice flexibility, practice working with other people and situations,” but also when some people struggled with that. It is difficult for someone to be able to grasp things like this because as Dory describes it “there is a lot of learning going on”.

Dory not only had his athletes to worry about regarding their training schedules and emotions, but he also had to be there firstly for his children who played multiple sports as well. He describes being a multi-sport athlete as “It’s a strain. I think physically, mentally, psychologically, emotionally it's all a strain.” He mentions how he came to terms with but also how coaches and parents can work with each other and just understand and practice the fact that that athlete can not be in two places at once.

Athletes who play multiple sports or have come from other sports can be described as either having an advantage in some areas compared to others, or contrary having disadvantages. “I think the multi-sport athletes can adapt a little better, can adjust a little more to certain things,” Dory stated about what being a multi-sport athlete brings outside of the training.

As someone who has done multiple sports at once only when I was younger, it has allowed me to gain insight and respect for the athletes who continue to do it whether it is in high school, collegiately, or professionally. Multiple things at once can not work being jumbled, they have to be managed and planned out, just like how one must with their schedule.

Andrew Hutton has always prided himself in his athletic ability. From kindergarten through middle school, he played little league baseball. For his middle school, he was the starting shooting guard on the basketball team and was the quarterback for the flag football team. He even got into golfing and would go out on the weekends with his dad to practice.

When he got to high school, Hutton wanted to continue playing on teams. The only issue was that his mother didn't allow him to play on the football team due to the risk of long-term injury. In his freshman and sophomore years, Hutton played on the basketball team and was very successful, managing his way into the starting lineup in his first year. By the time junior year rolled around, his mother finally allowed him to play on the football team. He played quarterback for the junior varsity team until COVID-19 shut down his season and his career.

Hutton, who went to Bishop O’Dowd High School in Oakland, California, is not only very proud of his high school career but also cherishes it. Hutton mentioned that he knows that “not many people have the opportunity to do what [he] did.” If not for his mother, Hutton would have been a multi-sport athlete. However, looking back on it, he thinks that this was probably for the better.

“I think it definitely would have been pretty overwhelming,” Hutton said. “Not only mentally with schoolwork but also physically. It would have been too much going on.”

Bishop O’Dowd plays basketball year-round. To keep up with the program, it is imperative that players attend every event that the team hosts.

“It would have been really taxing on the body,” said Hutton.

Hutton believes that playing two sports at the same is really hard and suggests that anyone who does that manages their time much better than he can. Hutton has never been great at this.

“If I want to do something, I’ll just do it and then completely forget about something else for hours,” Hutton mentioned. “That makes [playing multiple sports at the same time] very difficult.”

Although Hutton, who now attends Drexel University in Philadelphia, doesn't play on any sports teams in college, he still goes to the gym often to work on his basketball skills. Whether there is a group going and he can play pick-up or he’s just going by himself to shoot around, Hutton will always find time to practice.

Avion Wick faced many obstacles as a transgender male athlete but ultimately was able to play both the sports that he loved.

“I think just the pure fact that I identified as male made people upset and they wanted me on the men’s team, but the coaches knew I had to be on the female team,” said Wick.

Although Wick was at this time already identifying as a man, he was still required by the rules to row on the female team. He had a lot of strength despite not having started hormones yet and this also made people upset. Wick was never able to row on the men’s team as he hadn’t started hormones until after the season was canceled for Covid-19. At this point, competitive rowing in teams was ended and they competed in individual rowing instead.

His coaches were extremely supportive of his transition and one of his rowing coaches had a son who transitioned at a young age.

“He grew up in the realm of transgender athletes his whole life, so that coach was really supportive,” said Wick.

He also had to stop playing softball, his main sport, once he began hormones.

“The decision to stop playing (softball) was a couple things. I think it was because I wanted to start hormones and I started hormones during the weird transition of winter workouts before the season started, so I left the season before,” said Wick.

Wick still continued his softball career despite having to stop in high school. He now plays in the Cactus City Softball League, a predominantly queer league that allows anyone and everyone to play. In most slow pitch leagues, there are mainly men's or women’s teams and this can create a lot of issues for people outside of those clear-cut terms.

“What I really like about it is that it is super competitive, but since it’s a co-ed thing transgender people are allowed to play no matter what,” said Wick.

Most importantly, being a multi-sport athlete has allowed Wick to have multiple communities where he feels at home while being able to improve as a person and a player.

“I think the really big thing about playing two sports is how much it improves your mental health. I would say the ability to be a part of two different communities lets you learn more about yourself and other people, so you get to grow as a person and grow in the way that you think and interact and I think that’s really important,” said Wick.