Double take: Yale's two-sport athletes

By Carl Bialik

But the following Monday, Sproule went to lacrosse practice, and two days later, he started at attack against Brown. The Iowa native had played both hockey and lacrosse at the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut, and when he arrived on campus, he decided to continue playing both. "I enjoy playing both sports, and I didn't want to let go of either one," he said.

Sproule is one of a handful of Eli athletes that are dual-sport athletes. While the abrupt transition he made from the intense competition of the tournament to the lacrosse regular season is unique, many of Yale's two-sport athletes face a full year of training and competition.

Leading a double life

In Division I college sports, the two-sport athlete is a rare breed. Football head coach Jack Siedlecki said, "It is such a rarity for a scholarship school to be able to [have a two-sport athlete]." He estimated that Division I scholarship schools' football teams probably average less than one two-sport athlete per school. "If the kid plays football and basketball, he would have to be an outright superstar." According to Siedlecki, the reason for this is because the athlete "counts against both sports as a scholarship."

The Ivy League, however, forbids athletic scholarships, an as a result, sees a high concentration of two-sport athletes. In fact, 10 Bulldog football players suit up for another Yale team. Siedlecki said that even among the Ivy League, Yale has a relatively high number of two-sport athletes. "I know a couple of schools in the league who really discourage two-sport athletes," he said. Head men's lacrosse coach Michael Waldvogel added, "In other schools besides Harvard and Yale, and, somewhat, Dartmouth, I see very few crossover athletes."

All Bulldog coaches interviewed said that they support athletes' desires to play two sports and would not hesitate to recruit a student who expressed an interest in playing another sport. This approach sometimes lands Yale better athletes.

 We have an incoming freshman this year who's going to be a wide-receiver and is going to play baseball.... At the other schools he was talking to, he would have to play football or baseball," Siedlecki said. An important part of Yale's conducive atmosphere for two-sport athletes is communication between coaches. Men's heavyweight crew head coach David Vogel, DC '71, said, "We keep the lines of communication open with other coaches [about two-sport athletes]."

Nonetheless, the number of Yale athletes who have the skill necessary to play two sports is small. Playing one sport at Yale's Division I level still takes a great deal of talent. Vogel added, "In a lot of these sports, you're competing with national champs," Vogel said. "You can't expect to do that unless you're extremely good and working at it full time."

Talent, passion, commitment

Elis who do play two sports are obviously talented, but perhaps more importantly, possess a unique passion and commitment to their sports.

Dante Rizzo, SM '00, a defensive lineman on the football team and a rower in a JV heavyweight crew boat, exemplifies all three qualities, as he switches gears, going from the football field to the river. Vogel said, "Typically, a line in football needs a lot of mass. But in a crew boat, 200 pounds is good, 250 is bad." Rizzo goes from 225 pounds in the football season to 200 pounds for the crew season. Rizzo feels that it's no big deal. "With a crew workout, so much weight's going to come off anyway," he said.

Todd Scott, CC '98, last year's football team captain, has an easier time handling his second sport. He's on the club wrestling team, which recently won the National Collegiate Wrestling Association Championships in Dallas. Scott had wrestled and played football in high school, and he knew he wanted to focus on football when he arrived at Yale. "The club team fit in well because I still liked [wrestling] but didn't want to do it at a varsity level," he said.

Siedlecki pointed out, "We're only talking about a handful of kids," and among that handful, very few truly excel at both sports. Jac Gould, CC '00, is an exception. He is the leading scorer on the soccer team, as well a standout sprinter on the track team. The two sports' schedules are such that Gould is "always in season." Gould, like most of Yale's two-sport athletes, said that the great time commitment required to play two sports makes him more organized academically. "Sometimes [playing two sports] is hard, but usually it keeps me focused on how much time I have."

Sue Barnes, DC '00, who plays field and ice hockey, is, like Gould, always in season. She also must go from skating to running, which is difficult because "the muscles are not ready."

A common pair of sports that cross over athletes play is football and baseball. Ben Johnstone, BR '00, plays wide receiver and right field. Johnstone must miss spring football practice because of baseball season, but the head of Strength and Conditioning in the Athletic Department, Steven Plisk, has a special training regimen for him. "I enjoy both sports too much to give up either one of them," Johnstone said.

Ken Marschner, SY '99, plays the uncommon combination of basketball and football. Because of the overlap, he must miss the beginning of basketball season, when new offensive plays are learned. Head basketball coach Dick Kuchen made a special effort to teach Marschner his freshman year. "We weren't really teaching in practice when I came in, but he would do chalk talks with me, and the coaches would stay after. I picked it up semi-quickly," Marschner explained

Not all athletes who play two sports decide that the time commitment necessary is right for them. Some start out playing both without being sure if they will continue. Lauren Gulka, BK '01, played both ice hockey and lacrosse this year, but is not sure if she can continue to do so. Like Rizzo, Gulka plays two sports that require different training. "The hardest thing coming from hockey to lacrosse was not being in shape. People don't realize how different running and skating are," she said. "I love playing two sports. But I think I'll have to wait and see [about next year]."

Other two-sport athletes do not decide to play two sports until they have been at Yale for a while. Sarah Parcak, TD '01, who played soccer and ran track in high school, realized halfway through January how much she missed track. She now attends all track practices, as well as spring soccer practices. Parcak said, "As long as I can balance the two, I'd like to keep doing both. However, she feels it is important to find time for other activities. "If I just did sports, I would feel like I was missing something."

Dying breed?

Are the physical and academic pressures, along with changes in the way sports are played, combining to make two-sport athletes at Yale a dying breed? Associate athletic director for varsity sports, Barbara Chesler, is not sure if the athletic department keeps statistics on these athletes, but speculated, "The number of two-sport athletes has declined due to out-of season-practices now required for spring and winter sports and due to the number of high-school athletes who now specialize in one sport."

Vogel agreed. "Every sport is becoming more specialized, simply because Division I athletics at Yale are far more competitive now." Waldvogel said that football players, who often can cross over because of the short football season, have been less likely to do so. "Yale can bring in fewer who get an advantage in admissions," he said, "so those who are accepted must specialize." He also pointed to football's recently-instituted 12-day practice session in the spring as a reason for the diminishing numbers.

Headmen men's hockey coach Tim Taylor, who has coached at Yale for 20 years, sees the "age of specialization" as reducing the number of athletes who participate in two sports. In past years, Taylor's teams have included many players like Sproule, who also played lacrosse. However, right now, Sproule is the only one left."

Don't count on the demise of the Yale two-sport athlete just yet. Sproule's brother, who also played hockey and lacrosse in high school, will be a freshman at Yale next year. Sproule said that his brother has not yet decided if he will continue to play both sports at Yale. But if he's like his older brother, who has the talent, the passion, and the commitment to lead a double sports life, he just might.

Graphic by Melanie Schoenberg.

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