College multi-sport athletes have chosen a path of extensive commitment and dedication, but they are sure to reap the benefits of their decision on, and off, the field. According to Nike’s U.S. Sports Camps, those athletes that are involved in more than one sport display improved overall health and wellness and improved both athletic, and academic performance.
Jayden Kelley knows this firsthand. Kelley is a graduate-student from East Berne, NY and is a four-year member of the Women’s Soccer and Ice Hockey team here at Cortland. Having played both sports since she was six years old, Kelley had to make some decisions when she started her recruitment process.
“Originally I was only planning on playing hockey,” Kelley said. “I hoped to go division 1, but when I received little recruitment from the D1 schools, I looked into playing both sports and realized Cortland was the perfect option.”
According to Kelley, good management skills are also a necessary component of being a multi-sport athlete. Kelley knows what she must do in order to satisfy her goals, and this requires a necessary balance between both sports teams, academics, and social life. Kelley believes the competitive drive she has is why she is able to maintain this balance so well.
“I am always trying to do something that is productive, because I know I will be busy. I plan my time wisely going from practices to forcing myself to study. I try to be the best in everything I do, which is why I am able to maintain that balance.”
Being a student-athlete is already challenging when it comes to having a social life and being a multi-sport athlete makes this even more challenging. Waking up at 6 a.m. for practice, straight into a full day of classes and studying requires a lot of dedication. Kelley balances this all year round and has found that although her social life gets cut short, she makes the most of it.
“I think my social time gets cut short from being a multi-sport athlete, but that’s why it is good I am on sports teams, because I can use that time to be social,” she said.
Kelley’s athletic career has been met with some additional obstacles. Her 24 points in Hockey came to a halt when the season was cut short due to COVID-19 in 2020-21, and as to her 2021-22 season, she was unable to play due to an ACL injury in her right knee.
“I never thought tearing my ACL would keep me from playing. I was determined to make a comeback and being away from sports made me love them that much more and want to play even more badly.”
While going through the recovery process, Kelley didn’t know whether she should continue being a multi-sport athlete. She didn’t want to push herself and re-injure herself once returned.
“With hockey, my knees felt much better and more protected, rather than soccer. My dad even told me to stop playing soccer and stick to hockey, but I couldn’t go out like that. I had to return and prove it could be done because I love the sport too much, I wasn’t ready to give it up.”
Kelley’s road to recovery was not just physically draining, but mentally as well. She fought extremely hard because she missed the sports so much. Sports for her were always an “outlet for stress and anger”, so she struggled without them.
After months of training and recovery, she was back and ready to start the year off for the women’s soccer team.
Kelley remained a prominent figure on the women’s soccer team where she accumulated 24 points in her two years playing at Cortland. She is known as an “Energizer bunny”, and would change the game when she was put in. She helped the Red Dragons end with an 8-0-1 conference record in their 2022 season.
While balancing two sports, Kelley graduated Cortland with an undergraduate degree in exercise science and is currently studying Health Communication and is positioned to receive her master’s degree in May 2023.
Although she never has much free time on her hands, Kelley is the one player you will see on the ice, or the soccer field after a two-hour long practice, continuing to work on her skills to become the best player she can be for both teams.