Being an athlete is not for everyone but it is for senior Caitlyn Poole.
“I was a very active child when I was younger and I had a lot of energy to burn, so sports were a great go to” Poole said.
Poole played in many young soccer leagues from elementary school up into high school. She played different forms of soccer from travel leagues to just township league. Poole also played t-ball when she was younger but t-ball never really interested her like soccer did. From elementary school to middle school basketball was the sport she chose to play.
After a while Poole decided to narrow down her extra curricular activities list. Starting in fourth grade and up until Poole’s freshman year of college here at Cabrini College she played volleyball.
“I miss the sport of volleyball and wish I stuck with it, but I knew myself as a student and a person which helped me make the decision to stick with one sport, lacrosse, Poole said.
Poole first got started playing lacrosse because when she was younger her mom played in an adult league. Poole would be at every game watching her mom play. When she was in the third grade a recreation center near by created a program for children who wanted to play lacrosse.
The program would start for children in the third grade and go through middle school. The town wanted to introduce the sport so that they could grow the program. They hoped that the members of the center would love the sport and would want to have high schoolers join the program. Poole fell in love with the lacrosse and has been playing ever since.
As well as playing sports Poole has found it challenging to handle both lacrosse and school especially being a student teacher for the semester.
“It is difficult because it takes a lot of my time away from my team, so its frustrating not being able to make as many practices as I would like,” Poole said. “Lesson plans is a huge thought when it comes to lacrosse and I have tried to create a routine for myself to plan everything during the weekend.”
“She works really hard during practice,” Emma Rodner-Tims, freshman english major, said. “Sometimes she has to miss some practices due to commitments for her major but she always works that much harder at the practices she can attend.”
When lacrosse season started Poole felt like she did better in the past since she did not have much free time but now with teaching free time is hard to come by. Poole does better when she has less free time because her work gets done since there is no time to mess around. Getting her work done in time can be hard since arriving home from practice can be late or having a game can make it tough to focus on anything other than the game itself.
“My teammates inspire me and they challenge me in the best way possible each day to be a better person and a better player” Poole said.
Poole’s parents are very supportive of her being a student-athlete and they try to make it to as many games as possible.
“My mom will stop by before and after classes, so she can see me play and my dad always likes watching the game, so he will come to many of the games.” Poole said.
Poole’s parents on many occasions have traveled to games that are at other locations that are close enough to Cabrini.
“Caitlyn is a strong leader and excellent role model for the underclassman,”Jackie Neary, lacrosse and field hockey head coach, said. “She demonstrates on and off the field what it means to be a true student athlete! It’s hard to believe she is a senior already we are hoping to have a great April and May together with Caitlyn and the entire team!”
