Playing a sport enhances the undergraduate experience and prepares student-athletes for adulthood. Playing more than one sport teaches athletes how to balance school, work and social life, dual student-athlete of women’s lacrosse and field hockey said.
“Being a part of two teams, I am forced to be on a schedule and get things done and make sure I have time to relax. It can be crazy, but for when I actually have a real job, I will be able to have a balanced life,” Noelia Ramirez, senior and dual student-athlete of women’s lacrosse and field hockey, said.
When student-athletes play more than one sport, they come to prefer a chaotic schedule.
“I work better in season than out of season, I know in season I only have this amount of time to do a certain amount of work or take a nap and I can work later,” Shannon Agnew, sophomore and dual student-athlete of women’s lacrosse and field hockey, said.
Agnew not only plays on two sports teams but also balances working at the library on campus. She believes balancing her schedule with sports will help her as a professional post college.
When student-athletes decide to take on more than one sport they feel supported knowing that the women’s lacrosse team and women’s field hockey team are both led by one coach.
Jackie Neary, head coach of both women’s lacrosse and women’s field hockey, started the first women’s lacrosse team at Cabrini, 24 years ago.
Neary expresses her love of coaching both teams simultaneously as she was a dual sport athlete in college, playing both women’s lacrosse and women’s field hockey.
“I love coaching both sports. It’s like having two daughters’…I treat them both the same but they are two different individuals. If you look at my field hockey and lacrosse teams, they are two unique identities, and I value both of them,” Neary said.
Currently, Neary has 22 players on the field hockey team and six of them play lacrosse. Playing on both teams and working with diverse groups yields a bigger social group for athletes, which is ultimately what they will do as an adult.
Neary helps players with skills they can use both on and off the field. Playing on both teams her players know she stresses the importance of attitude, eye contact, and grit or as she calls it “body language.”
“Jackie teaches us things that translate into real life like when you are at a job and your boss is talking to you, you have to respond, and be engaged,” Agnew said.
Players appreciate that Neary is flexible when it comes to their schedules. She understands that they are balancing academics, work and social life.
“Something we really appreciate about Jackie is when there is something going on in our lives, we can go to her and tell her we can’t make it to practice because we need a break, and she really understands that,” Ramirez said.
It helps that she coaches both teams as she does not make dual sport athletes attend nontraditional practices, so as not to overwork them.
“She is not going to run us into to the ground because she knows stuff is going on in our lives,” Agnew said.
Neary expresses that the biggest compliment to her is when she has alumni come back and tell her what a great experience they had.
“Being a senior, I appreciate being a part of this program…and Jackie’s teams…it’s something I’ll never forget,” Ramirez said.
