Throughout the school year, students at LHS can participate in an array of sports. The average athlete chooses maybe one or two sports to focus on, however for Jerzi Kool, there are only a few sports she has not played.
Kool is a senior at LHS and throughout her high school career, she has managed to play five different sports. These sports include track, soccer, golf, tennis and basketball. At first glance, being involved in that many sports seems impossible to manage, but Kool was able to find a way to make it work.
“It’s actually pretty easy to manage because I don’t play a sport every season, I usually take at least one break so that I can manage my schoolwork and my home life,” said Kool.
Sports are not the only thing Kool has to try and juggle. Outside of school, she also has weekly guitar lessons along with working at Target.
“My guitar lessons are only 30 minutes a day once a week so it’s not as difficult to manage, and it also helps that my guitar teacher is really flexible and willing to work with my sports schedule. At Target I only work on weekends when I’m involved in a sport so it’s not too hard,” said Kool.
Though Kool has found a way to manage everything she has going on in her life, sometimes she runs into some problems that are just simply out of her control. For example, since Kool participates in so many sports, there is bound to be some overlap between sports and their seasons. This is exactly what happened in her sophomore and junior year when soccer and the beginning of basketball season overlapped.
“The only problem I have with the seasons overlapping is that because of soccer I do have to miss a little bit of the open gyms for basketball, but usually I just head there right after soccer practice,” said Kool.
As a result of Kool’s engagement in a wide range of sports, it has provided her with the ability to acquire skills she has learned in different sports and use them to become a better overall athlete.
“It’s [her participation in other sports] given her a broader feel for when she has had to use her different athletic abilities, whether it be running or using hand eye coordination. She has been able to touch on a lot of different abilities athletes need to be capable of,” said Scott Amundson, Kool’s basketball and golf coach.
Despite the fact that Kool’s participation in sports can be demanding and challenging at times, she keeps her head up and finds the fun in it.
“I have a lot of friends doing some of the sports with me so that’s fun, and they are the ones that get me through the tough practices,” said Kool.
It is clear that participating in so many sports can be demanding but Kool has been able to persevere through any challenges that she is faced with in order to keep doing what she loves: meeting new people and being active.
