LEAH GRAZIANO
Special to The Leader
When you’re a part of a sports team, it’s like being a part of a family. For some athletes at Fredonia, they get to experience this with their actual family.
“We’ve only ever been on the same team. Every sports team we’ve ever played on, we’ve never been on a separate team. I think it would be weird if we weren’t on the same team,” said Amber Piniewski, who plays softball with her twin sister, Alyssa Piniewski.
They’re both sophomore childhood inclusive education majors. The Piniewski twins are from West Seneca, N.Y. Their softball journey started when they were young tee-ball players to playing on a travel team to now playing at Fredonia.
Being a part of a sports team is a great way to connect with and meet new people, especially if you’re a new member of the team.
“I’ve got people of all ages across all majors that will always help me out and are willing to hang out,” said Jeremy Erman, a freshman liberal arts major who runs track and field. “So it’s fun to have a group of guys that you’ll see every single day.”
Jeremy runs on the same team as his older brother, Matthew Erman. Matthew is a sophomore music education major with a concentration in jazz studies.
The Erman brothers are from East Meadow, N.Y. They ran track and field in high school and continued with it at Fredonia. Matthew chose to run for Fredonia because of the positive atmosphere.
“It kind of felt at home here and it felt really connected and it felt like a good place where I would fit in when I first checked it out,” said Matthew.
“Especially coming in as a freshman and being on any athletic team, those are your first friends,” said Kailey Falk, a senior business administration major with a concentration in management. “Those are the people you are going to go to when things happen, so I think it creates a stronger bond than the average friendship.”
Kailey and her younger sister, Emma, play on the women’s volleyball team. Emma is a sophomore adolescence education major with a concentration in social studies.
The Falk sisters are from York, N.Y., and volleyball has always been a major part of their lives. Their father was a high school volleyball coach and they would go to practices with him.
Kailey started to play the game and Emma followed in her sister’s footsteps.
Having your sibling on a team with you means that you always have someone you can rely on and be comfortable around.
“If something goes wrong, she is always in my ear definitely when we play. So it is nice just having that person on the court who I can look to and knows how to talk to me,” said Emma.
For most athletes, sports are a major part of their lives.
Anna and Jane Chiacchia were always sports oriented. From a young age they played tennis for a club team in their hometown of Hamburg, N.Y., and it was something they did for fun.
“We would always play on our side street and we set up a string across the side street and hit back and forth outside. That’s how we would play growing up,” said Anna, a junior applied mathematics and computer science double major with concentrations in statistics and advanced computing.
Anna also plays basketball for Fredonia. She chose to attend Fredonia because it offered tennis and basketball.
“Basketball was our number one sport,” said Jane, a freshman applied mathematics major.
However, they found that tennis could improve their skills because tennis uses the same muscles as basketball.
Jane recently beat the school record for most singles wins in a season.
Being a student athlete means that there needs to be a balance of school work and athletics.
The typical day for an athlete consists of an early practice, classes, more practices and homework by the end of the day. Unless it’s game day, then they would hop on a bus to a different college and play.
“We usually leave in the afternoon. Games start at 7 p.m., we get back around 11 p.m. and then for weekends we play weekend tournaments so we usually play three games,” said Kailey.
Sometimes, athletes have to miss classes in order to attend their games. They have to fill out a sheet with all of the classes they have to miss and present it to their professor.
Some of these athletes have made the SUNYAC or State University of New York Athletic Conference commissioner’s academic honor roll last year: Anna Chiacchia, Hannah Kurbs, Alyssa Piniewski and Amber Piniewski.
In order to make this list, you have to be a varsity athlete, have over a 3.3 GPA during the semester they compete in and complete a full season.
Of course, siblings can get competitive.
“We have a competitive spirit,” said Jane.
“There’s that little competitive nature that you still have with your brother. He kind of goes by me, and I’m kind of like ‘OK, I can’t lose to Jeremy today,’” said Matthew Erman.
Though, an older sibling is someone who can be a positive influence on their younger sibling.
Hannah and Sarah Kurbs also run track and field at Fredonia. They are from Lockport, N.Y.
“Our older sister is a big role model for the both of us. She actually went here as well. She was a pole vaulter on the track team. She was a big influence in me actually starting to run,” said Hannah, a senior biology and psychology double major.
The Kurbs sisters started to run track and field when they were in high school and fell in love with the sport.
The familial aspect of being on a team resonates well with these Fredonia athletes.
“Everyone has each others back and you can go to anyone on your team and they’re there for you,” said Amber Piniewski.