MITCHELL HORUCY
Staff Writer
As if playing one college sport isn’t challenging enough, Caitlin Snyder is a member of two teams at Fredonia.
Snyder, a senior biochemistry major, is a four-year member of the Blue Devils basketball team.
She also joined the tennis team after her freshman year and has been on the team since.
Snyder picked up a basketball for the first time when she was a kindergartener, which led to her wanting to play collegiate basketball.
“I was recruited to play basketball in college, so that became a reality when coaches started reaching out to me my sophomore [and] junior year[s] of highschool,” said Snyder.
She mentioned that she had hopes of playing both basketball and tennis in college, but was unsure if she’d be able to make it work.
She didn’t pick up tennis until later in her life, seventh grade to be exact, and fell in love with it.
After her freshman year, the tennis team needed players, which led to her being asked if she wanted to join.
The rest, as they say, is history.
As one could imagine, Snyder says that managing school work on top of being on two sports teams is tough.
“It can definitely be a challenge to stay on top of everything I need to get done, but it has taught me very good time management,” she said. “If I have homework or a test, I need to set aside time before or after practice to make sure I get it done.”
This has worked well for Snyder, as she has been a member of the Commissioner’s List for having a GPA of 3.30 or higher.
While being a part of two teams has its benefits, it sometimes means she has to miss things involving the other team.
With tennis being in the fall and basketball in the winter, there may be times where she has to miss an offseason lift for either team due to a conflict with the team currently playing.
Snyder says it’s challenging because she loves both teams and wants to be there for everything.
She is no stranger to playing multiple sports, as she was a multisport athlete in highschool as well.
She noted that the level of commitment in sports is much different from high school to college.
“In high school, out of season we would do the occasional open gym for basketball or go hit with friends for tennis, but in college, out of season, there is still lifting or playing pick-up multiple times a week,” she said.
As a senior, Snyder feels it’s very important to be a leader on both teams she’s on.
“A lot of times, the younger teammates feel as if they have to be quiet or [as] if their opinion isn’t relevant, so I try to create a fun, loving environment where everyone feels comfortable expressing their thoughts or opinions,” she said.
Off the court, she mentioned that the transition from high school to college can be tough, so she wants to be able to help those who need it.
She also said that on the basketball team, a lot of her teammates share the same major, so they assist each other with picking classes and professors.
Snyder and the rest of the Blue Devils tip off their season on Nov. 11 at 1 p.m. when they take on Hilbert in the Dods Hall Gym.