It’s rare for sophomore Morgan Randall to be at home for long, as late nights are a common occurrence no matter the time of year. Since Randall was three years old, she has been participating in both competitive hockey and soccer. Now, Randall plays in the highest, most competitive level of minor ice hockey in the US, while also being an important member of the Huron women’s soccer team.
Playing both sports practically year-round, Randall notes that AAA hockey has an even higher workload due to its competitive nature, contributing to her busy day-to-day schedule.
“I have practices four times a week and games or tournaments on the weekends during the actual season,” Randall said, “which is basically everything from August until May. During the summer is all extra work, where I just train basically every day but [with] no games.”
Randall also has to juggle her busy schedule with her soccer practices and games. During the fall, travel soccer has her at practice twice a week. Once the season starts, Randall then has practice every day after school for at least two hours. This, with hockey practices on top, makes most of her days so busy that she doesn’t get home until late.
“My typical schedule on Monday is soccer practice from 4-6 p.m,” Randall said. “Then hockey from 6:30-11 p.m. Most of my days are like that as well.”
Having to find effective methods to manage her time, Randall uses her phone so that she has an updated calendar and an active to-do list to keep track of her daily activities and school work. But the hardest thing about playing two sports so competitively is the impact they have on her academics and social life. The limited time Randall has after school makes it more difficult to keep up with school work, and due to this, she often has to stay up later in order to stay on top of everything. This also lessens the time she has to go out and be amongst friends, without the weight of sports and school. Randall has now learned about how to multitask sports, life and school through her busy schedule.
“I think [my schedule] also taught me that whenever you have any time, do the assignment because you won’t have a chance to do it later,” Randall said. “This made me never have late work and always stay on top of things.”
Randall started playing both sports when she was young, taking influence from her brother who also plays hockey, where she took interest in hockey after watching her older brother play. Randall also started playing soccer young, as her father played during his childhood. He later became a coach, in which Randall started playing soccer for his team. But between the two sports, there’s one that she likes more.
“My favorite sport is hockey,” Randall said. “It’s my favorite because I have always loved to skate since I was little, and the people make the community feel like home.”
As a sophomore, Randall still has a good amount of time until she leaves to go to college. But due to how early recruiting tends to start, she is already thinking about continuing her athletics into college.
“I am considering playing hockey in college,” Randall said. “I love hockey and think it would be really cool to continue playing.”
Even with her non-stop schedule, Randall continues to push herself because of her love for the sport and her competitive drive to improve. Balancing two demanding sports and school, she has proven that not only is she a talented athlete but also someone defined by discipline and determination.
