HIS LEG IS IN HIGH DEMAND
St. Mary’s Reece Marsden balancing busy fall between soccer and football
St. Mary’s senior Reece Marsden has played a role this fall rarely found in today’s high school sports scene. While starting for the Saints’ varsity boys soccer team as a captain, defender and defensive midfielder, Marsden is also the kicker for the Saints varsity football team.
It’s not completely unheard of, as St. Mary’s student-athletes of the recent past — such as 2019 graduate Cole Randolph — balanced same-season sports for a time. But simultaneously taking on time-consuming and physically challenging sports such as soccer and football, for both games and practices, is no small feat.
The Saints’ boys soccer team is off to an undefeated start to the season (5-0), while the football team is 3-1.
Marsden has played soccer since fifth grade, but just started kicking footballs last summer, and the pandemic definitely played a part in that decision. He recently had a conversation with reporter Katherine Fominykh to talk about that balance and how it affects his game:
Q: So what got you into kicking?
A: Well, I hadn’t really thought about it. So, my freshman year I went to Archbishop Spalding, and when I was there, there was a kid who did the same thing, play soccer and play football.
Then, I went to St. Mary’s and then over time I was like — Oh, I kind of want to play [football]. Because most of my friends play football. I wanted to try because it was my senior year: go big or go home pretty much, and just make the best of it.
So how did it come about? Did you go up to [football] coach Jason [Budroni] and say, “Hey, need a kicker?”
Pretty much. I asked if he had a kicker and he said, “Nah, not yet.” Came to workouts and tried out.
As captain of the soccer team, how do you balance the two, soccer and football?
Since soccer’s my main sport, and I’ve been dedicated to soccer the longest, I’ve been doing everything soccer. When I’m free, I go to football. So far, they don’t overlap that much. I’ve
only missed two football games.
How do you prevent yourself from getting exhausted by trying to do two sports at once?
I’m just doing day by day, pretty much. Since COVID messed up everything last year, I guess fatigue isn’t really what I’m worried about. I just try my best, and it’s been working out so far. I’m still doing well in school and stuff, so it’s definitely working out.
Doing both at the same time, what are some differences you notice in the way you kick for football versus soccer?
They go hand in hand. Soccer definitely helps with football. I wouldn’t say kicking a football really does much for soccer. But when I kick a football, I’d say my aim is pretty consistent because soccer helped a lot with that. But there’s like a switch that goes off in my head. It’s not really something I think about; it just kind of comes naturally.
Which is more physical and aggressive, guys coming at you while you’re kicking the football or just playing soccer?
Oddly, for me, football because it’s more of a mental game. Just because I’m focused on one thing and there’s just so much going on that I have to focus on hitting this ball and making sure I’m calm and composed. But soccer, I’ve been doing it for so long, I have it down. Moving up the ball just comes naturally to me.
How do you think kicking in football has helped you with playing soccer?
It’s definitely helped me with confidence, I guess. With football, it’s the most important thing I’m focused on whereas soccer enables me to get more relaxed. Obviously, it helps me with my shooting. But I’d say soccer helps me more with football than football does with soccer.
Do you think if there hadn’t been COVID
last year, affecting and shortening your season and causing a lot of things to go away, you might have just stayed with soccer and gone through your senior year as normal?
Yeah, probably. I got to think about stuff a lot more, with COVID. So much was taken away from last year. I saw what the previous seniors had to deal with, where they only got three games. I was like — I have to do as much as I can this year because next year I’ll be moving on.