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JAMESTOWN — During the school year, it can be tough for student-athletes to balance their studies and their sports. The balancing act does not stop for Jamestown High School’s Ella Falk during the summer as she is a member of the Jamestown Outlaws 18-and-under fastpitch softball team and the ND Attack Amateur Atheltic Union 17-and-under girls basketball team.
“I enjoy both sports so I wanted to continue to play over the summer and both the Outlaws and the Attack gave me the opportunity to do so throughout the summer,” Falk said.
The decisions became difficult for Falk early in both seasons when the teams had games on the same day. Falk said the decision was made easier by the practice schedules and how much of one sport she has played during the week.
“We had a lot of practices for Attack, at the very beginning of the year but the last couple of weeks we haven’t,” Falk said. “So, I go to softball practice three times a week for the Outlaws, and then I have stuff for school basketball three or four times a week as well.”
Falk said the biggest transfer of skills from softball to basketball and vice versa is the speed you have to think and how much you have to process the games.
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The Outlaws are coached by Falk’s uncle, Jason, who has seen the growth of his niece. At the point of writing, Falk is hitting .438 with a .500 slugging percentage and a .944 OPS to go along with three RBIs in seven games.
“She’s grown a lot. Just in the last year her hitting has really taken off,” Jason Falk said. “Defensively, she’s really had a good year. She’s really improved in the last year or two. She’s always played softball and just in the last 12 months she’s really grown as a player and I see the confidence growing.”
Attack head coach Jill Vote said the team misses Falk’s length and shooting ability when she isn't with the Attack.
After the Blue Jays' season ended on June 3, Ella Falk said she took some time off to focus on the Attack’s first tournament on July 11-12.
“The Outlaws season started and then I came a couple of weeks late to focus on basketball in that time so I took a little bit of a longer break from softball,” Ella Falk said. “ I don’t really get breaks, I just like to keep going and going so I didn’t mind it.”
Falk is not the only multi-sport athlete on the Outlaws or the Attack, which Jason Falk said forces his team to carry a bigger roster.
“We’re pretty flexible with all our girls because the majority of our team are multi-sport athletes and with that comes some flexibility,” he said. “We try to carry some extra girls going into the season knowing that some girls are going to miss and some girls are going to miss for that and we understand it and we’re very flexible with it. We encourage girls to be playing more than just one sport.”
Vote said Ella Falk and her teammates playing multiple sports during the summer only strengthens their skills as athletes for their high school teams and the teams they play on besides the Attack.
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“We’ve had a few players on our team this year that have missed a tournament throughout the season just because they’re balancing another sport, whether it be their high school volleyball team or softball team, and so it shows you the type of athletes these kids are,” Vote said. “They always want to get better and for them to put the time in in the offseason to more than one sport is definitely going to strengthen them when they head back for their high school season. It’s nice to see their dedication.”
