Being a collegiate athlete is no easy task but being a dual-sport collegiate athlete sounds near impossible. Good thing Olivia Marron isn’t afraid of the near impossible. Marron took on the challenge of competing in both volleyball and basketball last year. “I started playing both of them [volleyball and basketball] in middle school and then in my senior year I decided I wanted to play volleyball at Madison College,” said Marron. 

She began her collegiate volleyball career in 2017 but couldn’t play her first season due to an ankle injury. The following year, Marron’s schedule limited her, and she wasn’t able to go out for any sports. “In 2019, I decided I wanted to go back out again,” said Marron. But her sights weren’t just set on volleyball anymore. Her ambition led her to also go out for basketball in the same year. “I talked to Coach Heeren with the basketball team and I said that I’d be interested in playing and so I just ended up playing both and it was a great experience. I don’t regret it at all.” 

The challenge of taking on two sports has its pros and cons, and Marron could feel the effects of back-to-back seasons after a while. “We lost our tournament for volleyball on a Saturday and I literally went back to practice for basketball on Monday. So, I had that Sunday off but otherwise I didn’t have any time off.”  

Marron said that she was managing everything well, but by December she could tell she was getting exhausted. “Thankfully, Coach Heeren was super understanding of that, and she gave me a day to catch up on my homework because I was getting a little bit behind.” 

In just a couple weeks after the fall semester ended, Marron hit her stride. “When we had the Christmas break, I was able to catch up with myself and catch up with the team. So, I think in December was when I was able to really shine as a student athlete.” 

After the COVID-19 pandemic hit, cancelling all NJCAA spring sports and putting other seasons into jeopardy, Marron knew she’d have to choose either volleyball or basketball once it was announced that the seasons would coincide. It was a hard decision, but Marron was able to work it out with her coaches. She started with volleyball for a month when the two seasons didn’t overlap but then narrowed her vision to basketball once that season started.  

“Once I started basketball that’s when I realized that that’s where my passion lied and I’m sad to give up volleyball but I’m happy with my decision to stick with basketball.” 

Basketball practices are currently three times a week with an hour focused on lifting weights and two hours focused on basketball. There are no scheduled games as of right now.  

Marron encourages anyone who is considering doing two sports at the collegiate level to go for it. “Being a dual-sport athlete is really cool, and I think a blessing, and it’s really hard but I think if people can get through it, they should do it because they’d get the experience of two collegiate sports which is super cool.”