In this episode, we sit down with our youngest guests on the show thus far, middle school athletes Reganne Morris, Chris Bush, and Reese Walker.
These young athletes have a lot to think about as students, athletes, daughters, sons, brothers, sisters, and friends. We talk about the differences in playing sports for their school compared to recreational and competitive leagues, and how to adapt to playing with different personalities of teammates.
Enjoy learning why these young athletes choose to play sports in episode #49 of Hustle and Pro.
Show Notes
- [0:35] Quick hits
- [3:12] School sport and club sport differences
- [4:30] Personal Goals
- [6:38] Reasoning behind why each athlete plays sports
- [9:01] Discussing with parents about playing sports in high school and college
- [10:42] Focusing on one sport post middle school
- [13:32] Life skills learned through sports
Resources within this episode:
- Frisco ISD Athletics: Facebook Frisco ISD Sports | Twitter: @Friscoisdsports | Website
- Kelly Walker: Instagram @kelly_walkertexas | Twitter: @kelly_walker_TX
Connect with Lifestyle Frisco:
Transcript: (machine-generated)
This is Hustle and Pro with Kelly Walker. Join Kelly as she talks sports with players, coaches, organizers and entrepreneurs from Peewee league to Pro. Now here’s your host, Kelly Walker.
Welcome to Hustle and Pro. So one of my favorite things about this podcast is talking to pro athletes to learn about their path. I like to rewind and think of how they were and what they were up to as kids. So now I’m flipping the script today and we’re getting into the heads and hearts of some youth athletes. So welcome to our youngest guests so far, Reganne Morris, Chris Bush and Reese Walker. Okay. So let’s do a couple of quick hits to sort of get to know each of you a little bit better. So Reganne, who’s your favorite athlete of all time?
Um, I would probably say my favorite athlete is Megan Rapino from the women’s national team. She just has a lot of, she works really hard and does a lot for that team.
Yeah. What about you Chris?
Um, mine’s definitely Jamie Benn cause I grew up loving hockey and just watching him on, on ice. It’s pretty fun.
Reese. Who’s your favorite athlete?
My favorite athlete is Gabby Douglas because she’s very inspirational.
We’re going to talk about the different sports that you play, but if you can pick one of your favorite sports to play yourself, what is it? Chris?
Probably football.
Okay.
Soccer for sure. For Reagan. Lacrosse. Lacrosse for Reese. Okay. So just so you guys know on this show, I talk a lot about multi-sport athletes and I think it’s important, um, super important for athletes as they’re growing up to play different sports and not just focus on one. So I want you guys to tell me what sports each of you have played kind of over the years and what you’re playing now. Reganne, you want to go first?
Uh, okay. So I’ve played a lot of things. I’ve done basketball, volleyball, soccer, um, I’ve done a lot of different things. But um, as of right now, soccer is definitely my main sport. And then I further school I play basketball and um, volleyball. And then last year I did track and um, I did some cross country too.
Okay.
What about you, Chris? Um, I also grew up playing a lot of sports, football, hockey, baseball, basketball, you know. And right now I’m definitely focusing on football in the football season just ended. So I’m now playing basketball at the moment.
Um, I’ve, I mean I’ve played soccer and volleyball and basketball and for school I, Oh and I play lacrosse out of school, but I played volleyball for school and basketball for school and I’ve been running cross country and yeah.
So I should have also said that you guys are currently in eighth grade, so your middle school kiddos at Pearson Middle School. So that’s um, you guys keep saying school sports and then outside of school. So I want to talk about that a little bit. Do all of, I know Reese and Reagan play school, non-school sports too. And I know you, you have in the past, Chris, like on different clubs and I’m out of school sports, so I want to know like what, like Reagan specifically. Um, cause you’re a competitive soccer player. Right? So what’s the biggest differences that you noticed between your school sport and your club sport?
Um, I would just say with the club sport, it’s a lot of people who have, um, especially at this age realize that that’s the sport that they really want to pursue. And that’s the sport that they really want to continue playing.
And so it’s more competitive and it’s um, more concentrated and super focused on that one sport compared to a bunch of different sports. And um, as to when you’re at school you can play almost all sports and without knowing exactly what you want to do for sure in the future. And so I would say that’s probably the biggest difference between them.
So you can kind of try out. I feel like school sports, you’re trying out that sport maybe for the first time in his track in a sport like track or something. What is your favorite thing, Chris, about playing sports for school?
My favorite thing, so like I played when I played high school, I played with like a bunch of kids who I didn’t know to start off with. But when you play in school, you know, you grow up with those people, you see them every single day throughout the school year. So when you finally get to go together and play on a team, you know, it’s pretty cool to see like all the chemistry that you might have. They don’t realize just how fun it is to play with your friends.
Okay. I want to talk about goals. So who here sets like personal goals? I do. Give me some examples. Like what are your goals that you’re setting or working towards right now?
Um, well one of my biggest goals is I want to go and I want to play soccer at a D one college school and I want to be able to play in college and um, possibly when I get older, play for something a little bit higher than college, possibly a national team or something. But I would say my biggest goal as of right now is to play in college at a good school so I can continue playing soccer.
Awesome.
Um, I’d say not only sports-wise, but like I’ve goals outside of sports I’ve like goes for my grades. Um, cause I know that schools look at that and um, but one of my biggest goals is to play high school in lacrosse. Even though it won’t be through a high school, it’ll still be, um, an out of school setting where you can, um, play with girls all throughout Frisco.
And so you live in my household. So I know that your goal for this year when we made family like new year’s resolutions and goals, um, one of your big ones was to make teams for your school. So all those teams we talked about, um, just to try out, right and see if you can see if you can get on them. Yep. That’s a good goal. Chris, do you have any goals right now?
Um, right now, so probably my biggest goal is to make this year’s football team coming up. You know, I’ve, from having a spot practically locked up in middle school to where now we’re joining with another school Pioneer. And so we’re going to have to compete with all of them. And no spots guaranteed. The coaches don’t care about how, how long you played, how good do you wear. It’s all a new fresh start. And so right now my goal is really to start on the next year’s football team.
Okay, that’s good. That kind of answers my next question, which is about why do you play sports? So it’s probably, maybe your answer’s different for each of those types of sports. Maybe if it’s just kind of a for fun school sport versus at your competitive sport that you, um, prefer and like to play the most. But just kind of curious when you stop and think about it, like what is your reasoning for enjoying sports? Is it social? Is it just the competition? You love the sport so much? Is it, like you said, playing in college?
I feel like, personally for me, um, I’ve, I’d like to, I’d rather play outside sports because um, through like an organization, like I play in for lacrosse, I get to talk to people at all different schools. It’ll change next year. But I get to talk to people from all different schools and we always talk about school sports and testing quizzes and people and like, it’s just more like the people that you play with is more like broad, like there, everyone’s just like so much different than the people that you see every single day.
Right. What about you Reganne?
So I truly believe that soccer is my passion. I love playing it and I, I mean, I sure I love my friends and I love, um, hanging out with them on the field. But I, I mean I love soccer. I love to, I love just playing it and I personally think that’s just like, that’s my passion in life is to play soccer. And so I feel like that’s the main reason I play.
So saying that then. So would you play on any team for the best for you personally? Regardless of if like your best friends are on it? Right?
For sure. Um, I, I’m fortunate enough that a bunch of my friends, um, that I played with when I was younger have also had a huge passion for soccer and I get to continue to play with them. But if it did come down to it, of course I would want to pursue my passion rather than, um, you know, play with my friends even if, I mean I could still see my friends and still hang out with them without playing on the same team of them.
Yeah. What about you Chris, when it boils down to it for football, for you and for, um, like playing, trying to play for Reedy next year. Like why do you do that?
Um, I play sports and especially football because when you’re on the football field, nothing else that’s going on in your life outside of the football field matters, you know, like, it’s just a nice, almost like a place to get away from your grades, from your parents, from your school. Like just, it’s a nice place to go out there. You have fun, you compete. And that’s surely like why I apply the part of it.
Um, so I, I’m curious, I ask that because I’m curious because sometimes parents don’t always know what your answer is, the kids and we think we might guess that your answer was going to be different. Um, and some kids might have the goal of wanting to play in college or the parents think that that’s what their goal is, but the kids don’t even care about that. Reagan, you’ve already talked about that. Um, do you, do you guys talk with your families about those kinds of things? Like the likelihood of you even getting on the high school team and then the likelihood of you playing beyond that. Is that something you guys talk about with your parents?
Yes. Um, for sure. I mean, I have a sister who is going to college. Um, she’s graduating early, so she’s leaving for college in January to go play college soccer. So I feel like that is a big discussion we have in our family.
Yeah, I bet.
Just because it’s kind of already in our family. And so I feel like that is something we discuss a lot. We discuss. Um, but it’s not, we always discuss, it’s not easy to do stuff like that. You’re going to have to put in the work and you’re going to have to, um, you’ve got to really make sure that is your passion because it is, it takes a lot of time and it definitely takes a lot of hard work.
Do you guys talk about that Chris?
We do. Um, you know, like my parents have never forced me to do anything and all. And so it was like sports related and so like it was kind of my decision to play. And so we do talk about and how like I can get better, how I can go start next year, um, for the freshman team, how, you know, I could keep putting in the work and all of a sudden, and I have two little brothers also who are also also playing sports and all and trying to get better. And so it’s definitely one of the big topics in our house.
So as you guys are moving into high school, I um, I talked a lot in this show to seniors in high school and then of course pro athletes and older successful athletes. Um, and they always say the, you know, they played everything quote unquote through middle school, but then they felt the need to focus on something in high school. Um, and especially around here, it’s, it’s hard to make a high school team. So usually you do pick a thing and try to go make that one team. Do you guys definitely y’all feel that happening this time in your lives right now?
Yes,for sure. I think right now, like this week especially, um, we have had to lately been picking our high school courses and um, like me personally, I had to really think about if I wanted to play volleyball in high school or lacrosse or what I really wanted to do. Um, because it is so hard to make high school volleyball, um, because of the amount of girls that do play volleyball and not only in middle school but in high school, good high school here in front of volleyball here in Frisco. So the team that we’re joining, um, in high school,
The other middle school that you’re combining with?
Yeah, they are very talented and so it is going to be very good competition. We’re going to have very good high school team, but I decided to [inaudible]
Skip on volleyball and go for more lacrosse focused. So Reganne, I’m guessing that you’re gonna really start shift from any sport you can play in middle school to focus on just soccer starting next year or what?
Um, so yeah, the level that I play in soccer, um, they actually don’t allow us to play soccer for our high school or any other sports. Very difficult to. So at that point I, I have already made this decision, but it, I mean it’s definitely a big decision that, I mean I’m not going to get to go play all these big high school sports with all my, um, school friends. It because I’m focusing on soccer and on my clubs, soccer specifically. So I had to make that decision personally. But I mean it was definitely a hard decision, but I definitely, like I said, soccer is my passion and that’s definitely what I wanna pursue.
So Chris, what about you? Are you, do you see yourself about to make a decision to like kind of peel away some of the other sports and just focus on one now?
Um, I definitely like that decision is definitely, or the, it’s definitely been in the back of my mind and all, and I’ve kind of already said to myself, I’m going to do all the sports and all because I feel like sports are like my, how I escape the world. No, but I’m definitely going to start like focusing on football and doing other sports for just fun, not to really compete. Just to have fun.
Your friends try out for more than one school sport.
Yes, yes. I’ll do basketball track and maybe cross country,
Do a lot. Do it all. That’s awesome. Okay. One last thing I want to talk about, just sort of in general like life skills as parents, we want you guys to be athletes to learn some life skills. Like the big ones for me is confidence and respect and failure. Learning how to fail. I know that’s a tough one, but it’s a big one for me. Um, cause that’s part of life. So can each of you think of any examples, um, of any of these that you’ve kind of already seen yourself learning through sports? Like maybe it’s, you know, losing, um, and keeping your cool and learning how to keep your head up and move on. Or maybe it’s understanding that now you’re seeing that coaches and officials are kind of worthy of getting your best behavior and respect. Like what are you guys feeling yourselves learning as young athletes?
Um, well I know that definitely our middle school volleyball team taught me a lot. Um, especially eighth grade year. Um, it was really different. There was different coaches and it was just, it was a whole new ballgame. Playing volleyball in middle school, especially for girls. Um, it is very hard. You have to really learn how to work with a team and you have to learn the personality of everybody. You’ve got to be different to everybody. You, some people you can say things to and some people you can’t and you’ve gotta be really careful about what you say on the court and off. Um, our coaches had a long talk with us one day about how you’ve got to take everything from what happens in the halls and what happens to the classroom and with your friends. And you’ve got to drop it at the gym door and you got to go in there and you gotta give it your 100%, um, because that’s good. You got to sleep it all out there. Yeah. And I definitely think losing is hard in middle school cause it can get pretty intense. Um, and people get really fired up.
And that’s probably tricky because if you’re a competitive athlete, you’re used to winning. If you are on a good club team or something, right. Um, versus when you, maybe your school team doesn’t have that many well-rounded players so you lose a lot. So that’s probably something you might be feeling.
Um, for sure I agree with Reese cause when the talk in volleyball, I thought it was very important for us to have because we were having some struggles with our team being a real team. And um, when you’re in middle school, it’s not just your friends making the team with people from all different personalities and you really have to learn how to work with people of all those different personalities. And like you said earlier, failure and losing. Um, I mean growing up playing sports, you become very, you develop this sense of competitiveness. And you know, when you’re in middle school, there’s some people who haven’t played before and haven’t done a lot of sports and may not be as competitive as you and may not always think that winning is, um, a super big thing. And that can be frustrating. But I mean, you really do have to learn how to work with different people. And learn how to lose as a team. And I’m also on the flip side when as a team.
Yeah, especially with volleyball I think is one of the hardest teams. One of the hardest things to work as as a team. Um, because with football it’s like one big team, there’s you know more people, there’s more likely your friends are going to be on your team. But with volleyball it’s very split. There’s only like 10 to 11 girls on each team and the likelihood of you being with all your best friends is very unlikely. And so you’ve got like one person from each friend group I’ll put together.
What about you Chris? What have you taken away so far from being in sports?
Definitely the teamwork part because like when you like, like I was saying like you finally get to play with your school friends and all and you gotta like work as a team. Our coaches would always say like, when you play football, you’re in a brotherhood. You know, you’re relying on the person next to you to do their job. Because if they don’t do your job, do their job, they can get hurt, you can get hurt, you know? I said definitely like working as a team, trust and learning how to lose together. You know, when you lose some kids, they’ll stop and they’ll want to just quit on medically. But you gotta learn how to pick your heads up, go back, watch film. Say what’s it? What can we do to get better? What can we do to go, come win?
Yeah, I love it. Well guys, thank you. Y’all are awesome. I’m excited to see what happens as you guys move into high school and keep up with your various sports careers. So thanks for jumping in the studio with me today.
Yes, thank you so much for having us.
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