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The Aney sisters are prime example of how multiple sports foster the best overall athletes. growing up. That's one of the reasons both Katie and Jessie enjoy playing more than one sport. "It makes you remember that tennis or hockey isn't the only thing there is," said Katie, a senior. "Having those multiple sports makes you realize that a bad game or match, it's not life, there are more things out there for you. For example, this tennis season when I lost in the state singles semifinals, I knew there was hockey starting in two days. It helps you take your mind off things and gives you something to look forward to." Same Name, Different Demeanors Though they play the same sports together— they even skate on the same line in hockey— their style of play is drastically different. "Katie's strength is she is kind of more a leader and the calm under the fire," said Tom. "Katie will make sure you're not stressed. Jessie does that too, but she brings a lot to the table in terms of what she can do just as an athlete. In hockey especially, they each have their own styles but in reality they are both twice the hockey players they are regularly when they are on the ice with one another." Jessie says they learn a bit from each other but credits her multisport upbringing as the biggest reason she has been so successful in sports. "I know a lot of people that look at me and wonder how it's possible to play tennis and say that it helps with hockey, but it does," said Jessie, who competes across the nation in tennis tournaments and in USA Hockey National Development Camps. "It's in the cross-training really. Quickness, movements—they really are kind of similar in both, even though they are very different "It makes you remember that tennis or hockey isn't everything. Having those multiple sports makes you realize that a bad game or match, it's not life, there are more things out there for you." – KATIE ANEY, THREE-SPORT ATHLETE AT ROCHESTER CENTURY. sports. More than that it keeps me active but excited to go out and play hockey when tennis is over because I didn't play it as much during the tennis season. "It makes the transition between the sports that much easier when you just love to do it." And according to USA Hockey's American Development Model, Katie and Jessie are doing exactly what they should be by not specializing in hockey or any one sport. The ADM and the American Academy of Pediatrics has found that because children don't reach full maturity until late teens, specializing in one sport can actually hinder their performance. Contrary to popular belief, the Journal of AAP found that, "wellrounded, multisport athletes have the highest potential to achieve." The Aneys and other multisport athletes are living proof. Both girls do realize that it will be more difficult to stay active in all the sports as they continue to get older. Katie has made the decision to focus more on hockey, hoping to find a way to play next year in college, wherever that may be. Jessie, on the other hand, still can't pick one over the other. One thing is for certain: The girls wouldn't for a second prefer to have grown up any other way. "Even if I could give it all up to be better in one sport, I wouldn't," said Katie. "Playing multiple sports has benefitted me as an athlete and is the most fun way I know to cross-train for other sports. Each one teaches me something different that I can translate. It helps me grow as a person and as an athlete. I really wouldn't change a thing about it." DECEMBER.2013 // MINNESOTAHOCKEYJOURNAL.COM 13