Game On

Caleb

The Success SWAP

Jayden

Two friends switch up their sports teams and learn from one another’s experiences

by Sara Coleman | photography by Jon Beyerle

Two old friends, two new sports, and plenty of memories to be made along the way. This is exactly what happened this past year when seniors from Hough High School—Jayden McCroskey and Caleb Horton—decided they wanted to do something a little different with their high school sports team experience. From this desire, a fun experiment ensued, and the two concocted an idea to switch up playing for their sports teams to salvage what excitement could be had in the year of 2020-21.

Out of boredom from stay-at-home orders and virtual school in 2020, the friends had an idea to play for each other’s respective sports. Horton is the lacrosse player of the two, while McCroskey is a baseball player, both playing for their Hough High School teams. They wanted to see what would happen if Horton tried out for the baseball team while McCroskey took up the responsibility as goalie for the lacrosse team. Would their skills translate to different sports?

But for the two guys, what was meant as a boredom buster, suddenly sprouted a new respect for one another’s sports.

an idea comes To liFe

Horton thought it would be amusing to try out for the baseball team, even though he had only played t-ball as a kid. To his surprise, he made the roster and quickly realized how much skill it takes to succeed in America’s Favorite Pastime. McCroskey, an avid baseball player, gave lacrosse a try, even though he had never played it a day in his life. Before he knew it, he was tapped for the goalie position.

The coaches of both the baseball and lacrosse teams were fully aware of the planned “switch up.” Actually, the coaches were both supportive of the idea since they could see the potential skills being brought to the table. For instance, the lacrosse team was already aware of McCroskey’s skills from baseball and thought he could be an asset as a goalie and the teammates were “super cool about it,” according to McCroskey.

For those of us who are athletically challenged, switching up sports that are totally unrelated to one another sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. But for the two guys, what was meant as a boredom buster, suddenly sprouted a new respect for one another’s sports.

lessons learned

However, it wasn’t all fun and games during the Great Switch Up of 2020. Both McCroskey and Horton had a learning curve to deal with, including adjusting to the different pace of play for baseball versus lacrosse. “I’ve always been in the baseball community since I was little, so it took getting used to, to know the different groups of people like the parents, plus the different atmosphere. The level of competitiveness was more intense in lacrosse because the previous year the team was robbed of the State Championship run,” McCroskey explains.

And Horton offers another perspective on baseball. “The pace in lacrosse was intense and really chaotic, but in baseball you have time to put together a game plan,” he explains.

In the end, both learned an amazing amount about each other’s sports. Horton even made the baseball team again for Spring of 2021, proving the skills he learned in 2020 were enough to build a foundation and contribute to a team. Now that a new year is on the books, the two have more to look forward to in the future. McCroskey plans to attend the University of South Carolina in the fall, but his lacrosse days will likely be limited to a club or intramural team. Horton has accepted an offer with Belmont Abbey and will be a member of the college lacrosse team. But both will be able to look back on last year and celebrate how much they learned and appreciated about each other’s sports, thanks to their creative idea to switch it up.