It has been said that life is a balancing act. For Paige Hamilton, this could not be more true. Between pursuing her psychology degree and playing both softball and volleyball for UTSA, Hamilton finds herself juggling the schedule of the only female dual athlete at UTSA.
“[Softball and volleyball] are two completely different sports,” said Hamilton. “People always ask me which one I like better, but it’s just so hard to compare them.” Despite the sports’ differences, Hamilton has managed to excel in both. As a shortstop in softball and a defensive specialist in volleyball, Hamilton is vital to the success of both teams, a role that she relishes in.
Between softball, volleyball and school, Hamilton’s schedule is unrelenting. “It gets a little busy,” said Hamilton, “sometimes, you just want to sleep in past 8:00 a.m., but it’s definitely worth it. After a game, the feeling you get is worth it.”
Since volleyball and softball seasons are opposite of one another, she never has conflicts with games and rarely with practice. The NCAA regulates that athletes are only allowed 20 hours of practice per week, even if that athlete plays two sports.
So Hamilton has to squeeze practice time for both of those sports into 20 hours a week. Since softball season is currently under way, most of Hamilton’s time goes to softball.
“I only get 18 hours of softball [per week], so that leaves two extra hours for volleyball,” said Hamilton, “but volleyball is in conditioning right now, so practice is only once a week.”
Over the course of a year, however, Hamilton’s time is split almost evenly between the two sports. “If I had to choose [between the sports], I don’t know what I would do. Of course, if you asked me this after a softball game, I’d say softball. I love getting dirty, I love diving, I love it, it’s so fun,” said Hamilton, “But if you asked me after a volleyball game, I’d be like, oh my gosh, it’s awesome! The feeling of digging the ball or getting an ace or running into the bleachers for a ball is great.”
“Volleyball is such a team sport,” said Hamilton, “you can’t get a good set if you don’t have a good pass, and you can’t get a good hit if you don’t have a good set. So it all kinda falls in together.” Hamilton is a defensive specialist for the UTSA volleyball team; she averages .967 percent serving and had 289 digs last season.
“I like that softball is outdoors, you can get dirty and dive for balls,” said Hamilton. “I love [playing shortstop], I love being up close and in the action, you’re always busy there.” This is Hamilton’s first season playing softball at UTSA.
Though Hamilton has plans of attending nursing school after college, she has also toyed with the idea of coaching one of the sports she loves.
“I’ve always thought about maybe coaching, I mean, how awesome would it be to do what you love for the rest of your life? But I don’t know if I would be able to be that patient. Plus, I don’t know if I could coach and not want to be out on the field or the court.”
Even if she were to coach, she still doesn’t know if she would be able to pick just one sport.
“I honestly don’t know if I could pick one,” said Hamilton. “I’m just lucky to have had the opportunity to do both.”