MARINETTE — For most high school athletes it's hard to juggle playing one varsity sport with everything else going on in their lives.
For Marinette junior Cooper Smith, that’s not the case. He’s playing two varsity sports at once.
“Just get through it ya, know,” Smith said of his mindset. “Both sports are fun, so it’s very fun.
On a typical day from 3:30 to almost 5 p.m. Smith is at his first practice of the day for wrestling,
“Some people have their good days and bad days,” he said. “Today I'm feeling pretty good. so I’ll go all out and have some energy for basketball tonight.”
Smith is powered by home cooking from his mom, Angie, as well as Taco Bell some days and lots of Gatorlyte.
“You’ll see me chugging it through the day and just trying to stay hydrated through all of this,” he said.
These days, multi-sport athletes can be hard to find.
“I wouldn't want to do it myself, but he’s a special athlete,” said Marinette wrestling coach Josh Greetan.
At 4:45, Smith dips out of wrestling practice.
Up next: basketball practice at 5:00 p.m.
“When I told my dad I'm going to dual sport this year – he kind of looked at me in confusion, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ Whatever makes me better,” said Smith.
His head coach for basketball doesn’t notice any fatigue in Smith when he goes from the mat to the hardwood.
“It's kind of crazy because those wrestling practices are tough too,” said Connor Nelson, the Marines head basketball coach. “You see him running around. He's always drenched in sweat when he comes to basketball, but when he comes to us he’s pretty tired, but he never lets it show.”
The big question is: what makes Smith want to do this?
“14 varsity letters,” he said. “That’s what my goal is and that’s where I’m going to be."
“If you can plan it out and be very determined to get it done,” said his mom, Angie Smith. “You can accomplish anything and that’s really what it is for Cooper. He is determined to do something – he’s going to do it.”
On top of it all, his parents and his coaches say, Smith keeps his grades up. That's what impresses them the most. He’s on the honor roll and a part of the WIAA Student Athlete Leadership Team.
“It's about making sacrifices and determining what is the most important to him and he has decided that doing the sports, (and the leadership team) that’s really driving him right now and as a father, I think that’s wonderful,” said his father, Bob Smith.
Cooper said all of his hard work is to better prepare him for college athletics and one day a job at the WIAA.
You just got to realize what you’re working for,” he said.
Not to mention, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays Cooper doesn’t just have practice for wrestling and basketball. He makes the hour drive down to De Pere to also practice baseball at ISA Academy.
