Ross Barker

The COVID-19 pandemic altered every Shenandoah sports team in one way or another. Every Shenandoah athlete/team has suffered in some sort of way because of this. But for one particular student-athlete, it created an opportunity to tell an incredible story.

Trammell Anthony is a standout Junior student-athlete at Shenandoah. He is a defensive back on the football team, and he is also a guard/forward on the basketball team for the Hornets. He was also a standout athlete in both football and basketball at Millbrook High School, right here in Winchester, VA. In a normal school year, Anthony would start the year with the football team, and transition to the basketball team immediately after the completion of the football season. But because of COVID-19, this year was different.

Sports in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference were postponed until January of 2021 for the 2020-2021 school year. Because of this, the football season would have to take place in the early part of the Spring semester, which is the same time that the basketball season takes place. This created a dilemma for the standout athlete. He had a question that he had to answer. Would he play football or basketball in 2021? 

But Trammell Anthony answered that question by asking another question. Why not both? Anthony played BOTH football AND basketball, simultaneously, during the 2021 school year. He says “I love playing both of the sports, and deciding to cut one of them off would be really hard for me. I came to Shenandoah to play both so why not stick to what I chose.”

Anthony admits that this was not a simple thing to do. He says “playing two sports at the same time was very challenging.” “I really thought about just playing one sport, but then I thought to myself ‘ I have the opportunity to do something that no one else has really done.’ I, myself, really wanted to see if I could do it and luckily my body held up for the most part.”

Anthony also admits that playing two sports at the same time made academics more difficult. He says “I do a lot of my school work in between my classes or when I am home for the day. I try to finish as much as I can before the due date so that it is less stressful on me when it is time to turn assignments in.” “I did get overwhelmed at one point. To combat that, during my off days I really tried to get the academics out of the way. Doing so allowed me to relax more because I did not have as much on my plate throughout the week. My off days really helped me stay on track with basketball, football, and my academics.”

Anthony also says that he enjoyed this process, and it built character. He says “If I had to do it again I would.” “I believe this experience made me tougher because I was able to accomplish something so rare, and still maintain the grades I knew I could. This proved to me that I’m capable of doing whatever it is I put my all into.”