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Delanie Roeder, a 2024 Extra Elite 100 honoree selected as an outfielder with the Nebraska Gold club and the Lady Dukes – Betsa/Lamar teams (dual rostering), already has faced some real dilemmas this year because she’s a really good multi-sport athlete.
Previously, Delanie made the decision to skip high school softball for Beatrice (Nebraska) High this Fall to play volleyball… you can read about why she made that decision in the Spring by clicking HERE.
But sometimes in life we make a decision that feels like the right one at the moment and we’re sure it’s the right choice only to find out it wasn’t the best choice and it isn’t what we really want.
Delanie learned that valuable lesson this Fall.
She had decided to be a four-sport athlete for the 2021-22 school year and was to play volleyball, basketball, and run track for her high school as well as play club softball throughout the year.
“Delanie loves all sports and as a freshman she chose to play high school softball but found she really missed playing volleyball,” her mother, Joy Roeder, told Extra Inning Softball.
In Nebraska, volleyball and softball are in the Fall so athletes are forced to choose one or the other. Delanie thought she would challenge herself to juggle the demands that each sport brings while still keeping an honor roll GPA.
Delanie had a full summer of competitive playing for the Nebraska Gold 15U National team, playing in two All-American showcases, attending softball camps at Oklahoma, Baylor and Duke as well as three camps where multiple universities were represented.
Her summer schedule resulted in the athlete being home just a combined total of seven days and, even then, she would go to weightlifting, volleyball open gym and basketball open gym.
“She had very little down time!” her mother laughs.
By the time Delanie’s summer softball schedule was complete on July 23rd, the ’24 grad was ready to put down the glove, bat and ball and take a “break” to concentrate on getting ready for high school volleyball.
She immediately went all in trying to catch up to the girls who play club volleyball and played prep volleyball the previous year. She opted to take one-on-one lessons to get better at a jump serve, hitting, blocking and passing.
As was the plan, Delanie felt good about taking a break from softball and was ready to hit the ground running once August 9th came and Fall high school volleyball officially began practice.
However, something wasn’t sitting right.
The first week of practice, Delanie was having a feeling she had never experienced as an athlete. She didn’t express it to anyone but she found herself not excited to go to practice and longing to be on the field playing softball.
“I thought to myself, ‘I’m sure it’s normal to have a little regret about my decision. It will get better,’” she explains of the mixed emotions she was going through.
But, by the middle of the second week of practice, not only was Delanie’s desire to be back on the softball field stronger than she anticipated, her ability to hide it became more of a losing battle.
“I could tell something was wrong,” her Mom explains. “When I picked her up from practice on day, I noticed the spark that she always has after a tough practice wasn’t there.”
Joy says she knew Delanie was regretting her decision but felt it was important her daughter be the one to express the desire to change her mind.
“I really hoped Delanie would speak up before the first games were played in either sport,” Joy admits.
In the Roeder family, it’s a family rule that all children are taught from a very young age: you are allowed to begin practicing and try something new, but once the season officially starts (the first game) you are not allowed to quit.
Joy and her husband Corey have three children—all of whom play sports.
“Over the years,” Joy begins, “only once has one of the kids change their mind about playing a sport. Our son Darrent, the youngest, played football from 4th grade to 7th grade and he came to us in the middle of 7th grade season and said he no longer wanted to play football.”
“Corey made it clear to Darrent that he would finish out the season and to continue to play hard; if, after the season was over, he no longer wanted to play, he would need to let his coach know. That is exactly what happened. My hope with Delanie was that she would speak up sooner than later so she could enjoy her Fall season, whichever way she choose to go.”
The first volleyball and softball games were on the same night and, as Delanie got in the car after practice the night before the first games, she was very quiet. Mom could tell something was really bothering her daughter and it didn’t take long for the issue to be vocalized.
*** Scroll down to see what was bothering Delanie, the mature–though difficult–choice she made… and the ramifications from it…