By Collin Kimball-McKavish

“I couldn’t imagine not playing a sport in college. I love being active, but what motivates me the most is that my effort leads to the betterment of the team” – Amani Kimball-McKavish (‘22). 

My sister Amani Kimball-McKavish, a freshman student-athlete at The Ohio State University who plays women’s lacrosse, believes her dreams came true playing a college sport. When asked what is the best thing about playing lacrosse at a Power Five university, she responded, “being immersed in an incredibly competitive environment and surrounded by people who care. Everyone wants me to succeed, and there are so many resources for anything I could ever need.” Kimball-McKavish has been in Columbus, Ohio at Ohio State for around three months now and is already fitting into the championship environment around her. She has put in the effort to get to this point but will have to adapt to fit into this new school’s atmosphere and competitive nature.

Over the course of her Collegiate career, Kimball-McKavish was a three-sport varsity captain for field hockey, basketball, and lacrosse. For lacrosse, she was a two-time all-LIS selection, two-time all-state, and all-Metro selection, and in her last year was named an All-American for lacrosse. As one of the lacrosse best players in the country, she led her team to be state runner-up in 2021. Over her four-year career on the varsity lacrosse team, Kimball-McKavish created an environment where she expected to win, and when she didn’t, she pushed her teammates around her to make sure everyone was putting all their effort in to win a state title. Former teammate Sadie Brooks (‘23) said, “a memory that best describes Amani is when she hand-wrote the entire team personal notes in the shape of a heart before a St. Catherine’s game my sophomore year. This memory reminds me of how much she cared for each and every person, no matter their role on the team. I admire how she made it her goal to create friendships with each teammate, because she knew it would strengthen her bond with everyone on the field.”

When asked how she balanced both school and sports, Kimball-McKavish said, “because I played sports and had many commitments growing up, time management was something I learned before entering college. While the transition to college was difficult and required me to create a strict routine, I quickly figured out how to balance school, sports, and free time.” During the offseason, she has 8-hour practice weeks, which consist of practice from 10-11 Monday through Saturday, 11:45-12:45 conditioning on Mondays and Fridays, and lift 11:45-1 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On top of that, she has classes and is required to have four study hall hours per week. Her in-season schedule consists of 20-hour weeks, which include practice from 9:30-11:30 Mondays through Saturdays, conditioning from 11:45-12:45 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and lift from 11:45-1 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

Growing up, Kimball-McKavish and I were pushed to play as many sports as possible to learn different movements and techniques that would help us in what would eventually become our main sports. This means that she is comfortable with having sports responsibilities while keeping up with work and grades in the classroom. 

One of the significant concerns when figuring out if you want to play a college sport is how your social life will be affected. Kimball-McKavish addressed this by saying, “the social atmosphere at Ohio State is very welcoming, especially as an athlete. I am always meeting new friends from other sports teams, and I have a mix of athlete friends and regular students who I meet in my classes. Most of the time, I will hang out with athletes because of my busy schedule.” While Kimball-McKavish may spend most of her time with fellow athletes, her social life is similar to most college students. She has other responsibilities that may limit her at times, but there is still time for her to enjoy her freshman year.

This is the first time Kimball-McKavish has not been a multi-sport athlete. I asked her if she missed playing more than one sport, to which she replied, “I actually really miss playing more than one sport. In high school, I always looked forward to the change of season, and there have been times at practice where I’ll pretend to play field hockey or golf with my lacrosse stick. I still play basketball with my friends, since there is a court right next to my dorm.” While she misses the multi-sport environment, she can finally focus on just one sport and become even better now that she can put all of her time and effort into lacrosse.

When asked if she had any advice to give to the young athletic community, including high school students who hope to go into college athletics, she said, “Don’t be afraid of the transition from high school to college! As long as you work hard and prepare with intensity, you will do just fine. When times get tough, they will reflect on your why, and how many people would love to be in the position you are in. Gratitude and love are my biggest motivators, and they can get me through hard practice or workouts. Playing college sports is a privilege, and you can’t lose sight of that throughout the process.” 

(Amani also wrote for The Match at Collegiate, and you can read her articles here.) 

All photos courtesy of Amani Kimball-McKavish.