Payne Moses is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Gilbert Christian High School for AZPreps365.com.

Fall, winter and spring – days start under bright gym lights and end on a track-lined field as dusk settles on another year for a multisport athlete. 

For Gilbert Christian senior Kaila Aston, a four-sport athlete, this annual grind is accepted with pleasure. The goal entering high school was not necessarily to pack her calendar to the brim, but being among 496 students where more than 100 try their hand in at least two of 20 possible sports, Aston has reason to immerse herself.

“It’s been actually helpful for me to have so many outlets year-round,” said Aston, who competes on the Knights’ volleyball, basketball, beach volleyball and track and field teams. “I would have no idea what to do with my time if I didn’t (play multiple sports).”

Having attended Gilbert Christian Schools since seventh grade, Aston is no stranger to liberal arts education and easy access to top school administrators. In fact, it is only because of her relationship with former Gilbert Christian principal Mark Lovelady that then-freshman Aston came out for basketball tryouts in fall of 2021.

Fast-forward to summer 2024, and Aston decided she wanted to play the game at the collegiate level.

“You couldn’t just do that at a big school,” Aston said. “You couldn’t just walk into the (athletic) office whenever you want.” 

That privilege was and is available due to small size, yes, but the doors of opportunity at less populous high schools ultimately reflect the original values of interscholastic competition. 

Multisport athletes are not only exposed to many competitive situations and largely avoid overuse injuries, but can deepen relationships with the same peers across disciplines. This community-building is none more important than for those in their formative teen years. 

It is no different for those on the professional track.

Caleb Danzeisen, Valley Christian senior and native of Laveen, signed to play baseball at the University of Arizona on Nov.13 after verbally committing in September of his sophomore year. Despite receiving attention from colleges as early as eighth grade, Danzeisen added basketball to his repertoire and he and the Trojans have won three consecutive 3A state championships.

Ranked as a top-10 prospect by Prep Baseball Arizona, Danzeisen had no obligation to attend a school of 507 students, let alone extend himself into the workings of another sport and team. But a well-rounded educational and athletic experience was that important to him. And it holds the same value for 145 others who play at least two sports at Valley Christian.

Danzeisen has competed alongside some of the best high school baseball players in the country through club, yet leaving it all out on the basketball court has benefited him in both tangible and intangible ways. Hustling up and down the floor has kept Danzeisen in top physical shape. Even more importantly for him, it has reinforced an all-in mindset similar to club ball.

“I think it’s kind of motivated me to always keep grinding, and that it’s never a year I can take off because every year is a different year,” Danzeisen said.

Though the fate of top prospects like Danzeisen are hard to determine, the fruits of playing multiple sports can be clearly seen on the professional stage. Of 262 players selected in the 2022 NFL Draft, 233 played at least two sports in high school and close to 45% played three, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.

Since Greg Haagsma began coaching at Valley Christian in 1991, he has seen a steady decline in three-sport athletes because of club offerings, but said recent additions of beach volleyball and flag football on the AIA dashboard could reverse this trend. Haagsma, who also took on athletic director duties in 2012, expects the number of multisport athletes at Valley Christian to increase by about 25 compared to 2023-24.

“It’s very, very important that we create value in our programs,” said Haagsma, who has won an Arizona high school record nine boys basketball state titles. “One of the reasons (students) play sports is because they love the person they’re playing for and they love their teammates.”

Carson and Kyle Grier, twin seniors at Valley Christian, have followed each other’s shadows in basketball and baseball and are a clear example of the bonds formed across sports – not just because they share the same blood. 

Four inches may distinguish them – Carson is 6-foot-8 and Kyle is 6-foot-4 – but they both want to play collegiate basketball at the same school and have entertained playing baseball past high school. The Trojans winning their first 3A baseball title since 2011 last May certainly influenced that notion. Kyle said it is among his favorite memories because of how many of his basketball teammates contributed.

Unlike at large schools, Kyle said community is at his fingertips at Valley Christian and its small-town feel diminishes any competitive disadvantages.

“(Valley Christian’s) a small school, but I still feel like you get the big-school opportunities,” Kyle Grier said.

Haagsma said multisport athletes develop greater levels of  “commitment and tenacity” that lead them to be better employees, employers, husbands and wives down the line. Coupled with private education in a setting like Valley Christian, and the future possibilities are endless.

Maddie Falls, a senior four-sport athlete at Benjamin Franklin, personifies what it means to pounce on opportunity when it comes knocking. 

From kindergarten, she was brought up through the Benjamin Franklin elementary school system that spans across three campuses in Queen Creek and Gilbert. Falls’ first love was soccer, so that naturally followed her into high school, but she took on the challenge of basketball and track and field before adding flag football to her already packed regimen last year. 

Falls was named 2022-23 3A goalkeeper of the year for only allowing 11 goals in 16 matches, as the Chargers defeated the Gilbert Christian Knights, 3-1, in the state championship finals. Her passion matched her skill and made collegiate soccer an attainable reality. 

Flag football quickly shot up Falls’ list of favorite sports, but as it is a fledgling sport at the high school level (second season in Arizona), there are few collegiate opportunities. Where track is concerned, Falls has rewritten personal bests several times over in events such as the 100-meter dash and high jump. She wrapped her 2024 season with fourth and eighth finishes, respectively, in those events at the Division IV state championship. 

Though Falls did not join the early class of 2025 college signees, she verbally committed to NCAA Division II Missouri University of Science and Technology this November. Soccer of course was part of this decision but Falls said during the recruiting process she qualified for a dual scholarship via track. One of 100-plus seniors (out of 166) who stayed at Benjamin Franklin through the entirety of their primary and secondary education, Falls will not only be fulfilling an athletic goal but earning a pathway to aerospace engineering.

Falls did not venture too far into her freshman days to pinpoint why she was able to juggle the craziness of four sports while performing near a 4.0 unweighted GPA in the classroom.

“I remember I had to go straight from a basketball practice to a soccer playoff game, and my whole basketball team, they came, they made signs and they cheered us on,” Falls said.

Sometimes a tribe carries an individual member through a finish line. Other times, the choice of one repositions the starting line for another.

For Gilbert Christian senior and three-sport athlete Tyler Burr, it was his brother, Jacob, who decided to transfer from Perry to Gilbert Christian after his freshman year. 

While Jacob, now a junior defender for Arizona Christian University men’s soccer team, only played one sport in high school, his move from a large public school (Perry’s enrollment hovers around 2,500) to a small private institution meant everything to Tyler. A seventh grader at the time who had progressed through public education, Burr said he realized that if his older brother struggled to find his footing in a single sport, a lifelong multisport athlete like himself could only be developed in a setting that not only invites but needs crossover students to remain competitive.

“Athleticism in basketball really helps me move on the football field and in my catcher stance and baserunning,” said Burr, a four-year football, basketball and baseball player for the Knights. “I feel like it all correlates and it’s just important to play all three, to be honest.”

It was not till his senior season that Burr, a team captain, officially latched onto football. He said the plan was always to play college baseball – the three-year catcher has only struck out 12 times in 248 plate appearances – but the Gilbert Christian coaching staff ignited his new desire to possibly be a dual-sport athlete. Burr closed out his 3A football career with 59 passing touchdowns and 5,192 passing yards, both second all-time in program history.

Still for others, the benefits of playing multiple sports arise after leaving a piece of their life behind. 

Gilbert Christian senior Brody Moore was under a three-year contract with the Phoenix Rising Academy through 2023 but had experienced burnout well before his club soccer deal expired. Moore was free to engage in high school sports for the first time his junior year, and he took his talents to the Knights’ soccer and golf teams. 

Splitting time between midfielder and goalkeeper, Moore and Knights were 3A state runners-up following a dominant regular season (outscoring opponents 88-11) and his golfing half produced a top-25 individual ranking in AIA Division III.

“I think it’s easy to be at your best on the field if you feel like you have a lot of support systems around school, especially in the coaching staff,” Moore said.

While he enjoys newfound time on the links, Moore said he finally got to play his favorite sport this fall, even if for just one season: football. 

His soccer prowess naturally translated into being a place-kicker and punter, but on a roster of 50, Moore embraced responsibilities in all three phases of the game as a wide receiver and safety. He made 35 of 37 PATs, registered 47 tackles and had 269 all-purpose yards on 27 touches across 10 games.

“I enjoyed the challenge of going against bigger guys, and having to find ways to succeed,” said Moore, who is listed at 5-foot-7, 140 pounds. “It’s a complete 360 from soccer and what I’m used to."

A collegiate football career is now on the table for Moore, who said the right situation would have to present itself and it would only be for place-kicking.

Small schools like Gilbert Christian, Valley Christian and Benjamin Franklin have all kept their lights on because of their unwavering commitment to cultivate the future workforce through athletics. In the midst of name, image and likeness diluting amateur athletics across the nation, these institutions are not compromising their foundational beliefs.

“If (families) are sensing pressure to make decisions that they don’t recall having to make in their youth, they tend to get back to their roots on it,” said Gilbert Christian Athletic Director Mark Duitsman. “People are going to dig into how strong they believe in the value of athletics and why we’re doing this to begin with.”

Gilbert Christian and Benjamin Franklin each now operate on three elementary campuses besides their high school grounds and Valley Christian maintains one of its own. As a result, all have installed junior varsity and additional developmental teams to further athletic participation. 

Shawn Lytle, Benjamin Franklin’s athletic director, said his varsity squads have not only reaped the benefits of lower classman and junior high teams – Chargers football was ranked number one in 3A this season and made the state semifinals – but interest in the school is at an all-time high with waitlists for every grade.

High demand has accordingly made physical space a factor. 

Gilbert Christian is actively campaigning to add classrooms and athletic facilities onto their high school campus while Benjamin Franklin is seeking to add a second field and gym to alleviate current high-use from sunrise to sundown.

Whether it be team and campus expansion or something in between, every move is made because of continued success stories. 

Every once in a while five-star athletes like Perry’s Koa Peat steal the show in a single sport, basketball in Peat’s case. But for every Peat there are hundreds of multisport hopefuls hungry for opportunity. 

And who knows where that opportunity will lead them.