Codero dribbles the ball. / Photo by: Sue Moss
Since she was a freshman, all Reese Codero has ever known is being on the varsity team— in three sports.
Reese Codero’s refrigerator at home is littered with magnets. It’s what happens when you‘re a three-sport athlete.
But not only is the Whitman-Hanson Regional High junior a three-sport athlete, but she’s a three-sport varsity athlete, and she has been since her freshman year. That’s rare.
“I like it because it’s three different groups of girls I get to see each season,” Codero said. “I really like seeing different faces.”
Codero is a goalie on the soccer team, a point guard for the basketball team and a shortstop in softball. While Codero doesn’t have an offseason, she doesn’t need one because each sport prepares her for the next.
“With soccer, you see everything, so I feel like that helps me with basketball because when I’m setting up the offense I can see everyone, and obviously the hand-eye coordination is big,” Codero said. “And with soccer you’re moving laterally a lot. I feel like that helps with softball and even playing defense in basketball.”
“And I’m always sacrificing my body,” Codero added with a laugh. “The turf — I’ve grown an immunity to it so now the hardwood has no effect on me, and then going on to the dirt — it’s even better.”
That sacrifice is something first-year W-H girls’ basketball head coach Mike Costa noticed immediately.
“She’ll run through a wall for you,” Costa said. “She puts her body on the line.”
She’s always had the drive, but she’s developed the skill this winter as well, emerging as the tournament-bound Panthers’ starting point guard.
“She is probably our best ball handler with the guards,” Costa said. “I just feel comfortable with her with the ball in her hands and calling any play she sees. She’s good at seeing the game, so I trust her. She is going to be a big part of what we do moving forward the rest of the season.”
In the fall, she was part of a goalie tandem that helped the girls’ soccer team to a 15-1-2 regular season, winning the Patriot League Keenan Division title. Next season, she’ll serve as a captain.
Codero makes a save in soccer. / Photo by: Sue Moss
“Reese is a rare athlete these days; one who excels in three different sports,” said W-H girls’ soccer head coach David Floeck. “She has improved every year and I think that the skills required for her as a goalkeeper are reinforced with the other sports she plays. As a young lady, she is a leader and well respected by all her teammates. She is a top-notch kid and a talented athlete.”
This spring will be Codero’s third as the softball team’s starting shortstop. W-H skipper Jordan McDermott also raved about her leadership and attitude.
“Reese brings a lot of toughness to the Whitman-Hanson programs that she is involved in,” McDermott said. “I enjoy watching her teammates look up to her, but what I enjoy most is seeing the youth players in Whitman and Hanson support her and be her biggest fans — other than her family.
“She is never one to ask about her personal stats, but about the team stats. She’s never one to drop her body language when she makes a mistake or when a teammate makes a mistake. She is what being a student-athlete is all about.”
Codero fields the ball at shortstop. / Photo by: Sue Moss
So how does Codero juggle being a three-sport athlete with school?
“Time management is a big thing,” she said. “Obviously, studies come first, and I think I do a pretty good job of managing my time, making sure I get my homework done before I come to practice, staying after school if I need extra help. If you have time management, it’s really easy to balance.”
And it’s that sort of life lesson that Codero said she appreciates the most about playing high school sports.
“There’s big wins, there’s how to balance your time with school and there’s preparing you for college,” she said. “It’s really got everything.”