Sanaa Thorne has been a multi-sport athlete long before she stepped foot on Stevenson University. 

Thorne grew up in Vorhees, New Jersey as an only child, and her mother wanted her to be as active as she could be. Both Thorne and her mother took an early interest in sports, so she began playing at a very early age.  

It started with basketball. Then soccer, then softball, then lacrosse by seventh grade. Almost every sport that one could think of, Thorne was involved in it in some way.  

“I just liked to keep myself busy, and my mom did too,” Thorne said. “Being an only child, there is not much to do by yourself. Being on teams and playing a lot of sports at a time really shapes you and gives you structure.” 

She continued with sports at Eastern Regional High School in Vorhees. There, she played basketball, lacrosse and soccer. She was named top three-point shooter, top defender and team MVP at one point during her high school basketball career. She had originally planned on soccer being her first sport. However, once she fell out of interest after freshman year of high school, she was able to focus on basketball and lacrosse. 

Thorne, a cybersecurity major, is currently a third-year at Stevenson. She is now involved in women’s basketball, lacrosse and golf. She was originally committed just for basketball at Stevenson, but the other two sports eventually slid their way into her plans. 

While playing basketball, she also intended to take on the role of lacrosse manager but was offered a roster spot during her first year in 2023 once it became obvious that injuries and a shortage of players could negatively impact the team.  

“I really wanted to be the manager because I missed the lacrosse environment,” Thorne said. “I emailed [Coach Kathy Railey] and she said, ‘do you just want to join the team?’ I said, ‘I’ll think about it.’” 

That conversation ended with her participating in media day photo shoots with the team, a tour of the locker room and her being handed her own lacrosse stick.  

She was now a multi-sport athlete. 

Golf came along this fall thanks to her former teammate and Stevenson women’s lacrosse alumnus Bailey Krahl. The pair went to the golf range this summer for the first time, and it took Thorne just one swing with a driver for her to be interested in pursuing golf as a third sport.  

Thorne thinks of golf as a get-away, a relaxed sport/hobby for her to indulge in when life throws her curveballs. The team practices three times a week with one being an individual practice session of nine holes.  

“Golf is really relaxed because there are not as many things that I have to do for golf as I have to do for basketball and lacrosse,” she said of the eased environment of golf. “People always ask me, “How do you manage this?’ and ‘Do you have a social life?’ I have good balance, and I have been doing this for so long that I get things done.” 

Thorne is now more than a multi-sport athlete, but a Tri-Star athlete. As intimidating as this may be for many student athletes who take on more than one sport, Thorne had a plan going into this. 

“When I graduated high school, I said, ‘I’m only going to have basketball, and I won’t have to worry about too much,’ and that changed really quickly,” she said. “[Two sports] is not like I am doing anything new. I’ve played two sports almost all my life, maybe even three at some point, and I said, ‘this is nothing new.’” 

Thorne admits that tackling two to three different sports is a completely different animal than in high school. Time management, however, has been her friend through this process especially given the juristic difference golf and both basketball and lacrosse combined. For Thorne, golf is as simple as going outside, picking up the club and enjoying her time on the course or at practice. The other two sports involve lift and gym sessions, film review and hours a day devoted to getting prepared for competition. With much of her time with basketball and lacrosse occurring in the late-afternoon and evening, she likes to schedule her classes in the mornings, thus allowing time for her to get schoolwork done, see her friends, and still not miss anytime with her respective teams.  

“You just [end up] finding your groove,” Thorne said.  

Though Thorne originally assumed that she would only partake in basketball here at Stevenson, she has enjoyed being a part of three different sports during college. She has no regrets.  

The support base she has is a big reason why she enjoys being a multi-sport athlete so much. Her teammates are the people who have made the multi-sport athlete lifestyle so fun. 

“I come and I have built-in families,” Thorne said. “Our lacrosse team is about 40 people this year, so that is already 40 people on campus that I know on the back of my hand. Basketball is about 20 people, so now we are talking about 60 people that I know. The golf team, there is about 10 of us. Now, I know 70 people [at Stevenson]. 

The friends she makes through athletics has been one of Thorne’s favorite aspects of playing multiple sports.

“All of those people have my back in the future,” Thorne said. “You always have at least one person to talk to.”

Thorne, of course, refers to the addition of 17 first-year players to the women’s lacrosse team, in addition to numerous returning fifth or sixth-year players, including Kara Yarusso and Erin Steinberg.  

Thorne thanks Mollie Garner, a third-year who plays club softball at Stevenson, for indulging in golf with her. A fourth-year on the women’s basketball team, Emori Jeselskis, has been a positive influence on Thorne as someone she can talk to about anything.

“If I call her, I know she is going to answer,” Thorne said.

Thorne also consideres Yarusso, her former roommate and fellow New Jersian, as a leader and someone that she is very close with.  

While being a multi-sport athlete is fun in many ways, it carries its challenges as well. Thorne cites “mental drain” as the biggest challenge that she faces.  

“Mental strain and keeping myself positive is hard,” Thorne said, “but with all of the people around me, they make it easier to do.” 

The other issue that occurs is the conflict when sports cross over. Thorne knows about that, but she also knows how to handle the situation when it comes up.  

Her plan is simple: take one sport at a time. 

“It makes things easier when you just focus on one sport at a time and try not to intermingle them too much because your schedule will get packed and confusing,” she said.  

Many coaches and other multi-sport athletes encourage athletes to involve themselves in more than one sport. Being active in other sports can keep one’s body in good shape, and it can even enhance skills and motions across all sports. Thorne encourages multi-sport athletes and people who are considering playing more than one sport to pick a primary sport and then have another sport to rely on as a hobby, as something to enjoy being around.  

“Find what [sport] you like [first] and stick to that,” Thorne said. “Then get hobbies and get good at them so it is fun to share with your friends.” 

In the end according to Thorne, being a multi-sport athlete is all about finding a groove.

*Cover Photo: Sanaa Thorne in action this past winter for Stevenson women’s basketball, one of three sports that she is currently involved with. Photo: Sabina Moran