The sports world in general is no stranger to siblings working and playing together or frequently facing off professionally. Often, they dominate the news surrounding a game where they might meet head to head. Think Jason and Travis Kelce, Peyton and Eli Manning, or Venus and Serena Williams. 

Here at Goshen College, we also have our fair share of siblings taking on the challenge of being student athletes together. Some of them play together on the same team, but others are taking on different athletic pursuits. 

Sisters Kaylee and Rachel Kates play together on the softball team at GC, and they shared that having each other to rely on has been an important part of their college experience, as well as in their sport. Kaylee Kates said, “Rachel is home away from home and I would never want to change that.” 

They also shared that some people were skeptical about them going to the same college, suggesting that it would perhaps not allow them to independently come into themselves as adults. Kaylee, however, pushed back on this idea, saying, “Some might think that we aren’t getting the full ‘growing without your family’ but ultimately we are growing together and we are always going to have each other to lean on after college.”

Seja and Eliana Lang, sister starters on the women’s soccer team, echoed these sentiments. “We genuinely enjoy each other’s company and appreciate having that built-in best friend,” said Eliana, responding to questions they faced as to whether it was the right decision to follow in her sister’s college footsteps. 

Their only reservations were in ensuring that they continued to also make time for all their other friends, but Eliana said that “fortunately, we’ve managed to balance our time together while also making new friends, all while staying incredibly close.”

One set of siblings that have faced a different set of challenges is Jordan and Teresa Ross Richer. While they briefly ran track together last year, this year they are focusing on their own respective sports — Jordan playing men’s soccer and Teresa running cross country. 

Again, sharing a similar sentiment, Teresa said that the most positive aspect of having a sibling at GC in sports is “Always having a friend . . . no matter what there’s a person there.” She also shared that no longer being on the same team has at times been a hard transition. There is no sense of getting a bit of separation. Teresa said, “We don’t really need space from each other, we’ve always been super super close,” Jordan agreed, responding, “Yeah, if anything it’s been more of a bummer this year.”

 Charlie and Abigail Aldrich are both student athletes that have transferred to GC, but they also started off at the same college before the move. Charlie shared that he did have some initial reservations to them ending up at the same place. He said he was worried that “all of the cool stories I have from home — she was going to counter them and I couldn’t defend myself.”

To them, being teammates is no new thing. They competed together when they were kids, in high school, and now at two different colleges. Charlie said, “We’ve been teammates for a long time at this point . . . our dad was our coach so we were always around and could relate. He’s been coaching us for even longer than we were officially teammates.”

Abigail responded to this, saying,“It’s just a family thing for us.”