The Other Side of Caitlyn Murray

A few days ago, I interviewed Carteret High School softball pitcher Caitlyn Murray. However, softball isn’t the only sport that she plays. Murray has also played basketball since the sixth grade.

“I started playing basketball in sixth grade because my mom and sister used to play, so I thought I would give it a shot,” Murray said, “I didn’t play that much because it was my first year ever playing and since I was youngest on the team. But every year, I went back and played.”

Between softball and basketball, Murray spent some days after school practicing until late at night. “I’m in school from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m, basketball from 3 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. and then softball from 6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m,” she said, “it’s tough sometimes, but as my coach always tells me, it will benefit me in the long run and all this time will be worth it.”

Murray said the one thing that she likes about basketball is that it keeps her physically challenged. The one thing she doesn’t like about basketball is that she has to sometimes choose between softball and basketball practice. “Whichever I don’t go to, I feel like I’m letting the team down,” she said.

The one moment Murray said she would never forget from this past season was a game against Spotswood. The Carteret Ramblers girls’ basketball team beat higher-seeded Spotswood. “The game was so intense and could have gone either way,” she said, “Everyone on the team contributed to the success that game, and just the reactions from the coaches saying how happy they were of us was great.”

Murray scored 27 points in 11 games played this past season. The team fell in the NJSIAA Tournament Semifinal Round to Somerville. Murray’s season ended earlier than that when she suffered a concussion. Thanks to her athletic trainer, she was able to recover faster from the concussion.

“She helped me a lot through the concussion process. She contacted me everyday to see how I was feeling and told me what I should and should not be doing,” Murray said, “Once I got cleared, her and I have been working hard to get me back to where I was before all of this happened, which meant running, riding a stationary bike, agility, etc. all leading up to the softball season.”

That wasn’t all Murray had to say about her athletic trainer. “Ms. A is more than an athletic trainer. She is more like an older sister to me,” she said, “She’s the person any I will go to any time for advice on anything and she is always there to help.

“Last year, I had surgery on my foot and without her, I wouldn’t have been as successful,” Murray continued, “as I have spent countless hours in her office, I realized that I can see myself doing what she is doing after I graduate college.” She plans to become an athletic trainer herself once she gets out of college, which she plans on attending at Duke University.

She has already began to train to become an athletic trainer. “I am an athletic training student, which means I will look over her shoulder for a season and help her around the office,” she said, “One of my biggest supporters with me wanting to go to Duke (University) is her. It feels like if I go there, I will be making her proud.”

Despite playing basketball since the sixth grade, Murray doesn’t plan to become a Duke Blue Devil women’s basketball player when the time comes. “Even though it would allow me to go to my dream school, it still wouldn’t let me live out my second dream of playing softball there,” she said, “I enjoy playing the sport of basketball, but playing softball is a completely different feeling that I never had playing basketball.”