Holly Eckers: Four years as a dual-sport athlete

Most student-athletes at UW-River Falls are members of one varsity program, but senior student Holly Eckers is an exception. She has been a member of both the women’s hockey and the women’s lacrosse teams since her freshman year. 

While Eckers is committed to both programs, hockey comes first for her. “I started skating when I was three, so I really haven’t known a life without hockey,” she said. 

She was recruited to UWRF following her sophomore year of high school, one of the earliest commits in the history of the women’s hockey program. Eckers talked to several NCAA Division I universities, but Division III UWRF was a natural fit for her. “I never once thought about decommitting from River Falls to go Division I,” she said.

Division III schools provide student-athletes with a place to continue their athletic careers through college. Athletes are provided a team-bonding experience and the chance to participate in highly competitive seasons. Division III programs are not allowed to pay their athletes or award athletic scholarships, however, so players must have motivations beyond the financial.

This comes naturally for Eckers. She made the women’s hockey All-WIAC First Team her freshman, sophomore, and junior years, and received an honorable mention as a senior.

Lacrosse was a later development for Eckers, as she began playing in sixth grade. She was recruited to UW-River Falls near the end of her junior year in high school, and serves as an attacker. She has amassed 66 goals across her first three seasons with the Falcons. 

Playing in both programs isn’t without its difficulties, however. One of these is scheduling. UWRF women’s hockey typically runs until the middle of March, weeks after women’s lacrosse starts its competitive season. Eckers said the biggest issue with the schedule collision is the missed camaraderie between her and the lacrosse team. 

“I’m hockey from September until March, so I don’t really get an opportunity to get to know a lot of the freshman girls on the lacrosse team until I jump into the season,” she said. Eckers plays for almost the entire academic year; the hockey team starts practicing in September, and the lacrosse team finishes up in late April or early May.

Eckers said that one source of her continued athletic interest is simply staying involved in sports. “I honestly just have a love and passion for the game,” she said. “A lot of it is [that] I haven’t known a life without a sport, so it could be a comfort thing, but I genuinely feel so much joy whenever I’m on the ice or on the field playing.”

Eckers values the relationships she had made, and lists them as another key motivator in her decision to play multiple sports. “My teammates and coaching staff have a lot to do with [motivation], because they make the culture of being a part of both teams very rewarding and amazing.” She also lives with her hockey teammates off-campus. “Throughout my four years, my closest friends and my teammates tend to be one and the same.”

Eckers will graduate this spring with a degree in Business Administration, and said that she would love to start coaching if the opportunity arises.