Joelle Anselmo, Reporter
@janselmocourant
Sophomores Christian and Nate Sibbett are living proof of “Renaissance Men”, people with many talents and areas of knowledge. These identical twins are not only three-sport athletes, playing lacrosse, football and wrestling, but also perform well in their classes and find time to pursue a wide range of hobbies outside of school. They both play different instruments like the piano and guitar, as well as extreme sports outside of school like snow skiing and wakeboarding.
What usually makes a person stand out from the crowd is their talent and dedication towards one specific hobby, whether it’s a sport or being the smartest one in the class. However, what makes Christian and Nate so distinct and unique is the fact that they choose to excel at so many things, yet somehow manage to find time to pursue every single one. Sometimes that means spending time on one hobby to work on another. “If you’re going to be a three-sport athlete, want to do well in school, and pursue other hobbies, you’re going to have to make sacrifices,” Christian said.
Christian and Nate participate in the same school sports which include, football in the fall, wrestling in the winter, and lacrosse in the spring. At the same time, they snow ski, wakeboard, water ski, skateboard, surf, sing and play several instruments. Nate is part of a band with sophomore Adam Colton called the Wild Stallions.
Wrestling coach, Paul Gallo works with the Sibbetts side by side and gets to see how they perform each day during wrestling season. He explains how the pair is unique in the sense that their “work ethic sets them apart from everybody else.” No matter what they do, they give it their greatest effort. “They are very focused on being the best at whatever they do,” Mr. Gallo said. “They don’t ever give you half an effort, they will go 100% on school or sports.”
Parental influence is a major part of why they enjoy all these activities and why they started them in the first place. The twins’ mother and father are both major athletes and wanted the same for their kids. “A lot of the things that I do is pushed by my parents,” Nate said. “Skiing, wakeboarding and waterskiing were a big part of their childhoods and that carried onto me. After that I took it and I made it my own.”
In addition to sports, their mom also introduced them to music when they were young. She thought that since they could hear pitch, she might as well get them singing. “People say our voices compliment each other when we sing,” Christian said. “It’s fun to perform with Nate because he’s so energetic and fantastic.”
Christian and Nate both said that they can’t imagine living any other way. The two depend on each other, and push each other to be the best they can be. “Sometimes, I wonder how people survive if they don’t have a twin,” Christian said. “You always have somebody there for you. Whenever my parents or friends are not there, Christian always is,” Nate said.
Even though they get mistaken for each other on a daily basis, they have two completely different personalities. When asked to describe the other, they both said the same things about each other. Christian said that Nate “gets more heated about things because he’s more passionate.”
Mr. Gallo agrees with this. “They are very similar athletic wise. But personality wise, Nate is much harder on himself than Christian is,” he said. “Christian accepts that sometimes things aren’t going to go his way, while Nate tends to get frustrated.”
The two balance each other out because Christian is more consistent than Nate. “Christian is more even. He typically goes with whatever works,” Nate said. “He is more analytical with what he does sportswise, while I just go with the flow.”
Christian and Nate choose to do what they do because they love it. They manage to strike a balance between school, sport, family, and their various hobbies. Despite the hecticness of their schedules, the Sibbetts appreciate the amount of time it gives them to spend on each other, “ It’s like a built in best friend. I guess some could say that having a twin might be overwhelming because you are always competing but because Nate and I are such good friends, we don’t let that affect us.” Christian said.
