Drinking a lot of water. Stretching daily. Sitting in an ice bath. Visiting the trainer regularly. Taking some ibuprofen.
Those are among the things that Wheeler’s Tyne Vettickal does in order to maintain his fitness.
It’s by no means easy for the 6-foot, 160-pound junior to play both football and soccer — and to excel in both — for the Bearcats. But he makes it work.
It helps to have the support and coordination of football coach Nick Testa and boys soccer coach Jay Vettickal. But even though Tyne Vettickal’s father is his soccer coach, even though he began playing that sport when he was 6 years old, even though he didn’t begin playing football until eighth grade, make no mistake about which of the two tops his list.
“Football is most definitely the priority,” Tyne Vettickal said.
Jay Vettickal’s perspective is simple.
“I just want him to be happy,” he said.
In football, Tyne Vettickal is a receiver, safety and kicker, leaving the field for just a handful of plays each game. Despite all that, he doesn’t punt because of the toll it takes on his leg.
In soccer, he’s a forward/midfielder. He’s also a strong basketball player and a standout sprinter.
“Just athletically, he’s probably the best athlete in our school, and I don’t know if it’s really that close,” Testa said. “What he does balancing between football, most teams have soccer kids, but they’re kickers. They don’t have guys who are a starter on offense, a starter on defense, our kicker. He does everything. It’s not like he’s coming to football just to kick. He is a big part of what we do.”
Indeed, Tyne Vettickal had 24 catches for 475 yards and four touchdowns and made 39 tackles with five interceptions last season.
He opened this season with a bang, catching six passes for 134 yards and two TDs in the Wildcats’ loss to talented Hanover Central. He also made five tackles.
“He’s a big part of what we do, and he showed it Friday, doing what he did against one of the best teams in the area,” Testa said. “I know he’s a big part of what soccer does. I have a good relationship with coach Vettickal. The kid’s amazing. To be able to play two sports full time in the same season, it’s just beyond what I could even imagine.
“I didn’t know when we got Tyne last year that he just started really playing football halfway through his freshman year. He doesn’t have a whole lot of experience playing football. But the kid is one of the smartest kids we have. He wants to be great.”
With concerns about injuries, Tyne Vettickal didn’t play football until his final year of middle school. As a freshman, he was limited to some kicking. Then came his emergence last season.
“He likes playing football,” Jay Vettickal said. “He only started playing in eighth grade. Freshman year, I let him kick. But he was 14, 15 years old playing against men, so I let him kick that year. Then he grew, and he started lifting, so last year he started playing full-time football.
“With a small school, we definitely encourage multisports, but not necessarily during the same season. You have to balance that with the other coaches. But Nick’s great. He knows. Tyne’s a special athlete.”
Jay Vettickal also didn’t hesitate to offer a good-natured critique of his son’s football skills.
“He needs to work on his tackling,” Jay Vettickal said with a grin. “Against Hanover on Friday, he basically whiffed his first two tackles. As the game wore on, they started getting into the secondary, and he had to tackle. It forced him to make some hits.”
Tyne Vettickal, who scored six goals last year as the soccer team won its second consecutive sectional title, typically joins soccer practice late after football practice. Occasionally, depending on the day, he’ll leave football practice slightly early so he doesn’t arrive as late to soccer practice.
On game days for soccer, he’ll have a light football practice. On football Fridays, there’s tunnel vision, with no soccer practice.
Last week, after the football team’s loss to Hanover on Friday, the soccer team played Hebron on Saturday, when Tyne Vettickal wasn’t slated to play much, if at all. But with several teammates unavailable for various reasons, he wound up playing significant minutes in the Bearcats’ 2-0 win.
“He was a little sore for a couple of days,” Jay Vettickal said.
He added, “That’s the hard thing, managing his legs. His focus is football. We get him for limited practice. Of course, we would want him to practice more because the more good touches you have, the better you’re going to be. But he definitely still contributes. I won’t start him because he’s not here all the time. But it’s good to get him in as a sub because he has killer speed. These guys have been together for a long time. They know each other.”
Junior midfielder Harper Schaberg is among that group of longtime teammates. Tyne Vettickal described he and Schaberg as “a dynamic duo” for the Bearcats.
“Tyne’s probably my closest friend,” Schaberg said. “I’ve known him since sixth grade, and he’s always been the most athletic guy I’ve ever known. He can dunk. He can do literally everything. Him being able to do both sports and be very good at both is very impressive.”
Vettickal averaged 4.7 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.4 steals last basketball season. He made a regional in the 200 meters and won the conference title in that event last track season, when he also finished second in the conference in the 100.
“He’s a four-sport star,” Testa said.
Tyne Vettickal wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I feel good,” he said. “I use my time wisely. I like being busy. I enjoy it. It keeps my mind off things.”
Wheeler senior Bryce Compton, a wide receiver and defensive back, certainly has noticed Tyne Vettickal’s impact in football.
“He plays an important role on the team,” Compton said. “Without him, we’d be less of a team. He brings a lot of personality to the team. He likes to joke around too.”
Testa noted Tyne Vettickal’s development on the field.
“We got him last year, and we bounced him around,” Testa said. “He started all year, but when he settled into the slot for us about halfway through the season, he took off. A lot of his production came in the second half of the year. With Bryce getting a lot of attention last year, Tyne had the opportunity to show out. Now Tyne is making Bryce’s life easier because teams can’t double Bryce because they have to worry about Tyne.
“Later in the season, as Tyne got comfortable and we got him in the right spot, he started to flourish. Then this summer, he was a different kid. He had all the confidence in the world, and it ended up showing Friday. You go to Hanover, against that team, and do what he did, that’s doing something. We expect big things from him. He’s a great kid.”
Testa also can attest to Tyne Vettickal’s maturity off the field.
“He’s just an amazing kid, he really is,” Testa said. “You can tell he’s raised right. He’s very respectful. But it’s funny, though, now that he’s opened up to us a little bit, you kind of hear his personality. He’s always joking with us coaches. We have a great relationship with him. To see where he started and see where he is this year, that growth has just been amazing. That’s just a testament to his hard work, and bouncing between two sports, it’s crazy.”
