Built Different: The Four-Sport Life of Jack Byers
In Artesia, playing more than one sport isn’t rare—it’s expected. But building a résumé like Jack Byers? That’s something else entirely.
“Growing up here, football is just what you do,” Jack says. “All my friends played basketball… and honestly, there’s not much else to do but compete.” He smiles. “But baseball—that’s always been my first love.”
Jack Byers is a winner.
State champion in football.
State champion in basketball.
State champion in baseball.
Oh—and when spring rolls around? He grabs his clubs and competes in golf, too.
“My dad taught me how to play,” Jack says. “Then one day the coach saw me and told my mom I could be pretty good. Next thing I knew, I was on the team.”
Baseball is his favorite, but he says golf isn’t far behind. Still, it’s the duel on the mound that defines him. “Pitching—it’s just you and the batter. One-on-one. I like that,” he explains. “I’m pretty even-keeled. Never too high, never too low.”
He learned that even-keel by playing under the Friday night lights. ““There’s always high-pressure moments when you’re playing in the Bulldog Bowl and that can help when you’re on the mound pitching or on the court or when you have a high stressed shot.”
“You can see him put extra time in,” said Bickel. “He’s out there in football, getting extra routes in with the quarterback. Basketball to baseball, we were talking with Jack and said, ‘Go play basketball. This might be your last year to play basketball, go play, it will be great.”
In the spring, baseball and golf fall on the same calendar. “There are some days when he will be at the golf course walking 18 holes and it will be a six-hour day,” said Artesia baseball coach Jackson Bickel. “Then he gets in the car and hauls it over to baseball practice and he gets going. I admire it. I keep asking, ‘How are your legs still underneath you?’ That’s his strength and weightroom all combined. He’s a well-conditioned player. What you see is not a mistake. He’s earned it.”
That work ethic has paid off. Jack signed his National Letter of Intent to play baseball at the University of Arizona. Some people pushed him to specialize in one sport, but Jack chose something different.
“All you have to do is put hard work into it and it will pay off,” said Jack. “People nowadays are trying to get everybody to specialize in their own sport. If you make time for it, you’re going to be good at it.”
Four sports.
Three titles.
One mindset.
