Little league sports serve a variety of purposes for young athletes. In addition to presenting an opportunity for socialization, they test players’ skills by allowing athletes to discover their talents in many athletic corners. Senior Timothy Izzo stuck to all three sports that he participated in as a child.

“I played hockey up until I was in eighth grade,” said Izzo, who admits that ice hockey is in fact his true love. “I was on select and elite teams my whole career.”

Facing the ice for the first time at four years old was Izzo’s first step into the athletic direction. His career as an athlete was encouraged by his father, a lacrosse coach.

“My father was one of the main contributors to starting the youth program in my town,” said Izzo, who started lacrosse at the age of eight. “So that was definitely something that I wanted to be a part of. Once I got to the sixth grade my father was coaching an older team and I wanted to play for him. However, the only way I could play for him was if I played the goalie position, because that was the only spot that was open at the time. But that’s my position now, so I would say it worked out.”

The third sport Izzo participated in was football, which gave Izzo the opportunity to learn different skills. Upon entering high school, Izzo realized that three sports was becoming cumbersome.

“I knew three sports would be too much to balance so I decided to pick two,” said Izzo, who attended St. Joseph High School, in his hometown of Trumbull, Connecticut. “Lacrosse was an obvious choice because my father was the head coach at the high school, but I ended up choosing football over hockey. I was the starting defensive end my junior and senior year. I won a state championship in football my senior year and was all conference.”

Having played under his father for quite some time, Joseph Izzo has had quite an influence on his son, teaching his him to “fight for everything” that he wanted; “to never give up.”

Additionally, he developed a strong sense of family community, something that factored in to his decision to come to Pace.

Although he started off at Franklin Pierce University, Izzo realized that being far from home was not ideal.

“I was just unhappy at Pierce,” said Izzo, who transferred over to Pace after his sophomore year. “The area was very rural in the backwoods of New Hampshire. I loved the school and the people, I have nothing bad to say about it, but it just wasn’t the right fit for me. I came to Pace for the education. I heard nothing but great things about the business school and the environment on and around the campus. When I came to visit I fell in love with the campus and the surrounding area.”

Izzo is also a member of the Pace swimming and diving team, which has allowed him to remain active during the offseason.

“I’ll do anything to stay active, honestly, I hate just sitting around,” Izzo said.

Izzo has continued on his sports related path and hopes to remain involved despite his graduation in May.

“I studied sports and recreation management at Pierce, and I am continuing here at Pace by taking more business oriented classes,” Izzo said. “After graduation I am hoping to work in the sports field, maybe do like front office management or something like that. Really anything that will just allow me to be around sports, because it’s what I love.”

Izzo and the rest of the lacrosse team are scheduled to get their 2014 season underway on Sat., March 8, as they take on last year’s NE-10 Champions Le Moyne College. The Setters’ first home game is scheduled for Thur., March 13, where they will face off against Dominican College at 3:30 p.m.