Across most sports, size and height are important factors. Basketball players, for example, often use their height to shoot over opponents or their long arms to defend. While being undersized can limit her performance, 5’4” varsity basketball player senior Malu Touras (she/her) has found ways to be successful.
“I have to be quick to be able to create more space for myself,” Touras said. “I can’t really play a powerful position, so I have to score in other ways to throw my defenders off.”
Positions in basketball are assigned almost entirely based on height. Touras, whose strength is her shooting ability, observes other undersized guards to find ways to improve.
“Shooting-wise, I like to watch Steph Curry. I try to see the little things that he does to be successful because he’s a really small guard for the NBA. I try to model my game after him,” Touras said. “But I know that I’m not Steph Curry. Nobody is on his level.”
In football, a sport involving tackling, throwing and catching, larger athletes have an advantage. Senior Atticus Dutt (he/him) said he is often overlooked and underestimated. Standing at 5’6”, Dutt said that he’s outsized in nearly every game by nearly every player. Dutt also plays lacrosse, another sport that has big hits and aggressive players.
“People usually think that I can’t perform because I’m short,” Dutt said. “I won’t lie, it’s harder. I have to work my a** off in ways that other people don’t.”
He tries to combat his lack of height with hard work and year-round martial arts and cross training.
“I go to the gym every day, even during the season,” Dutt said. “It’s not even really a choice; I kind of have to or I’ll get killed out there. I also do Muay Thai to make sure that I’m strong.”
One of Dutt’s roles on the lacrosse team is to conduct the face-off at the start of both halves and after each goal. One player from each team lines up on their knees at mid-field and fights for the ball. Despite its physicality, Dutt finds this role refreshing, because, for a few seconds, his height matters less than it normally does.
In wrestling, competitors face opponents of the same weight category, but even within these groups, size disparities in reach, leverage and strength create difficulties for smaller athletes. Freshman Alexi Coburn (she/her) is 4’11” and grapples with these challenges as the only girl and the smallest athlete on the wrestling team.
“I’m at a much higher risk of getting hurt,” Coburn said. “It’s important that you take precautions, because, when you’re small, you’re very easily injured, and a sport like wrestling, if I just fall the wrong way, I could be out for the season.”
That danger is especially present for Coburn, who has already injured her shoulder in practice. The lowest weight class for girls is 100 pounds, which she is still underweight for.
“I wish there was a weight class a little lower, maybe like 90 (pounds) or something,” Coburn said. “It’s just hard for people like me that are really short too, and I’m still a freshman.”
Currently, Coburn attends practices but does not compete. If Coburn were to wrestle in the 100-pound weight class, she fears another injury because bigger athletes may target their weight and strength advantage over her. Both Dutt and Touras said they’ve been strategically targeted in games because of their height. Teams often run plays to get their taller players defended by small guards like Touras, when her size becomes a true disadvantage. Coaches or scouts place a premium on height and physical presence for that reason. Touras finds this understandable, but sometimes a bit frustrating.
“Even if I was 5’8”, I think I would be playing in college, but I’m not,” Touras said. “I would be able to drive to the rim and score easier if I was taller. That’s much more appealing to a coach, to be a taller guard that can shoot the hell out of the ball too.”
The mental aspect of being an undersized athlete can be as demanding as the physical. Dutt said comments from his teammates and coaches can have an impact. A coach told him that he would only be allowed to play a certain position if he brought a ladder to the game.
“That was kinda crazy,” Dutt said. “It’s easiest to just laugh with them, because it’s not really up to me how tall I am. They’re just jokes at the end of the day.”
In order to overcome their height’s disadvantages, undersized athletes need to find ways to compete with taller athletes, often through superior quickness or technique. For Dutt, gaining an advantage means playing to his personal strengths: speed, athleticism and an underdog mentality.
“Sometimes I get knocked down, and while I’m laying there I think, ‘How are you gonna let yourself get decked by that six-foot guy,’” Dutt said. “‘He ain’t got nothing over you. You gotta play your game, your speed, your pace.’ If I’m playing someone else’s game, I can’t win.”
