After pulling double duty with Franklin Regional soccer, football, Joey Bayne takes on new challenge

For years, Joey Bayne kicked soccer balls and footballs in the hopes of playing one or both sports at the next level.

His grind was year-round, and he did double-duty playing soccer and football in the same season at Franklin Regional.

You might call him the fall guy.

But it wasn’t long ago that Bayne had a moment of clarity.

It was time to give up the dream and focus on … life.

The decision led to a real shocker: Bayne is not going to play a sport in college. Instead, he is going to chase a pre-medical degree at Pitt.

“Yeah, it’s taken a lot of people by surprise,” said Bayne, who graduated in the spring. “But I weighed my options and the love for what I do and came to this conclusion.”

Bayne said he may continue to play club soccer and has taken a fancy to another hobby: powerlifting.

A friend, James Swift, turned him onto the idea.

“He did exercise science at Pitt, as well as being a 16-time state record-holder in multiple weight classes in powerlifting,” Bayne said. “I was trying to get stronger, which in turn helps you get faster and more explosive, so I thought he would be the perfect guy to call. I was helping him with some soccer at the time as he wanted to get back into it after dealing with (health issues) and he was right there to help me in return.

“He started coaching me for strength and I started to like the big three lifts and how much faster and stronger I was getting. That eventually led to him coaching me and continuing it.”

Parting the sports will not be without tough feelings, but Bayne will take memories that will last him a lifetime.

What will be remember most?

“Definitely the joy I had playing the sports and the bonds I formed with my teammates,” he said. “Maybe what I’ll miss even more is the competitiveness that I was able to embrace.”

For his football career, Bayne sent 93 of his 155 kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks, and averaged 31.4 yards on 66 punts.

He finished with 165 points in 33 games — 111 of 118 extra points and 18 field goals with a long of 34 yards.

In soccer, he was a speedster capable to scoring at every shift, but helped set up scores for teammates as he drew extra attention from defenders.

Bayne had a Division II college offer to kick at IUP before shifting gears.

In soccer, he had nine goals and 10 assists last season.

He helped lead the Panthers to the WPIAL 3A championship game last season and the semis as a junior.

Franklin Regional was 59-25-2 with him in on the team.