Twins Emily, left, and Megan Smith attend West Junior High.

Megan and Emily Smith are not your typical teenagers.

The two sisters are freshmen at West Junior High and are also twins who share many of the same interests, both on the sporting fields and in the classroom.

They have grown up together playing different sports, including swimming, soccer, softball, volleyball, basketball track and cheerleading.

Megan said having a sister participating in the same activities helped both in good times and in bad.

“You’re never alone,” Megan said. “There’s always someone there.”

Having the twins at each others’ side throughout their young playing careers has also helped the pair achieve their goals. The twins have accumulated numerous ribbons, trophies and awards during their involvement in sports.

But with the success, there have been some challenges.

Emily said she enjoyed playing softball and volleyball equally. But playing some of the volleyball positions presents a difficult task because of her height.

“Playing the back row is more of a challenge when you’re tall,” she said.

Megan, meanwhile, prefers to play softball more than any other sport. She is a pitcher and enjoys being engaged in every play.

“It’s exciting,” she said.

One thing that the twins are looking forward to is the possibility of playing on the same team as their sister Catherine next year. Catherine is a junior at Free State High, and is a pitcher on the Firebirds’ softball team.

Emily said Catherine has already been giving her helpful tips on how to become a better softball player.

“She always corrects me if I do something wrong,” Emily said.

Catherine also will give helpful advice to Megan. But can all that advice spark a bit of a friendly sister rivalry between them?

“I think me and Catherine because we’re both pitchers,” Megan said. “I think it will be some healthy competition.”

The twins opted not to play basketball this year, and have spent much of their time concentrating on their school work, performing on the cheer squad and preparing for club volleyball team tryouts.

The girls said they planned to try out for a number of different club teams to improve their chances of being picked.

Even though the twins will be busy with club volleyball, they felt they could manage an already busy schedule and not lose focus on their goal to play softball at Free State.

If all the girls succeed in playing for Free State, they would not be the only ones who would be excited.

The girls’ parents, Dave and Patty, may have an easier time managing the schedules that having three daughters in different places brings.

“They’re always driving us around,” Megan said. “It would be a lot easier with just one schedule.”