Making it to first base

As a student-athlete it is sometimes hard not to strike out and become wearisome from the high demands of trying to handle school and sports.
However these two Southern University athletes have not only hit a home run in being able to balance the stress of class, practice and games, they have even been able to manage a solid relationship with each other as well.
Brandon Revis, a senior elementary education major from Houston, and infielder for the Southern baseball team, and Sawazi Daniel, a sophomore rehabilitation major from Baton Rouge and outfielder/shortstop for the Lady Jaguars softball team, share a common love for bats, balls and gloves, but moreover their love for each other.
Revis and Daniel said they have been dating for nine months. They met last spring at a mutual friends apartment, who happened to be one of Revis’ teammates. They hit it off instantaneously and after that night became really close.
“We met through one of Brandon’s teammates last spring,” Daniel said. “We wound up talking and flirting a bit but I didn’t think anything of it. But eventually, to my surprise we talked every day after that night and became really close.”
Revis said he had to go home to Houston for the summer but he and Daniel frequently talked and sometimes traveled to see each other.
During the separation the couple said they realized they did not want to be with anyone else, and shortly after officially became boyfriend and girlfriend.
“He went home for the summer but we kept in touch and made trips to see each other in between the break,” Daniel said. “When we first met we weren’t seeing anyone and after we met we didn’t see other people during the break.”
“We were two serious people who knew what we wanted, so during the break is when we decided to be committed to each other,” she said.
The main thing the couple said drew them together was their shared athleticism and common interests.
Revis said he has always been attracted to athletic women, so the fact that Daniel played softball drew him to her even more.
“The fact Sawazi plays softball makes me more attracted to her,” Revis said. “Because I have been attracted to athletic women, Sawazi and I can relate more because she plays softball.”
Daniel said athleticism was a big factor in her attraction to Revis as well.
“I’m a brutally honest person and he’s the same way and that is what attracted me to him but mostly because he’s athletic,” Daniel said. “Also I’m a shorts and t-shirt kind of girl and he likes that because he’s the same way.”
Daniel said she likes that she and Revis plays a similar sport because she does not have to try to figure out things in the game.
“I like that he can talk to me about his game and I won’t be trying to figure out which base is which, because softball is similar to baseball,” she said.
Despite the strain of being a student and an athlete Daniel said because Revis plays baseball, her relationship with him is different from her previous relationships because she doesn’t have to explain anything. They share comparable experiences so they understand each other.
“I have been in relationships with men who didn’t play sports before and it was a real hassle,” Daniel said. “They didn’t understand the lifestyle of an athlete let alone a softball player.”
“With Brandon there isn’t any need to explain anything,” she said. “I already know what he’s going through and he knows what I am dealing with when it comes to class and sports. We come from similar backgrounds so we understand each other.”
Daniel said she enjoys everything about Revis, but what she loves most about him is his genuine nature.
Revis said baseball can take a strain on him, but Daniel’s positivism helps to ease it.
“Baseball sometimes takes a strain on me but not Sawazi,” he said. “She pretty much lives day by day when I live in the future.”
“She may have a bad day but still is able to smile at the end,” Revis said. “When I have a bad day I hold it in and sometimes I take it out on her but since we both play sports she really doesn’t pay me any attention. Her positive attitude eases me and keeps me going.”
Daniel said her and Revis’ involvement in sports does not harm their relationship because most of their practices and games are on the same days, and it’s alright because they understand each other.
“Baseball season last a little longer but not too much longer,” Daniel said. “It’s fine because we understand each other.”
Daniel said because she and Revis play a sport during the same season it helps their relationship. However, when their season starts they’ll have to balance their time with each other.
“Its not like I play soccer and he plays golf, because our season is during the same time and that helps,” she said. “We have not really started our seasons yet so we still have time to get together whenever it’s convenient but when the season starts it will change. We’ll just have to balance our time between games in addition to practice.”
Revis said he loves the way that Daniel balances the demands of her everyday life and always manages to keep a smile on her face.
“I’ve been balancing school and softball since I started playing when I was eight years old, so I’m used to it,” she said. “School and softball go hand in hand for me and I almost feel like they shouldn’t be separated.”
Revis said, “She is someone who has been through so much, but can always sit and smile on her life.”
“She balances her time well and always finds a different way to play her cards right. She is a very good person and amazes me each day,” he said.