Above the bridge
Above the bridge
Episode 147 TYLA REESE MANE ( UH Wahine Volleyball outside hitter )
Tyla Reese Mane's journey to the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team unfolds like a perfect sports movie – complete with unexpected twists, heartbreaking setbacks, and triumphant homecomings.
Growing up as the daughter of comedian James Mane, Tyla defied gender norms from the start. Not content with just playing soccer and volleyball, she became her high school's football kicker while her father coached the team. "When I first did it, I was kind of joking around," she admits. But after blasting a 40-yard kick in her first scrimmage, everyone realized she wasn't just some girl trying to prove a point – she was the real deal. What truly touched her heart wasn't just playing, but seeing young girls approach her with admiration: "That's so cool that you play football." Through this experience, Tyler became a living example that girls aren't "only subjected to just this box of things."
Despite her multi-sport background, volleyball eventually captured her heart, offering a supportive environment unlike the critical atmospheres she experienced in other sports. But with limited club experience and COVID disrupting recruitment opportunities, her path to college volleyball wasn't straightforward. She accepted a full scholarship to a junior college in Casper, Wyoming – a place so unfamiliar she had to Google "10 facts about Wyoming" before deciding.
The Wyoming chapter brought challenges – harsh weather, limited playing time, seasonal depression, and a volleyball culture focused on offensive power rather than the defensive mindset she knew from Hawaii. "It was definitely a difficult time in my life," she reflects, "but an experience that I needed to go through."
Through persistence, additional training, and supportive connections, Tyla eventually received the opportunity she'd dreamed of – a chance to try out for the University of Hawaii volleyball team. When offered a walk-on position with the Rainbow Wahine, she could barely maintain her composure. "I was sitting there trying to have a straight face," she recalls, while "little Tyla was freaking out" inside.
For aspiring athletes, Tyla's advice is powerful: prioritize academics, utilize your support system, and most importantly, ask yourself: "What extra are you doing that other people aren't doing?" As her father taught her, "You're doing this while these other girls are sleeping."
Want to follow Tyler's final season with the Rainbow Wahine? Find her on Instagram at @tylareesekmane and watch her continue to break barriers and inspire the next generation.
aloha, welcome to the above the bridge podcast. I'm your host, dadius park. Um, if this is your first time checking out our podcast, you can get us wherever you get your podcast. We're pretty much on every single main platform for podcast listening. We also have a youtube channel. Please like it, subscribe, leave a comment. It matters and I appreciate you guys for tuning in.
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Speaker 2:I love this stuff. Go check them out. I love this stuff. Go check them out. Aloha, okay, this week my guest is the outside hitter for the uh rainbow wahine. She's also the daughter to comedian james mane, who I had on my show. Her name's tyler reese mane. What's up, girl? Hi, thank you for coming on my show.
Speaker 1:You just called practice uh, I had weights today. Luckily, practice is tomorrow, so how far out do you guys?
Speaker 2:how far out do you guys start practicing with the team before the season?
Speaker 1:uh, so regular season, we'll probably start our summer workouts around. I want to say like first ish weeks of july, like middle of july too, and then we'll go all the way until august, and then the first two weeks of august are dedicated to our double days. So we'll have two practices, practices for uh, five days out of a week, and that's like a 6 am practice until like nine o'clock and then a little break in between and then we go again at about, I want to say like either two or four, something like that, and then after that we'll go into season and then we'll have Christmas break off and then we'll start up again. I think we started around like January and we've been going since then for our spring season. So it's kind of like different hours and stuff. We'll go from eight hours of practice to 20 hours of practice, then we'll have our spring scrimmages, then, uh, last week we just finished our last week of 20 hours and then now we're in eight hours.
Speaker 2:So she's you guys must be in shape, though we we should be. I was at a tournament last weekend for my daughter and we played robin's team. Unfortunately, we lost to them but they kept it pretty close.
Speaker 2:They're pretty good. But yeah, they had to ref. So I was standing next to robin and she looks very intimidating, her face looks very mean, but she was so nice and she was joking and I was like, okay, her demeanor kind of threw me off, but she was super funny and I was like, oh, she must be fun to be around, but definitely not someone you'd want to piss off.
Speaker 1:Coach Rob is a very caring person and she treats each and every one of us like her own daughters and she's very um involved in our like personal lives as well as like our volleyball lives. So like if we have any issues, she's always she has like an open door policy so if we ever need anything you can just go up to her office. She has a super comfy couch and she's like if you need to talk, just come up to come to the office and she's funny. She cracks joke like jokes all the time during practice and that's cool she. The reason she looks so serious, like specifically like in volleyball, is just she's super passionate. She's probably one of the most passionate people I've ever met because, especially her being like at the level that she made it to like olympic setter like she's super passionate about just volleyball in general, whether it's like coaching people or playing or anything like that. She's just overall just really cares about the sport that's cool.
Speaker 2:That's definitely somebody you want as a leader and as a coach, because, especially because she did it like she walks, walks it like you talk it, you can't. You can't say, well, you're not doing it, you never did it. Like she did it all, yeah, that's, that's super cool. Well, to back it up a bit, I first heard about you through your dad, and he explained to me that you played I for ia high school. You play three sports I think it was soccer, volleyball and football, and that's what stuck out in my head, because you normally don't see girls playing football. How was playing football in high school? And also, how was playing football? Because your dad was coaching the team at the time. He was a head coach, but he's a coach though, so how was?
Speaker 1:that it was definitely well. When I first did it, I was kind of like joking around people. I was like, yeah, I mean, I play soccer. I can definitely kick a football, like it's easy. And it was definitely a joke at first. And I started talking to our head coach, who at the time was Wendell Say um, he's an ADA commander right now. But uh, I was like, oh yeah, I'll come out and I'll try and I'll kick. And he's like okay, yeah, we need a kicker.
Speaker 1:And like a couple years prior to me, there was a girl that kicked at um at IL2 and she was one of my close friends and I like reached out to her and I was like, hey, how was it? And she was like it was awesome, like I really enjoyed it. And I was like you know what, I'll try. So after I talked to um the head coach about that, I told him, hey, like what if my dad coached? And he was like, oh, I would love for your dad to coach, because that head coach was also one of my dad's head coaches too, or like he coached when my dad was playing too, so he got the luxury of coaching both of us. But um, yeah, and then I told my dad.
Speaker 1:I was like, yeah, I told coach say that you're gonna come coach. And he was like I didn't want that. He's like I didn't tell you to do that. And I was like, yeah, you didn't like the whole thing was just he was just like oh, whatever. And then he went and it was kind of just both of us kind of like going into it and just we ended up enjoying it and like loving being in that environment together, um football in general, just playing the sport.
Speaker 1:It was hard for me at first, like just being a girl in like a male-dominated sport for sure. But I think after I kind of proved myself to like my teammates and showed them like I'm not just like some girl, that's like okay, I'll try, like I'm just, I am like the real deal, like I can kick the ball. I think our first pre-season match we had a scrimmage against McKinley and it was the first time that I was kicking in front of everyone and they even like put um pats in just so I could kick oh, okay so I went and there I don't.
Speaker 1:I don't know where the video is, but there's a video on Instagram of me kicking at McKinley and I like blasted one from like I think my first one was like 30, 40 yards or something like that, and I think that's kind of when people were like okay, she's not just here to just mess around, and I think that kind of helped me get my foot in the door just with the guys in general and I kind of started being friends with them a little bit more, because personally I'm not a girly girl and I don't think I ever have been. Uh, I was definitely brought up as if I was my dad's son instead of his daughter, but, um, I fit in really good with the boys and they kind of took over as like my brothers in a way and I was kind of just like their sister and they're always super nice to me.
Speaker 1:The coaches were always so grocery to me. I had my own um in our locker room, Cause it was just like it would be weird if I was just sharing the locker room with the boys. Uh, there was a coach's office that was right in the front of the locker room, so you'd walk in and then coach's office right there and I got the coach's office to be my own locker room.
Speaker 1:oh, that's super cool yeah, so it was air conditioned. I could close the door so I didn't smell the boys like like, everything smelled bad in there but yeah but my office but um yeah, and then everyone just so supportive of me, kind of like breaking a barrier yeah and a lot of.
Speaker 1:I think one of the things that was most touching to me and like the thing that was most memorable and I would take like I take that with me every day is the amount of girls that have come up to me and been like, oh, you're that girl that kicks you, you play football, and I'm like, yeah, I am. They're like that's so cool and like I it like really was just so heartwarming for me to be like. It kind of made me feel like I was someone that they looked up to and yeah, I would always advocate for like just because you're a girl doesn't mean like you can't do anything, like you're not only subjected to just this box of things. Like you're a girl, you can only do this. You can do so much more than just this. And it was nice because there was also a lot of like little kids just in general, where there's like boys or girls that would come up to me and they're like, oh my gosh, that's so cool and I was like thank you, and it made me feel really good.
Speaker 1:But, um, from the yeah, from the coaching perspective of my dad, it was definitely at most of I would say, 99% of the time it was smooth sailing, we were good because he didn't coach my position. Yeah, so he knew. If you know, my dad doesn't know how to kick a football ball, so he's not even going to touch the subject. But like, there was one time where, um, I think it was like one of the only times he yelled at me at practice was that I went into the locker room to go grab my stuff and I just I went in there and I was like this AC feels really nice, it's really hot outside.
Speaker 1:And I took a second and I went back out a little bit later and he was like what are you doing? Like. And then, cause I'm not doing anything, like usually football practices, kickers just go with the special teams, or like then you'll go on the side, you'll kick by yourself. And he was like what are you doing? Give me, you know what, give me a lap. So I had to. I don't know if you know what I is. Football field looks like running on the dirt. And he was like you're going to keep running until I tell you to stop. And I was like and everyone, because no, nobody yells at me, because I usually like I'm not doing anything wrong.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah and every like. When I say that everyone like paused and looked at me while my dad was yelling at me, I'm like they really just stopped and was like oh snap, like like oh, there's her dad, not her coach, yeah, and but other than that, I mean it was super fun. It was always nice. Whenever I would get into like ruts at all, like I would, I have a couple pictures of like um, if I like missed a kick or something like there's pictures of me hugging my dad and kind of like him being like my safe space and being like hey, it's okay, like it's fine, and I really appreciate him being there for me, especially like at a time like that, and he was just, he was a big supporter of me breaking those barriers and stuff, and it was just, it was super nice. I wouldn't I wouldn't trade those that time of my life for anything.
Speaker 2:That's super awesome, awesome, yeah, and he always spoke highly of you and I mean he's a big dude, so having him yell, I could see why the whole team stopped. I remember I had him on my show and then I've never met him in person at that time because it was during covid. And then when I met him in person I'm like, oh, like you are big, yeah but um, not a little guy yeah, but I definitely respect that and I'm the same.
Speaker 2:I tell my daughter the same thing like there's no box that you're in, like you can do whatever you want, like it's all up to you and your mindset.
Speaker 2:And then you got to put the work behind it and it's going to be hard and it's a trip, because I think she's developing that and understanding it. But, like how you were supported by your dad, I'm the same with my daughter. Um, were you, were you a? You were a three sport athlete in high school. What was your favorite sport? Because right now you're playing volleyball, but I you're.
Speaker 1:I thought I was six and I played all the way until I want to say, like my sophomore year of high school, and because my sophomore year is when I fully made that transition from just playing high school volleyball to being like okay, I want to take this more seriously and I moved into club volleyball and stuff. But it's a hard question because I feel like each sport kind of gave me like a different feeling from each one. Like volleyball was definitely like a place where I felt comfortable in like a positive environment, and I think that was the reason why I transitioned to volleyball in the first place was like on a soccer field or when you're playing football, usually people are yelling at you and they're you know, they're like, oh, you have to do better, like it's always. It's not that volleyball isn't competitive, but it's just like volleyball like like oh, I shanked the ball out. You know, right back, you're fine. Like someone's always high-fiving you like no, you're good.
Speaker 1:Like I didn't get that from soccer and from football. So I think I looked at volleyball as like a break from that and being like okay, well, it was also like just like a better space for me mentally, because I was like okay, like it's fine. I would tend to like get really hard on myself and like self-criticize myself and be like, oh, like what? And then it would kind of force me to get into like a panic and volleyball was just like. Okay, like the person to my right isn't mad at me, I don't have to be so hard on myself.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but soccer, I want to say that out of all of those sports at the time, like high school specifically, I would definitely say volleyball was my favorite, but I will always have a soft spot for soccer. But I will always have a soft spot for soccer and I definitely miss the contact part of soccer. I don't know if my dad told you about that or not, but I was always so much bigger than girls at that age I was probably around like 5'10", 5'11" at that time than girls at that age I was probably around like 5, 10, 5, 11 at that time and I was going up. Like usually soccer is like majority of the girls that are playing are, um, a lot of Asian girls, like there's a lot of little Asian girls yeah so 5, 10 14 year old me going against a five to 14 year old girl?
Speaker 1:I was you're smashing yeah.
Speaker 1:I think, there was one game I don't like soccer. I had a different mentality there Cause I was kind of like it was the way that I saw it was that it was, yes, it was a team sport, but it was more like if I can do my job, the best I can change this whole thing. For volleyball it's kind of like there's no like individualism, like it's it's okay. I have to have other people touch the ball for me to succeed at what I'm doing. Soccer it's like give me the ball, I'm going just.
Speaker 1:I don't need anybody else. And there was. There was one game where I think I got a yellow card and I was just like. I was like, okay, yeah, yellow card, let's go. Usually that's not people's mentality, but I was like you know what, let's see. If like not not to be like, oh, I wanted to go and like hurt people because that's definitely not what I was about. I was like I wonder if I can get a red card by the end of the game like that was just like how I thought about things at that age.
Speaker 1:But try to test it out yeah, I'm like where, where's my limits?
Speaker 2:here. That's funny. So you took to volleyball in in high school, kind of more predominantly as your favorite, but did you play club?
Speaker 1:I didn't play club because I started playing volleyball. It was weird the way that I started playing volleyball. I came in from a private Catholic school, so I went to a privateolic school from kindergarten to eighth grade.
Speaker 1:we didn't have a high school, so I naturally went to my whole family's alma mater and then I'm going out and the volleyball coach found out that there was like a almost six foot 16 year old coming in. She was was like, get her out. Like get her out on the court, I'll change her mind. And he's like, oh, she's a soccer player, doesn't matter. And um, I went and my freshman year I was goofy footed, I could not hit a ball to save my life, I couldn't pass. I was like I could probably jump just like barely three inches off the ground. But I was like, hey, this is kind of fun, and made that transition from my freshman year to my sophomore year being like, ok, I want to take this more seriously, I want to go somewhere with this. And I started playing club for Jammers, um, for jammers. Jammers was my first ever club and, um, yeah, my uh head coach at ia, coach blake yamamoto.
Speaker 1:She was my club coach that's kind of why I got into jammers in the first place and she, she put me on her team and the cool part was that there was also girls that were from IA that also played in there. So on our like 17s 18s team, we kind of like mixed groups and stuff, and then after jammers, covid kind of hit a little bit after that and I, I remember the last thing I remember for jammers was we were supposed to go to um Orlando. I don't know if you know about the Orlando tournament. We just went last year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah so.
Speaker 1:I was supposed to go to that. Oh, I'm so glad I didn't, yeah, but we were supposed to go to that and then COVID hit. My parents were like maybe you know, it's not a good idea to go and eventually the whole thing got shut down and when COVID was kind of like the whole situation was getting a little bit better and like the like, the shutdown was kind of like going away and stuff, I ended up, sorry. I got in contact with uh, coach Kevin Wong and he, he signed me up at SAS. So I, I was playing for Spike and Serve, yeah, so we never had any real games. Oh really, yeah, we only had practice.
Speaker 1:So I would go and practice at their new gym that they have in Kaligi and I think we played like a couple scrimmages like against a couple teams, like maybe like two or three games, and after that it, I, that was it. So I only I really have only played two, like I would say like one and a half of counting sass, like one and a half years of club um, but after that it was really hard going into my senior year, because usually everyone is probably recruited by good schools, yeah, and having only those two years and having one year not like having any film from game was really hard, so yeah, that's crazy I know what you mean, because I went to orlando this past and I've got covid and my daughter and yeah, it was, it was, the ending was horrible.
Speaker 2:But yeah, just because we had covid, but um was it? Uh wong, he was an olympian.
Speaker 1:I believe, so I know that he played at UCLA.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and his brother is like a coach somewhere. I think I forget.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, I want to say Pepperdine.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, I think when the last time that he came here he was coaching. That's right, because I went to that game, you guys played. And then I took my daughter guys to um raising cane is it canes? Right by and their whole team came in and I was like, oh my god, they are tall. And he, the, they were there, the coaches, and everything. I was like, yeah, it was cool, we got. We got to see guys beat them and then we got to see them go eat chicken.
Speaker 1:Watch them eat chicken, yeah.
Speaker 2:But that was cool. So, because you didn't have that much film, how hard was it to get recruited? I know you went to a junior college, or was it Division II?
Speaker 1:A junior college. Yeah, pretty, it was pretty hard, like if I didn't have the support system that I did because, even though I was playing for SAS, I still had, um, my high school coach, my first club coach, helping me out and stuff, because, like they knew, like I was late to the game and yeah for a really long time I was just emailing coaches, emailing coaches and just trying to get my name out there and I was using a lot of old film.
Speaker 1:I was using high school film which was hard because it was always just my freshman and sophomore year, because junior year, senior year, we didn't even have seasons and then a lot of my club film, but I still I still wasn't at I definitely was not at the level that I am now for sure, uh, but it was a lot of recruiting, a lot of no's, a lot of you're I don't think you're ready a lot of um, oh, you know, like, maybe you know we'll figure out like a spot for you on our team, which really means we don't really have a spot for you on our team, um, but it, eventually I got a full scholarship to a junior college in Wyoming Casper Wyoming specifically and the funniest part was that I had gotten an email from their assistant coach, who was the recruiter at the time, and he was like hey, like you know, we're interested.
Speaker 1:We saw your film, like we want to talk to you, and I like looked at it and I was like Casper Wyoming. That's really what I thought. I was like Wyoming. I was like Wyoming is a place like there's places in Wyoming. I don't like being from Hawaii. I don't know how many other Hawaii people, but I don't know where the states are really realistically.
Speaker 2:I know we're.
Speaker 1:California, oregon, washington and a couple.
Speaker 2:New York, but yeah.
Speaker 1:Wyoming is not on my radar. So I got the email and I was like it's fine, like I didn't really read too much into it. I saw Wyoming and was like, no, thank you, I okay, I'll stay here, I'll figure something out. And my coaches texted me and they're like respond to this person now, like they're offering you something good. And I was like for the longest time I was like I really don't want to go to Wyoming, like that's so.
Speaker 1:So, out of nowhere, like I don't know anything, I pulled up YouTube videos like 10 facts about Wyoming, like I was trying to figure out like what is this place? And, um, I ended up getting in contact with a coach after kind of dodging it for a long time, and he was like, yeah, we'll give you a full ride. You know, room and board, books are covered, we'll cover your meals. And I got really lucky because at the time they're giving, um, they're paying for either I want to say I don't think it was a full ride or a full round trip, but they're paying for plane tickets. Basically, okay, a full round trip but they're paying for plane tickets.
Speaker 1:Basically, and that means a lot, because from Hawaii I had to go from Hawaii to Vegas and then from Vegas I had to go to Denver and from Denver I had to fly to Casper Wyoming because Casper Wyoming does not have an international airport, so you cannot fly directly there and there's probably two gates in the entire airport and that's how small it is and the planes look like. They're like like sketch. Yeah, they're like tiny planes, like propeller planes and you're like I don't know if I want to get on that.
Speaker 1:But, um, yeah, I kind of sat down and I was like okay, like well, tell me about your school. And I was like you know what? I realistically wasn't looking at a lot of good offers. There was a couple places they're offering like it was mainly just junior colleges and naia division, which is like just one up from junior college. But I was like I was looking at a lot of options and I was kind of like these people are giving me this money and they're giving me a full ride, or like, oh, these people are trying to put me on academic scholarship. And I was like you know, know what? Casper Wyoming, here I come, yeah.
Speaker 2:That's pretty cool. How was it when you got there? Was it what you expected? Or your shell shot? Because I went to Wichita for something and I was like they don't even have a hill. I was like this sucks, I'm never coming back here again first and last time.
Speaker 1:Thank you, yeah. Um, I feel like casper wyoming definitely lied to me when I first got there, because I got there in the summer. Uh, I think our report date was like july 31st or or something like that, I don't remember. But um, I got there and I was like it's so cool here. I've never been in like the mid, like the middle of the United States before, like, and I like I haven't traveled a lot, like I've only traveled to like soccer tournaments or like volleyball tournaments, that's it. Like I've never like traveled this far in general and, um, it was. It was very much a lie.
Speaker 1:It was definitely not what I thought it was and I was like, wow, it's nice and sunny here and, um, it's the worst thing about casper it is one of the windiest places I've ever been like I would even call that like my windy city, like that's how windy it was, because it wyoming is very like there's places where there's mountains and stuff, but like casper was pretty overall like just flat, flat, nothing. And fun fact about Wyoming there's more cows in the state than there are people that was not a good stat yeah, I know that sounds like I found that out and I was like, is that something to be?
Speaker 1:like, oh, that's cool or like oh, that's concerning? Yeah, but um, it was. It was nice when I got there and then I think it was maybe sunny for about a week and then it got cold and it got real cold.
Speaker 1:And, yeah, I was like, wow, it is summertime and I am wearing sweatpants and a hoodie to go outside. And like, even when I was there for my second year, my sophomore year, I was there during the worst blizzard that Wyoming has ever had. And I mean, I was excited because, like my freshman year, I was like, oh yeah, snow. I've never seen snow before.
Speaker 2:Like every white person, yeah, I'm like oh, snow like this is so exciting.
Speaker 1:I've never seen snow before.
Speaker 2:Like every, white person yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm like, oh, snow, like this is so exciting. I go and the snow is just frozen rain. I was like this is nothing special.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's cool for like the first 10 seconds and then it's like all right, I'm over it.
Speaker 1:Like I was so excited because I was like, oh, I have like a winter coat, like I have the fur on my head, I have like I'm layered up, like I'm super warm, and my dad was like wear gloves, wear one of those like face masks, put a beanie on. You need a scarf. And I'm like no, I don't. He was like layering is so important. And I was like, no, it's not, it's fine, I'll just go out and like my, my jeans and my, my hoodie underneath my winter jacket, with my you know, my shoes on. I'll be fine. I went outside freezing.
Speaker 1:I immediately was hit with wow, my dad was right and that's the worst, when you gotta admit yeah, I know I was like I'm not gonna tell him because if he calls me when he's like, oh, how was it, I'll be like it was awesome. Mine, I was actually. Yeah, I was like it was'm not going to tell him because if he calls me when he's like, oh, how was it, I'll be like it was awesome. I was actually. I was like it was actually too hot with my winter coat. I had to take it off, but it was so funny because a lot of the girls on my team there was me and two other girls that were from Hawaii.
Speaker 1:So, they like one girl had already been there and then the other girl was my age, so like one girl had already been there and then the other girl was my age. But a lot of the girls were either from Wyoming or like some surrounding state and they're like oh my gosh, you've never seen snow before let's go. So I went outside. I was like guys, it's so cool, I literally have a video of me like walking and like everyone, just like walking like normal and I'm just like in the snow. And I'm like guys, look a snowball, like I'm just looking at a snowball and they're like what are you doing?
Speaker 1:I'm like people are looking at me weird. I'm like this is so cool and I was like guys, what if I just jump into the snow? I wish they told me. No, I jumped into the snow and like what? Like the snow was like up to here. I jumped and went this oh, yeah, I was like where's the ground? Like I thought it was up here, but yeah yeah, it was fun some days.
Speaker 2:That's cool. How was playing on the team over there like how was, how was that it?
Speaker 1:was definitely an experience, because volleyball it was like a good, bad experience, but um volleyball in wyoming and just like that area in general is so much different from hawaii volleyball oh, how so because hawaii volleyball is more like, because a lot of the girls here are like undersized, like there's a lot of like shorter girls that come out of Hawaii.
Speaker 1:So a main point in Hawaii volleyball is always defense, defense, defense. Because it's like, oh, you're going up against these like six, four girls that are like committed to Wisconsin, but hey, if she can't hit it down and you're digging every ball, you're fine like you can still win the game like that.
Speaker 1:But over there everyone is around my height, like everyone's like, ranging from like 5, 10 to like 6, 2, so the defense aspect was not there. Oh and um, it was a lot. It was a lot of heavy offense and I don't know if it was because it was a junior college like, just because like that's the level of play, but we weren't very, um like, technical about things like there wasn't ever like a breakdown of like okay, here, this is the form you have to have, like okay, if you do this and this is gonna happen, or hey, maybe there wasn't.
Speaker 1:Coach rob likes to reference it as like there wasn't volleyball iq. Like volley iq is a word that she uses. There's not a lot of like thinking that was going on. It was kind of just like get the kill yeah oh, you didn't get the kill. Why didn't you get the kill? I don't know. Try again, like get the kill, like there wasn't, there wasn't, like okay, like I have this blocker up, this blocker up, oh, if I roll, shot it here like it was, just if you got the point.
Speaker 1:You got the point, good job no, yeah, there really wasn't, and it was hard for me being in Wyoming in general, but also because I was so new to the sport, I was still a little bit behind people. I'm super thankful that they gave me the opportunity though, because if I were them, I definitely wouldn't have taken a chance on myself. But I didn't get playing time my freshman year and I was, you know, super homesick. I was going through like seasonal depression, which I didn't even know was a thing, because it's always sunny here like it's always sunny in hawaii, like you don't.
Speaker 1:There's never like, oh it's. It's like snowy outside, this sucks, like I'm stuck inside. And I was going through that and just the lack of playing time was super hard for me and I was kind of like what's like? What am I doing wrong? And I was talking with my dad. He was like, okay, maybe like you redshirt this year and like you get that year back. And I was like like okay, like I'm not going to play, I'll just redshirt this year, I'll get it back. You know, I'll use it like the next school that I go to and my coach. I guess we weren't on the same page, because the rule with redshirting is that if you step foot on the court, your whole year is burnt out.
Speaker 1:Oh, like for a game, yeah, so if I went in for a game, if I went in like, so say, I hadn't played like the whole year, and there was one game where she subs me in for one rotation, my whole year is burnt out. Oh shoot, yeah. My whole year is burnt out. Oh shoot, yeah. So I think we were in like a regional play or like after our season and our starting opposite wasn't delivering and she put me in and burnt my whole year and I couldn't, I couldn't redshirt at all.
Speaker 1:And then which I'm really thankful for, because I definitely don't think I should have redshirted at a junior college- yeah, but um then it got. It was kind of weird because after that, um, I was kind of promised like, oh, okay, like you know, over the summer, like you got better, where you're gonna be our captain, you're gonna be our starting opposite, like all these promises of this, this, this, this this, and then season rolls around. I don't play, oh, this is your sophomore year yeah, so I didn't.
Speaker 1:I didn't set foot on the court like I would every once in a while, but it was always like, okay done, like it was really short-lived and I didn't start playing more consistently until maybe like three-fourths of the season was gone already.
Speaker 1:And yeah, so I finally got like my first actual starting game and I started playing more consistently and, yeah, after that it was, it was just like I was like, okay, well, I guess I have to lock in or something like yeah, I was trying to have like a better uh mindset on it, because in junior colleges they have, instead of senior nights, we have sophomore nights oh, because it's two years yeah, those are your last years, so I was at least grateful that I was allowed to play in front of my dad came up, uh, my grandma came up, my mom I said that they all like came up to see me and I was like okay, okay, at least like thankfully she let me play this time.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's super cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I would definitely say Wyoming was a difficult time in my life, but definitely like an experience that I needed to go through Made you strong. Yeah, for sure. And I, after going through that, like I always tell people there's also something that I told my dad. I like to tell people that I came up with it, but it was really credit to my dad. Um, but it's always, you can always come back home. You can't always leave home because there's always like that fear of like, oh, I'm gonna go, like, oh, I'm scared to like leave home, like I'm you know like what's gonna happen, but with me like already taking that step out. I like completely agree with that. Like I always tell people like if you have the opportunity to go away, do it, unless, like you got the opportunity to like play at UH, like I did. But yeah, um, I, yeah, I like preach that, like if you have the opportunity to go go and then like experience it for yourself and like figure out, like okay, I didn't like this.
Speaker 1:Or okay, like this was awesome, like I'm glad I did it because at least, like you'll never have that regret of should I have gone, because you're just stuck at home now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so how did you end up at UH? That must be a cool story as a volleyball player in Hawaii. That's all you see, is UH volleyball.
Speaker 1:Yeah, especially going up here yeah yeah so there's there's um a couple ways that I got onto UH, which I'm so thankful that they worked um, but I over the summer, well, okay. So this is what happened.
Speaker 1:I'll give you the the full rundown of yeah, let's go, let's go uh so when I was in Wyoming after my sophomore night, our coach reached out to us and was like hey, there's this recruiting camp that's in Nebraska, omaha, nebraska. Um, if you guys want to sign up for it, there's going to be like this list of coaches there. Like it's good for exposure. And I was like a lot of the girls that were a part of my sophomore class were quitting volleyball, like after that they were just done, and it was only like me and one other girl that was like okay, I want to continue playing, playing. I was the only person out of my sophomore class. I ended up going to this recruiting camp and I was like I've been to Wyoming, I'll go to Nebraska kind of similar yeah so I went and after that I got a couple emails from a couple schools.
Speaker 1:I got one from this college in Lacey, washington it's, uh, st Martin's University, and I was like, oh, cool, like they're a division two school. But I was like you know what, like that was like the highest that I had reached, because I was still kind of getting like, um, naia, like D3, and I was like you know what d2 like that's like people always like kind of like shine the light on like, oh, d1 or nothing like there, if you have the opportunity to play college volleyball in general, like it's such like an amazing experience that. Because, like for a long time I was like I don't want to go anywhere but a division one school. So when I got that um email from that coach, I was like, okay, cool, like I'll look into it, I'll keep like I'll keep it in mind. And things started getting a little more serious and, um, I wasn't offered a full ride. At first I was offered partial, then I got a little bit more of a partial, then I got a little bit more partial and then I ended up getting a full.
Speaker 1:The worst part for this team was that by the time they gave me a full ride. I was already talking to Coach Robin and I was already, so it's kind of like the timeline of things and I was already. Um, so it's kind of like the timeline of things because especially I, the way that I think about it, is that my high school year and my like call my first two colleges were basically like just the same. They were basically just like, okay, not a lot of film, not a lot of stuff to go off of. Then again, not a lot of film, not a lot of stuff to go off of. But I came home for the summer and I was working out, um, there was a men's player his name is James Anastasiadis. He used to play for UH. Super good, he is a fan of my dad, which is such a weird thing to even think about that Like a player that I used to watch as a kid is like a fan of my dad, everybody's a fan of your dad.
Speaker 1:He likes to think that everybody is. So he reached out to my dad and was like, oh, I like have these like volleyball trainings, like does your daughter want to come? So my dad reached out and he was like, yeah, like is it okay if I bring her? And there is a volleyball gym on Dillingham called Volley Hoy. That's where we had our practices and I would go and I would just, I would just perfect my craft and I would just be in there all the time.
Speaker 1:And my dad kind of implemented that into me, that like the more you work, the better you are. Like you have to put in, not just like like everyone is doing this much. You have to do this much to be better than the people that are like already here, you're here, you have to work to be better than them. Like you can't just be doing the same things as them. So I was in there consistently and there was just one day where he was like you know what? Like I see so much potential in you and I really think that you know, like if we got you the chance, like I think you could be, like I think you could be, I think you could go to UH, and like that sentence alone, just like.
Speaker 1:Like. I was like no way. Like like growing up, like watching these girls and like just like idolize, like idolizing them and being like did you just say university of? Like I could go there? Like that's insane. And I told my dad I was like, yeah, like, because he said like I could have a real chance. And he went and talked to the coaches and then my one of my uncles um, my uncle Jason like knew coach Rob when they were younger and in college and my uncle Jason has always been super supportive of me and he was he. The funniest part was that when I was younger, playing volleyball, he would like if my dad posted on Facebook like, oh, here's Tyler playing volleyball, my uncle Jason would mention coach Rob and be like oh, rob, and I'm all like here's your next recruit and like coach Rob like has no idea who I am and my uncle was just like, hey, like here's, here's my niece, like recruit her like
Speaker 1:bring her home. And my uncle reached out to coach Robin, was like my niece, this is my niece like I just want, like if you could give her like the opportunity, like just to try out. And he kind of talked to her and was like she's this, she's like she's athletic, she's tall, like I think she has like a real chance. And there was just one day where I just got I don't remember if it was email or text, but I got some kind of message from the recruiting coordinator, one of our coaches, coach Khalil, and he was like hey, I would like to, like I would love to sit down and chat with you. And I almost cried. I was like wow, like are, like are you serious? Like this is actually happening. And I was like I'd love to.
Speaker 1:And then I finally got in touch with um coach rob through my uncle and she was like coaching her club team at um gym, one over here at uh. But she was like yeah, just come. I I'm pretty sure these were like 16 year olds and I was like 19 at the time. And she was like come practice with my girls. And I was like okay, like I was super nervous. I showed up to the practice like an hour early and I was like, oh my gosh, like I'm so nervous and I went and I guess she saw like I did have the potential, that my uncle said that I did, and after that I got a call from them. They're like, hey, can you come to the coach's office?
Speaker 1:and I was like, okay, like I didn't think anything like anything of it and I was like all right, like okay, I'll be there as soon as I can, because I literally dropped everything coming right now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was like like I think I was at practice when they called me and I was like do you need me to come right now because I'll leave my practice? They're like, no, just come after. And I was like, okay, um, sorry, like that was weird. And um, I ended up going and they sat down and they're like we'd love to offer you like a walk-on position on your team. And I was sitting there and I was like trying to have a straight face and be like oh yeah, I was like shaking inside. I was like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, like the like little Tyler was freaking out and that's awesome it was. It was like so surreal.
Speaker 1:I was like there's no way that I'm sitting in front of these coaches and they're like I want you to be on my team. And I didn't even care about like the scholarship part of it. I was like you just told me you want me to be on your team. That's all I needed to hear. Yeah, and I was so, I was so thankful. I was like thank you guys so much. And it was funny because coach Rob was like yeah, like just go home, just talk to your family. You know, you don't have to let us know like right away, but you know when you can? I in my head was I don't have to talk to them.
Speaker 2:I was like I'll tell you this right now yeah, I was like, can I just say yes now?
Speaker 1:But I had to hold it back and then I think the first person that I called, oh, I might have. I'm not sure what I did actually I was so excited in the moment, but I do know that I went to Starbucks and I got a celebratory drink. But I remember sitting in my auntie's car in the Safeway that's over here and just like crying tears of joy. I was like this is amazing and just like crying tears of joy. I was like this is amazing, like like everything that I'd like I've gone through with like high school and like my junior college, like it led up to this and like I kind of felt like all the hardship that I had gone through wasn't just like something that was for nothing. And I was like, okay, like I like, like I did, did it, I did what, like my dream is, which was playing for uh yeah so how dope did it feel putting on the jersey with your name on it?
Speaker 1:it was. I wish we had our names on it.
Speaker 2:I would oh, that's right, you guys don't have it on there, that's right, I'm trying to.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to petition to get our names on it, to put on your jersey with your number I was like if my last name was on it, I think it'd be a little cooler. But putting on the jersey for the first time, I'm pretty sure I took a million pictures and I was showing all of my family and all of my friends. I was like guys, like I can't believe this, like it's real. The first time that I put on a jersey wasn't actually like a game or anything.
Speaker 1:It was like for media and I was just like I had to walk from the stand sheriff center all the way to like one of the buildings that's by the parking lot in my jersey and I was like I'm cool.
Speaker 2:I was like I'm the long way around.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was like I'll walk slower. Yeah, everyone looking me and I was. Yeah, I was just super excited and I remember that I kept it on for a really long time after media day was done because that's so cool. I was just like sitting in the locker room because, like, I even got my plaque, so it has my name and like it says I am holy, and I'm just like sitting at like my locker just staring at it. I'm like wow, like I like wow, like this is so cool, and I was like I don't, like I don't know what to do, like do I take it off?
Speaker 1:or do I like? Can I keep it? But yeah, it was just. Yeah, it's just, that's super cool. Top 10 moments of my life.
Speaker 2:I can't wait till my daughter hears this. That's so inspiring. And yeah, I mean I seen your post. It has the. When you had your jersey on and it says chapter three to homecoming, I was like yeah, yeah, yeah. That's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:I kind of like that I had to think about that one, yeah.
Speaker 2:That's extremely good. And how has it been? So this is your second year playing for UH, right? Yes, so how has it been from last year to this year? Because, um, you guys did all right last year and, um, you guys, in my opinion, got so far and I feel like you guys are like gonna hit that next level is you guys are fun to watch. I mean, I, I got to have court side seats, one of your games. Oh yeah, it's pretty scary, you cannot. You got to pay attention.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you got to be locked in too, because I don't want to be on Hungry Hawaiian getting hit in the head by a volleyball Like one of the girls, chases the ball down and just punches you in the face.
Speaker 2:Yeah Like oh well, there went my career as anything.
Speaker 1:There went my career as anything. Now you're known as the guy that got punched in the face at a volleyball game, exactly, but how has it been from last year to this year?
Speaker 2:You guys are getting excited to start the season. Well, you? Got a little bit of time left right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, from this. Well, okay, so, from my, my freshman year, my true junior year, to my cause I I redshirted my junior year.
Speaker 2:So Okay, so you get two years left.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I had this year and well, so this past year I was supposed to have been graduated, but I have this next coming year in the fall, which I'm super thankful for.
Speaker 1:And from my first year here to my second year it was, it was definitely like a different kind of team, because my first year we had, I believe, six seniors, oh yeah, and compared to my second year we only had two.
Speaker 1:We only had two seniors, and to have a group, like a group of 16 people and take away like six like core people, kind of threw everything off and like we had to kind of I would say like last year was like our rebuilding season kind of, and it was a lot of figuring out like who's gonna fit in what role and who's going to do what, because, like I said, like we had six core people, six basically leaders just leave, and we're trying to figure out like how to uphold the standards that they had for us, like coming into a new year.
Speaker 1:And it was definitely rough at first, but I think the group of girls that we did have and the two leaders that we had, it just it worked out perfectly and we I was I would definitely say that I think that if we had the same team from those prior year coming into the next one, I definitely think that we would have made it a little bit further in the ncaa uh finals and yeah, I mean I'm hoping that this this past year kind of transitions into this coming fall yes, but losing your setter and libero yeah, we lost kate, our setter, and taylor, libero.
Speaker 1:The good thing is that this well, okay. So we have about like five, six like new people that came onto our team this spring, so right now we're working on incorporating the things that we've had. Oh well, okay. So the oldest person is me, um, so you're not a heater I like to think so, but maybe not enough in.
Speaker 1:In my own way I am but, um, we're trying to carry on the the like legacy of some sort that we had from my first year and from that second year and kind of carry it into this third year and upholding that standard that was kind of implemented from the start. So it's kind of what we're working on now. So I'm hoping it gets a little bit better, but it's we. We've always had a good group of girls like, yeah, there's never been a time where it's like there was really any real drama, because usually that's what happens with girls sports is there's always some kind of drama, something's happening.
Speaker 2:But yeah, club ball is the same. Like these girls are insane especially all our girls is from waimanalo kaniyia they get the moca hauntus action and, like you guys, gotta knock it off. Oh, I'm sure, yeah coach rob.
Speaker 1:Coach rob definitely is a coach. That is like no drama whatsoever. She's very um she. She tries to uh teach us how to be people and not just athletes yeah so a lot of the time she's like oh, if you have a problem, like go and talk to that person, like say it to their face. Like we don't want, like oh, did you hear what so-and-so said? Like we try to, we're trying our best to like cut that out and stuff, and that's the best way yeah, and she, like I said, like she's trying to teach us how to be people and not just athletes.
Speaker 1:Like like our whole life is not just volleyball. Like we're after volleyball, we're gonna have to have like some kind of life skills, yeah, but yeah, we're, we're. I would say this is like also part of our rebuilding here, in a way, and yeah, we have a, we have a little bit of a way to go, but I'm I'm confident that either fall it'll, it'll be all yeah, I'm confident too and I do notice, through, like a bunch of yours and your teammates, instagrams, like you guys, do seem very close and silly and fun, and I think that's that's what matters.
Speaker 2:I mean, you're doing this to not have fun, but you gotta lock in at some point.
Speaker 2:Um, shoot, your story is pretty cool. Like it's probably not everybody has one I guess that's on the team but yours on to me is cool. I think you could inspire some of these young up-and-coming girls and hopefully, because of how you take your career, like they'll take notice and I'm yeah for me personally, I'm excited to share this um episode with my daughter and some of her teammates, maybe motivate them in a positive way. Um, we've been going for almost hours. I want to get to some questions. My daughter wanted me to ask you. She said how do you balance your academics and sports and do you have any tips for her?
Speaker 1:academics, well, okay. So the thing that is kind of the biggest thing is remember that you're student before athlete. It's always student athletes, never athlete student. So there's a lot of times where you have to prioritize like school instead of um, like, oh, my friends are gonna go hang out and oh, like you know, I mean like the fun part I think that's kind of what I was brought up doing from a young age was like just prioritizing, like what are my priorities? Like my dad kind of taught me like okay, like you have to surround yourself with people that are like-minded, have like goals that are like first and especially like for us being on the road all the time. School is super important and luckily our coaches understand that too and they give us, uh, like specific study hall hours during our trips, which I think is also just something that's really important to do, even if, like, even at your daughter's age, like yeah like studying time, like setting time, like okay, like this is what my, like my week schedule is looking like.
Speaker 1:I have practice Monday, wednesday, friday, from four to six, tuesday, thursday. Let me get rid of like, let me do all my homework, like right now, and also like, when you do have just like the littlest amount of downtime, if you have something to do, you have something to do. If you have homework that's due two weeks from now, just do it, just get it out of the way.
Speaker 2:All right, I can't wait for my daughter to hear this. I tell her the same stuff. Maybe, hearing it from you, it'll sink in. That's a good concept and she does try to do that. She'll try to do assignments ahead of time that way. Yeah, she doesn't have to focus on it after um, yeah, I think another like.
Speaker 1:Another thing, sorry, but is like don't overload yourself at the same time.
Speaker 1:Like do what you have to, but also don't like get to the point where you're like breaking out, where you're just like, oh my gosh, like I have so much, like you're stressing yourself out because then you're gonna get to a point where you're just like I just don't want to do any of it and it's gonna be like I don't want to go to practice and I don't want to do my homework.
Speaker 1:I'm kind of just gonna sit here and like be not stressed out for a second. So, like I would definitely recommend like not being like okay, like I have to do this, this, this, this, this right now, because I have practice at this time and oh, I have to do this, and just kind of. I think one of my biggest tips would be to like I had I picked this up really late, like it probably within like the last year I picked this up using a planner or a calendar and scheduling things makes your life so much easier. Like I know there's schools that like give kids planners like to use to like write their homework down and stuff. I took that for granted because college does not give you planners, you have to do it on your own.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but you got these things. You can put it in here yeah dead alarms and all kind of stuff. Okay, let's see the next question what helped you get? What helped get you to where you are today?
Speaker 1:I think the main thing I would say there's about like two things. I one thing being the support that I've had, just like the support from my family, for my friends, from everyone that cares about me, also my coaches and like kind of not just like having the support, but also like using the support that I have, like kind of like falling back on it and being like okay, like I can do this. Like a lot of. There's a lot of times where I do lean on my parents, like I'll call my dad and be like I had a bad practice and he'll kind of talk me through it. And like I like to think that his job is to make me feel better about myself and kind of like hey, like, since he's a comedian, he's always the person that like if I need to laugh about something, he'll always know how to do that. And my mom is always a person like I can call her and just like vent about everything and she'll be like okay, are you done? Like are you good? Yeah, I am. And like like using that support that I have and using just like the resources in general. It's like also from like a volleyball standpoint, it's like, oh, hey, like do you have training today, or like like should I? Like asking the coaches, like okay, what do I need to work on? And kind of like that kind of stuff too.
Speaker 1:And the second thing I would say is, throughout my entire years of playing sport, like the number one thing is like what do you do outside of what you have to do?
Speaker 1:That's like the number one thing. Like what extra are you doing that other people aren't doing? Like my dad always like kind of put in my head when I was younger, like he would, there was like a time where he would make me go to high school and like run or something, and I was like I don't want to, like I was a little kid, like I just want to like either sleep, watch tv or like go play outside. Like I don't want to go run out of high school right now. And the one thing that always stuck with me was like you're doing this while these other girls are sleeping, like that was always what I like like stood out to me. I was like you're right, they're probably sleeping. I was just like this is this is like I go to saying like what's the extra that you're gonna do outside of like what everyone else is doing, and I think that's also what just like builds character and kind of gives you like that, like what are you willing to do to be the best at what you do?
Speaker 2:yeah, you have no idea how happy I am that you just said that, because I used to be a martial artist and I had that same mindset. And I'm trying to keep that kind of mindset with my daughter and she's been, she's been training with me but I always want her to do more. And it's like my daughter's five feet, she's small and she's a libero and she's so aggressive and she's she's that kid, like she's the one that tries the hardest. And I tell her you're two feet smaller than everybody, so you gotta work two times harder than everybody. And she'll come to the gym with me, do plyometrics and like she'll do the work and she takes it serious.
Speaker 2:And it's hard to hear from her dad and every time she's like okay, dad's telling me this again and that again, and like she hears it all the time. But hearing it from you, I hope, resonates with her more because she could do it, like you said, can do whatever she wants to do, but it's that little bit. And I always tell her you can have two talented people, but the person that works the hardest is the one that's going to be the it. It's always hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard and I think it's starting to sink into her as she's getting older. She's only a freshman and, um, yeah it, it's, it's cool to hear you say it.
Speaker 1:So hopefully, when she hears, you say it then um it'll resonate like yeah, that's yeah, like yeah, I like that, when you've been telling her the whole time, but that's how it works yeah, well, we've been um.
Speaker 2:She had a couple other questions, but you answered it throughout our conversation. So, yeah, and I was gonna ask you if you do, what kind of work do you do extra, like plyometrics, um weight training, like all that stuff? Like, what do you do on the side of like your traditional volleyball stuff?
Speaker 1:uh. So right now we have weights, like we'll do weightlifting every once in a while, especially since we're in spring season, but during our regular season we'll have weights every once in a while and, um, I think a lot of the stuff that I do specifically on my own is more in, like the summertime, because that's kind of when we're like our coaches aren't really allowed to like instruct us on anything. I go to this place that's over here. It's called, uh, tactical strength and conditioning, uh, daring yap, I go there. I've been going there since I was, I want to say, in the seventh grade and over. I want to say, one summer. I, because it's it's like a big thing to be able to touch 10 feet in volleyball. If you can touch 10 feet, like, you're good. Um, there was, there was, a year that I definitely wasn't touching 10 feet at the beginning and by the end of summer I was touching 10 too. Oh, wow, yeah.
Speaker 1:So he focused he's like really specific on like sports training, so like he was working me with, like I was doing a lot of plyo, a lot of um, like quick, explosive movements, a lot of squats, a lot of just a lot of jumping in general, and I think that was something that helped me a lot. I would say that, for from like a soccer player going to like a volleyball kind of aspect, the thing that was the like, the best thing for me overall was like the footwork aspect. Oh yeah, like I think there's a lot of people like that don't have that like footwork and they're kind of like you know what I mean like I can confidently say that I have the best footwork on my team because, I played soccer and I think that that's like a really big thing to work on too.
Speaker 2:So, like plyos, weights every once in a while, um conditioning when I feel like it, and a lot of work and yeah well, um, one thing I want to touch on before we're done is what I liked about talking to your dad was the way he described his and your relationship. And for me, I kind of as a parent, I always take stuff from other people and because I have a daughter and that's, I only have a daughter, I only have a daughter. And I learned a lot from talking to your dad and seeing how your dad is and how he thinks about you. And then I seen him at your game, like he's standing on, like by the tunnel and there's no way you're not going to know that's him Right, and like just to see the pride in his face and and how happy he was to see you doing your, your dream. And I want that kind of relationship and have that kind of interaction with my daughter and I think it's working out in that aspect.
Speaker 2:But, um, yeah, I, I definitely admire yours and your dad relationship as a father daughter and I think that's super cool and that's something that I don't take for granted with my daughter and I've learned from you guys. So thank you for being a great example well, thank you.
Speaker 1:It took, it took us a while to, yeah, get to that point for sure, but me and my dad have always been close since I was a little kid, so it was always just like he was always there for me and I think that's always like a big thing. And we actually just got back from he had a show on Kona and I went with him as his videographer, so I got to spend 24 hours with him and I mean it's always a good time because I I definitely take over my dad in the kind of like way that he cracks jokes. We kind of have the same humor for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you guys made videos together too.
Speaker 1:Uh, yeah, yeah a lot of the time I'm kind of forced to do that.
Speaker 2:But yeah, that's what I thought.
Speaker 1:Sometimes I'm like do I really have to do that? But yeah, that's what I thought. Sometimes I'm like do I really have to do this? Like I'm in college now, like this is not. This is not stuff that regular like other college people are doing. He was like do you want to be, do you want to be a social media marketer or not? And I'm like I guess yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, yeah, thank you. I mean a lot though, lot though. Yeah, that's super cool. Well, on instagram, where can people find you on your social media?
Speaker 1:uh, my instagram is my name, tyler reese k monic, and that's pretty much the main social media that I use right on and they'll be able to see you at stan sheriff this coming season.
Speaker 2:And, and for me, as always, you can find us on above the bridge podcast, on Instagram, our YouTube above the bridge podcast, our website is atbpodcom and my personal Instagram is daddy, daddy Hi. Um, one thing I do have to ask. Uh, after the season is done, I would ask for you to come on and talk to me about you guys winning some championships.
Speaker 1:So I would request that.
Speaker 2:That would be super cool, and this is going to be your senior year, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I'll have my senior night this coming year.
Speaker 2:All right, I'll probably be there. Perfect, yeah, have nice senior night this coming year. All right, I'll probably be there. Yo, perfect. Yeah, well, I appreciate you and thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule and it means a lot, and, um, thank you for having me. Yeah, hopefully this will inspire some of these young girls and get them, get them going chasing their dreams, whatever it may be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'd love to meet your daughter one day yeah, for sure, for sure, she, she's a little firecracker. Yeah, right on. Well, um shakas for the cameras and we're out. Shout out to the artist Group Network Aloha.
