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.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 2 (00:09):
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Aloha, okay, this week my guestis the outside hitter for the
uh rainbow wahine.
She's also the daughter tocomedian james mane, who I had
on my show.
Her name's tyler reese mane.
What's up, girl?
Hi, thank you for coming on myshow.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
You just called practice uh, I had weights today
.
Luckily, practice is tomorrow,so how far out do you guys?

Speaker 2 (03:15):
how far out do you guys start practicing with the
team before the season?

Speaker 1 (03:20):
uh, so regular season , we'll probably start our
summer workouts around.
I want to say like first ishweeks of july, like middle of
july too, and then we'll go allthe way until august, and then
the first two weeks of augustare dedicated to our double days
.
So we'll have two practices,practices for uh, five days out

(03:44):
of a week, and that's like a 6am practice until like nine
o'clock and then a little breakin between and then we go again
at about, I want to say likeeither two or four, something
like that, and then after thatwe'll go into season and then

(04:04):
we'll have Christmas break offand then we'll start up again.
I think we started around likeJanuary and we've been going
since then for our spring season.
So it's kind of like differenthours and stuff.
We'll go from eight hours ofpractice to 20 hours of practice

(04:26):
, then we'll have our springscrimmages, then, uh, last week
we just finished our last weekof 20 hours and then now we're
in eight hours.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
So she's you guys must be in shape, though we we
should be.
I was at a tournament lastweekend for my daughter and we
played robin's team.
Unfortunately, we lost to thembut they kept it pretty close.
They're pretty good.
But yeah, they had to ref.

(04:58):
So I was standing next to robinand she looks very intimidating
, her face looks very mean, butshe was so nice and she was
joking and I was like, okay, herdemeanor kind of threw me off,
but she was super funny and Iwas like, oh, she must be fun to
be around, but definitely notsomeone you'd want to piss off.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
Coach Rob is a very caring person and she treats
each and every one of us likeher own daughters and she's very
um involved in our likepersonal 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 everneed anything you can just go up

(05:43):
to her office.
She has a super comfy couch andshe's like if you need to talk,
just come up to come to theoffice and she's funny.
She cracks joke like jokes allthe time during practice and
that's cool she.
The reason she looks so serious, like specifically like in
volleyball, is just she's superpassionate.
She's probably one of the mostpassionate people I've ever met

(06:06):
because, especially her beinglike at the level that she made
it to like olympic setter likeshe's super passionate about
just volleyball in general,whether it's like coaching
people or playing or anythinglike that.
She's just overall just reallycares about the sport that's

(06:26):
cool.

Speaker 2 (06:26):
That's definitely somebody you want as a leader
and as a coach, because,especially because she did it
like she walks, walks it likeyou talk it, you can't.
You can't say, well, you're notdoing it, you never did it.
Like she did it all, yeah,that's, that's super cool.
Well, to back it up a bit, Ifirst heard about you through

(06:48):
your dad, and he explained to methat you played I for ia high
school.
You play three sports I thinkit was soccer, volleyball and
football, and that's what stuckout in my head, because you
normally don't see girls playingfootball.
How was playing football inhigh school?

(07:08):
And also, how was playingfootball?
Because your dad was coachingthe team at the time.
He was a head coach, but he's acoach though, so how was?

Speaker 1 (07:19):
that it was definitely well.
When I first did it, I was kindof like joking around people.
I was like, yeah, I mean, Iplay soccer.
I can definitely kick afootball, like it's easy.
And it was definitely a joke atfirst.
And I started talking to ourhead coach, who at the time was

(07:40):
Wendell Say um, he's an ADAcommander 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, weneed a kicker.
And like a couple years prior tome, there was a girl that
kicked at um at IL2 and she wasone of my close friends and I
like reached out to her and Iwas like, hey, how was it?
And she was like it was awesome, like I really enjoyed it.

(08:00):
And I was like you know what,I'll try.
So after I talked to um thehead coach about that, I told
him, hey, like what if my dadcoached?
And he was like, oh, I wouldlove for your dad to coach,
because that head coach was alsoone of my dad's head coaches
too, or like he coached when mydad was playing too, so he got

(08:21):
the luxury of coaching both ofus.
But um, yeah, and then I toldmy dad.
I was like, yeah, I told coachsay that you're gonna come coach
.
And he was like I didn't wantthat.
He's like I didn't tell you todo that.
And I was like, yeah, youdidn't like the whole thing was
just he was just like oh,whatever.
And then he went and it waskind of just both of us kind of

(08:44):
like going into it and just weended up enjoying it and like
loving being in that environmenttogether, um football in
general, just playing the sport.
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 ofproved myself to like my

(09:08):
teammates and showed them likeI'm not just like some girl,
that's like okay, I'll try, likeI'm just, I am like the real
deal, like I can kick the ball.
I think our first pre-seasonmatch we had a scrimmage against
McKinley and it was the firsttime that I was kicking in front

(09:28):
of everyone and they even likeput um pats in just so I could
kick oh, okay so I went andthere I don't.
I don't know where the video is,but there's a video on
Instagram of me kicking atMcKinley and I like blasted one
from like I think my first onewas like 30, 40 yards or

(09:50):
something like that, and I thinkthat's kind of when people were
like okay, she's not just hereto just mess around, and I think
that kind of helped me get myfoot in the door just with the
guys in general and I kind ofstarted being friends with them
a little bit more, becausepersonally I'm not a girly girl
and I don't think I ever havebeen.
Uh, I was definitely brought upas if I was my dad's son

(10:15):
instead of his daughter, but, um, I fit in really good with the
boys and they kind of took overas like my brothers in a way and
I was kind of just like theirsister and they're always super
nice to me.
The coaches were always sogrocery to me.
I had my own um in our lockerroom, Cause it was just like it

(10:37):
would be weird if I was justsharing the locker room with the
boys.
Uh, there was a coach's officethat was right in the front of
the locker room, so you'd walkin and then coach's office right
there and I got the coach'soffice to be my own locker room.
oh, that's super cool yeah, soit was air conditioned.
I could close the door so Ididn't smell the boys like like,

(10:59):
everything smelled bad in therebut yeah but my office but um
yeah, and then everyone just sosupportive of me, kind of like
breaking a barrier yeah and alot of.
I think one of the things thatwas most touching to me and like
the thing that was mostmemorable and I would take like

(11:20):
I take that with me every day isthe 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'mlike, yeah, I am.
They're like that's so cool andlike I it like really was just
so heartwarming for me to belike.
It kind of made me feel like Iwas someone that they looked up

(11:41):
to and yeah, I would alwaysadvocate for like just because
you're a girl doesn't mean likeyou can't do anything, like
you're not only subjected tojust this box of things.
Like you're a girl, you canonly do this.
You can do so much more thanjust this.
And it was nice because therewas also a lot of like little

(12:04):
kids just in general, wherethere's like boys or girls that
would come up to me and they'relike, oh my gosh, that's so cool
and I was like thank you, andit made me feel really good.
But, um, from the yeah, from thecoaching perspective of my dad,
it was definitely at most of Iwould say, 99% of the time it

(12:27):
was smooth sailing, we were goodbecause he didn't coach my
position.
Yeah, so he knew.
If you know, my dad doesn'tknow how to kick a football ball
, so he's not even going totouch the subject.
But like, there was one timewhere, um, I think it was like
one of the only times he yelledat me at practice was that I

(12:47):
went into the locker room to gograb my stuff and I just I went
in there and I was like this ACfeels really nice, it's really
hot outside.
And I took a second and I wentback out a little bit later and
he was like what are you doing?
Like.
And then, cause I'm not doinganything, like usually football
practices, kickers just go withthe special teams, or like then

(13:08):
you'll go on the side, you'llkick by yourself.
And he was like what are youdoing?
Give me, you know what, give mea lap.
So I had to.
I don't know if you know what Iis.
Football field looks likerunning on the dirt.
And he was like you're going tokeep running until I tell you
to stop.
And I was like and everyone,because no, nobody yells at me,

(13:28):
because I usually like I'm notdoing anything wrong.
Yeah, yeah and every like.
When I say that everyone likepaused and looked at me while my
dad was yelling at me, I'm likethey really just stopped and
was like oh snap, like like oh,there's her dad, not her coach,
yeah, and but other than that, Imean it was super fun.

(13:50):
It was always nice.
Whenever I would get into likeruts at all, like I would, I
have a couple pictures of likeum, if I like missed a kick or
something like there's picturesof me hugging my dad and kind of
like him being like my safespace and being like hey, it's
okay, like it's fine, and Ireally appreciate him being
there for me, especially like ata time like that, and he was

(14:11):
just, he was a big supporter ofme breaking those barriers and
stuff, and it was just, it wassuper nice.
I wouldn't I wouldn't tradethose that time of my life for
anything.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
That's super awesome, awesome, yeah, and he always
spoke highly of you and I meanhe's a big dude, so having him
yell, I could see why the wholeteam stopped.
I remember I had him on my showand then I've never met him in
person at that time because itwas during covid.
And then when I met him inperson I'm like, oh, like you

(14:45):
are big, yeah but um, not alittle guy yeah, but I
definitely respect that and I'mthe same.
I tell my daughter the samething like there's no box that
you're in, like you can dowhatever you want, like it's all
up to you and your mindset.
And then you got to put the workbehind it and it's going to be

(15:07):
hard and it's a trip, because Ithink she's developing that and
understanding it.
But, like how you weresupported by your dad, I'm the
same with my daughter.
Um, were you, were you a?
You were a three sport athletein high school.
What was your favorite sport?
Because right now you'replaying volleyball, but I you're

(15:30):
.

Speaker 1 (15:31):
I thought I was six and I played all the way until I
want to say, like my sophomoreyear of high school, and because

(15:54):
my sophomore year is when Ifully made that transition from
just playing high schoolvolleyball to being like okay, I
want to take this moreseriously and I moved into club
volleyball and stuff.
But it's a hard questionbecause I feel like each sport
kind of gave me like a differentfeeling from each one.
Like volleyball was definitelylike a place where I felt

(16:20):
comfortable in like a positiveenvironment, and I think that
was the reason why Itransitioned to volleyball in
the first place was like on asoccer field or when you're
playing football, usually peopleare yelling at you and they're
you know, they're like, oh, youhave to do better, like it's
always.
It's not that volleyball isn'tcompetitive, but it's just like

(16:40):
volleyball like like oh, Ishanked the ball out.
You know, right back, you'refine.
Like someone's alwayshigh-fiving you like no, you're
good.
Like I didn't get that fromsoccer and from football.
So I think I looked atvolleyball 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

(17:06):
it's fine.
I would tend to like get reallyhard on myself and like
self-criticize myself and belike, oh, like what?
And then it would kind of forceme to get into like a panic and
volleyball was just like.
Okay, like the person to myright isn't mad at me, I don't
have to be so hard on myself.

Speaker 2 (17:24):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (17:27):
Yeah, but soccer, I want to say that out of all of
those sports at the time, likehigh school specifically, I
would definitely say volleyballwas my favorite, but I will
always have a soft spot forsoccer.
But I will always have a softspot for soccer and I definitely
miss the contact part of soccer.

(17:50):
I don't know if my dad told youabout that or not, but I was
always so much bigger than girlsat that age I was probably
around like 5'10", 5'11" at thattime 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 likemajority of the girls that are
playing are, um, a lot of Asiangirls, like there's a lot of

(18:14):
little Asian girls yeah so 5, 1014 year old me going against a
five to 14 year old girl?
I was you're smashing yeah.
I think, there was one game Idon't like soccer.
I had a different mentalitythere Cause I was kind of like

(18:38):
it was the way that I saw it wasthat it was, yes, it was a team
sport, but it was more like ifI can do my job, the best I can
change this whole thing.
For volleyball it's kind oflike there's no like
individualism, like it's it'sokay.

(19:00):
I have to have other peopletouch the ball for me to succeed
at what I'm doing.
Soccer it's like give me theball, I'm going just.
I don't need anybody else.
And there was.
There was one game where Ithink I got a yellow card and I
was just like.
I was like, okay, yeah, yellowcard, let's go.
Usually that's not people'smentality, but I was like you

(19:23):
know what, let's see.
If like not not to be like, oh,I wanted to go and like hurt
people because that's definitelynot what I was about.
I was like I wonder if I canget a red card by the end of the
game like that was just likehow I thought about things at
that age.
But try to test it out yeah, I'mlike where, where's my limits?

Speaker 2 (19:42):
here.
That's funny.
So you took to volleyball in inhigh school, kind of more
predominantly as your favorite,but did you play club?

Speaker 1 (19:55):
I didn't play club because I started playing
volleyball.
It was weird the way that Istarted playing volleyball.
I came in from a privateCatholic school, so I went to a
privateolic school fromkindergarten to eighth grade.
we didn't have a high school, soI naturally went to my whole

(20:16):
family's alma mater and then I'mgoing out and the volleyball
coach found out that there waslike 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 asoccer player, doesn't matter.

(20:36):
And um, I went and my freshmanyear I was goofy footed, I could
not hit a ball to save my life,I couldn't pass.
I was like I could probablyjump just like barely three
inches off the ground.
But I was like, hey, this iskind of fun, and made that

(20:56):
transition from my freshman yearto my sophomore year being like
, ok, I want to take this moreseriously, I want to go
somewhere with this.
And I started playing club forJammers, um, for jammers.
Jammers was my first ever cluband, um, yeah, my uh head coach

(21:17):
at ia, coach blake yamamoto.
She was my club coach that'skind of why I got into jammers
in the first place and she, sheput me on her team and the cool
part was that there was alsogirls that were from IA that
also played in there.
So on our like 17s 18s team, wekind of like mixed groups and
stuff, and then after jammers,covid kind of hit a little bit

(21:41):
after that and I, I remember thelast thing I remember for
jammers was we were supposed togo to um Orlando.
I don't know if you know aboutthe Orlando tournament.
We just went last year.

Speaker 2 (21:53):
Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah so.

Speaker 1 (21:55):
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 youknow, it's not a good idea to go
and eventually the whole thinggot shut down and when COVID was
kind of like the wholesituation was getting a little

(22:15):
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, coachKevin Wong and he, he signed me
up at SAS.
So I, I was playing for Spikeand Serve, yeah, so we never had
any real games.
Oh really, yeah, we only hadpractice.

(22:37):
So I would go and practice attheir new gym that they have in
Kaligi and I think we playedlike a couple scrimmages like
against a couple teams, likemaybe like two or three games,
and after that it, I, that wasit.
So I only I really have onlyplayed two, like I would say

(23:01):
like one and a half of countingsass, like one and a half years
of club um, but after that itwas really hard going into my
senior year, because usuallyeveryone is probably recruited
by good schools, yeah, andhaving only those two years and
having one year not like havingany film from game was really

(23:26):
hard, so yeah, that's crazy Iknow what you mean, because I
went to orlando this past andI've got covid and my daughter
and yeah, it was, it was, theending was horrible.

Speaker 2 (23:41):
But yeah, just because we had covid, but um was
it?
Uh wong, he was an olympian.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
I believe, so I know that he played at UCLA.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
Yeah, and his brother is like a coach somewhere.
I think I forget.

Speaker 1 (23:58):
Yes, yeah, I want to say Pepperdine.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
Oh, okay, I think when the last time that he came
here he was coaching.
That's right, because I went tothat game, you guys played.
And then I took my daughterguys to um raising cane is it
canes?
Right by and their whole teamcame in and I was like, oh my
god, they are tall.
And he, the, they were there,the coaches, and everything.

(24:24):
I was like, yeah, it was cool,we got.
We got to see guys beat themand then we got to see them go
eat chicken.

Speaker 1 (24:31):
Watch them eat chicken, yeah.

Speaker 2 (24:35):
But that was cool.
So, because you didn't havethat much film, how hard was it
to get recruited?
I know you went to a juniorcollege, or was it Division II?

Speaker 1 (24:45):
A junior college.
Yeah, pretty, it was prettyhard, like if I didn't have the
support system that I didbecause, even though I was
playing for SAS, I still had, um, my high school coach, my first
club coach, helping me out andstuff, because, like they knew,
like I was late to the game andyeah for a really long time I

(25:10):
was just emailing coaches,emailing coaches and just trying
to get my name out there and Iwas using a lot of old film.
I was using high school filmwhich was hard because it was
always just my freshman andsophomore year, because junior
year, senior year, we didn'teven have seasons and then a lot

(25:32):
of my club film, but I still Istill wasn't at I definitely was
not at the level that I am nowfor sure, uh, but it was a lot
of recruiting, a lot of no's, alot of you're I don't think
you're ready a lot of um, oh,you know, like, maybe you know

(25:54):
we'll figure out like a spot foryou on our team, which really
means we don't really have aspot for you on our team, um,
but it, eventually I got a fullscholarship to a junior college
in Wyoming Casper Wyomingspecifically and the funniest

(26:15):
part was that I had gotten anemail from their assistant coach
, who was the recruiter at thetime, and he was like hey, like
you know, we're interested.
We saw your film, like we wantto talk to you, and I like
looked at it and I was likeCasper Wyoming.
That's really what I thought.

(26:39):
I was like Wyoming.
I was like Wyoming is a placelike there's places in Wyoming.
I don't like being from Hawaii.
I don't know how many otherHawaii people, but I don't know
where the states are reallyrealistically.

Speaker 2 (26:48):
I know we're.

Speaker 1 (26:49):
California, oregon, washington and a couple.

Speaker 2 (26:52):
New York, but yeah.

Speaker 1 (26:54):
Wyoming is not on my radar.
So I got the email and I waslike 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 andthey're like respond to this

(27:15):
person now, like they'reoffering you something good.
And I was like for the longesttime I was like I really don't
want to go to Wyoming, likethat's so.
So, out of nowhere, like I don'tknow anything, I pulled up
YouTube videos like 10 factsabout Wyoming, like I was trying
to figure out like what is thisplace?
And, um, I ended up getting incontact with a coach after kind

(27:43):
of dodging it for a long time,and he was like, yeah, we'll
give you a full ride.
You know, room and board, booksare covered, we'll cover your
meals.
And I got really lucky becauseat the time they're giving, um,
they're paying for either I wantto say I don't think it was a

(28:06):
full ride or a full round trip,but they're paying for plane
tickets.
Basically, okay, a full roundtrip but they're paying for
plane tickets.
Basically, and that means a lot,because from Hawaii I had to go
from Hawaii to Vegas and thenfrom Vegas I had to go to Denver
and from Denver I had to fly toCasper Wyoming because Casper

(28:27):
Wyoming does not have aninternational airport, so you
cannot fly directly there andthere's probably two gates in
the entire airport and that'show small it is and the planes
look like.
They're like like sketch.
Yeah, they're like tiny planes,like propeller planes and

(28:49):
you're like I don't know if Iwant to get on that.
But, um, yeah, I kind of satdown and I was like okay, like
well, tell me about your school.
And I was like you know what?
I realistically wasn't lookingat a lot of good offers.
There was a couple placesthey're offering like it was
mainly just junior colleges andnaia division, which is like

(29:11):
just one up from junior college.
But I was like I was looking ata lot of options and I was kind
of like these people are givingme 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, knowwhat?
Casper Wyoming, here I come,yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:34):
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 forsomething and I was like they
don't even have a hill.
I was like this sucks, I'mnever coming back here again
first and last time.

Speaker 1 (29:52):
Thank you, yeah.
Um, I feel like casper wyomingdefinitely lied to me when I
first got there, because I gotthere in the summer.
Uh, I think our report date waslike july 31st or or something
like that, I don't remember.
But um, I got there and I waslike it's so cool here.

(30:14):
I've never been in like the mid, like the middle of the United
States before, like, and I likeI haven't traveled a lot, like
I've only traveled to likesoccer tournaments or like
volleyball tournaments, that'sit.
Like I've never like traveledthis far in general and, um, it

(30:34):
was.
It was very much a lie.
It was definitely not what Ithought it was and I was like,
wow, it's nice and sunny hereand, um, it's the worst thing
about casper it is one of thewindiest places I've ever been
like I would even call that likemy windy city, like that's how

(30:57):
windy it was, because it wyomingis very like there's places
where there's mountains andstuff, but like casper was
pretty overall like just flat,flat, nothing.
And fun fact about Wyomingthere's more cows in the state
than there are people that wasnot a good stat yeah, I know

(31:20):
that sounds like I found thatout and I was like, is that
something to be?
like, oh, that's cool or like oh, that's concerning?
Yeah, but um, it was.
It was nice when I got thereand then I think it was maybe
sunny for about a week and thenit got cold and it got real cold
.
And, yeah, I was like, wow, itis summertime and I am wearing

(31:44):
sweatpants and a hoodie to gooutside.
And like, even when I was therefor my second year, my
sophomore year, I was thereduring the worst blizzard that
Wyoming has ever had.
And I mean, I was excitedbecause, like my freshman year,

(32:05):
I was like, oh yeah, snow.
I've never seen snow before.

Speaker 2 (32:08):
Like every white person, yeah, I'm like oh, snow
like this is so exciting.

Speaker 1 (32:09):
I've never seen snow before.

Speaker 2 (32:10):
Like every, white person yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:11):
I'm like, oh, snow, like this is so exciting.
I go and the snow is justfrozen rain.
I was like this is nothingspecial.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
Yeah, it's cool for like the first 10 seconds and
then it's like all right, I'mover it.

Speaker 1 (32:26):
Like I was so excited because I was like, oh, I have
like a winter coat, like I havethe fur on my head, I have like
I'm layered up, like I'm superwarm, and my dad was like wear
gloves, wear one of those likeface masks, put a beanie on.
You need a scarf.
And I'm like no, I don't.
He was like layering is soimportant.
And I was like, no, it's not,it's fine, I'll just go out and

(32:52):
like my, my jeans and my, myhoodie underneath my winter
jacket, with my you know, myshoes on.
I'll be fine.
I went outside freezing.
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 hecalls me when he's like, oh, how
was it, I'll be like it wasawesome.
Mine, I was actually.
Yeah, I was like it was'm notgoing to tell him because if he
calls me when he's like, oh, howwas it, I'll be like it was
awesome.
I was actually.

(33:12):
I was like it was actually toohot with my winter coat.
I had to take it off, but itwas so funny because a lot of
the girls on my team there wasme and two other girls that were
from Hawaii.
So, they like one girl hadalready been there and then the
other girl was my age, so likeone girl had already been there
and then the other girl was myage.

(33:33):
But a lot of the girls wereeither from Wyoming or like some
surrounding state and they'relike 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 asnowball, like I'm just looking

(33:53):
at a snowball and they're likewhat are you doing?
I'm like people are looking atme weird.
I'm like this is so cool and Iwas like guys, what if I just
jump into the snow?
I wish they told me.
No, I jumped into the snow andlike what?
Like the snow was like up tohere.
I jumped and went this oh, yeah, I was like where's the ground?

(34:17):
Like I thought it was up here,but yeah yeah, it was fun some
days.

Speaker 2 (34:23):
That's cool.
How was playing on the teamover there like how was, how was
that it?

Speaker 1 (34:29):
was definitely an experience, because volleyball
it was like a good, badexperience, but um volleyball in
wyoming and just like that areain general is so much different
from hawaii volleyball oh, howso because hawaii volleyball is
more like, because a lot of thegirls here are like undersized,

(34:53):
like there's a lot of likeshorter girls that come out of
Hawaii.
So a main point in Hawaiivolleyball is always defense,
defense, defense.
Because it's like, oh, you'regoing up against these like six,
four girls that are likecommitted to Wisconsin, but hey,
if she can't hit it down andyou're digging every ball,

(35:13):
you're fine like you can stillwin the game like that.
But over there everyone isaround my height, like
everyone's like, ranging fromlike 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 offenseand I don't know if it was

(35:38):
because it was a junior collegelike, just because like that's
the level of play, but weweren't very, um like, technical
about things like there wasn'tever like a breakdown of like
okay, here, this is the form youhave to have, like okay, if you
do this and this is gonnahappen, or hey, maybe there
wasn't.

(35:59):
Coach rob likes to reference itas like there wasn't volleyball
iq.
Like volley iq is a word thatshe uses.
There's not a lot of likethinking that was going on.
It was kind of just like getthe 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 thisblocker up, this blocker up, oh,

(36:20):
if I roll, shot it here like itwas, just if you got the point.
You got the point, good job no,yeah, there really wasn't, and
it was hard for me being inWyoming in general, but also
because I was so new to thesport, I was still a little bit
behind people.
I'm super thankful that theygave me the opportunity though,

(36:43):
because if I were them, Idefinitely wouldn't have taken a
chance on myself.
But I didn't get playing timemy freshman year and I was, you
know, super homesick.
I was going through likeseasonal 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.

(37:05):
There's never like, oh it's.
It's like snowy outside, thissucks, like I'm stuck inside.
And I was going through thatand just the lack of playing
time was super hard for me and Iwas kind of like what's like?
What am I doing wrong?
And I was talking with my dad.
He was like, okay, maybe likeyou redshirt this year and like

(37:28):
you get that year back.
And I was like like okay, likeI'm not going to play, I'll just
redshirt this year, I'll get itback.
You know, I'll use it like thenext school that I go to and my
coach.
I guess we weren't on the samepage, because the rule with
redshirting is that if you stepfoot on the court, your whole

(37:50):
year is burnt out.
Oh, like for a game, yeah, so ifI went in for a game, if I went
in like, so say, I hadn'tplayed like the whole year, and
there was one game where shesubs me in for one rotation, my
whole year is burnt out.
Oh shoot, yeah.
My whole year is burnt out.

(38:17):
Oh shoot, yeah.
So I think we were in like aregional play or like after our
season and our starting oppositewasn't delivering and she put
me in and burnt my whole yearand I couldn't, I couldn't
redshirt at all.
And then which I'm reallythankful for, because I
definitely don't think I shouldhave redshirted at a junior
college- yeah, but um then itgot.

(38:40):
It was kind of weird becauseafter that, um, I was kind of
promised like, oh, okay, likeyou know, over the summer, like
you got better, where you'regonna be our captain, you're
gonna be our starting opposite,like all these promises of this,
this, this, this this, and thenseason rolls around.

(39:01):
I don't play, oh, this is yoursophomore year yeah, so I didn't
.
I didn't set foot on the courtlike I would every once in a
while, but it was always like,okay done, like it was really
short-lived and I didn't startplaying more consistently until
maybe like three-fourths of theseason was gone already.

(39:26):
And yeah, so I finally got likemy first actual starting game
and I started playing moreconsistently and, yeah, after
that it was, it was just like Iwas like, okay, well, I guess I
have to lock in or somethinglike yeah, I was trying to have
like a better uh mindset on it,because in junior colleges they

(39:48):
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 wasallowed to play in front of my
dad came up, uh, my grandma cameup, my mom I said that they all
like came up to see me and Iwas like okay, okay, at least

(40:10):
like thankfully she let me playthis time.

Speaker 2 (40:13):
Oh, that's super cool .

Speaker 1 (40:14):
Yeah.
So I would definitely sayWyoming was a difficult time in
my life, but definitely like anexperience 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 Itold my dad.

(40:36):
I like to tell people that Icame up with it, but it was
really credit to my dad.
Um, but it's always, you canalways come back home.
You can't always leave homebecause 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 knowlike what's gonna happen, but
with me like already taking thatstep out.

(40:58):
I like completely agree withthat.
Like I always tell people likeif you have the opportunity to
go away, do it, unless, like yougot the opportunity to like
play at UH, like I did.
But yeah, um, I, yeah, I likepreach that, like if you have
the opportunity to go go andthen like experience it for

(41:19):
yourself and like figure out,like okay, I didn't like this.
Or okay, like this was awesome,like I'm glad I did it because
at least, like you'll never havethat regret of should I have
gone, because you're just stuckat home now.

Speaker 2 (41:35):
Yeah, so how did you end up at UH?
That must be a cool story as avolleyball player in Hawaii.
That's all you see, is UHvolleyball.

Speaker 1 (41:49):
Yeah, especially going up here yeah yeah so
there's there's um a couple waysthat 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.

(42:09):
I'll give you the the fullrundown of yeah, let's go, let's
go uh so when I was in Wyomingafter my sophomore night, our
coach reached out to us and waslike hey, there's this
recruiting camp that's inNebraska, omaha, nebraska.
Um, if you guys want to sign upfor it, there's going to be

(42:29):
like this list of coaches there.
Like it's good for exposure.
And I was like a lot of thegirls that were a part of my
sophomore class were quittingvolleyball, like after that they
were just done, and it was onlylike me and one other girl that
was like okay, I want tocontinue playing, playing.
I was the only person out of mysophomore class.

(42:52):
I ended up going to thisrecruiting camp and I was like
I've been to Wyoming, I'll go toNebraska kind of similar yeah
so I went and after that I got acouple emails from a couple
schools.
I got one from this college inLacey, washington it's, uh, st

(43:14):
Martin's University, and I waslike, 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 Iwas still kind of getting like,
um, naia, like D3, and I waslike you know what d2 like
that's like people always likekind of like shine the light on

(43:36):
like, oh, d1 or nothing likethere, if you have the
opportunity to play collegevolleyball in general, like it's
such like an amazing experiencethat.
Because, like for a long time Iwas like I don't want to go
anywhere but a division oneschool.
So when I got that um emailfrom that coach, I was like,

(43:57):
okay, cool, like I'll look intoit, I'll keep like I'll keep it
in mind.
And things started getting alittle 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 littlebit more partial and then I
ended up getting a full.

(44:18):
The worst part for this team wasthat by the time they gave me a
full ride.
I was already talking to CoachRobin and I was already, so it's
kind of like the timeline ofthings and I was already.
Um, so it's kind of like thetimeline of things because
especially I, the way that Ithink about it, is that my high
school year and my like call myfirst two colleges were

(44:40):
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 summerand I was working out, um, there

(45:00):
was a men's player his name isJames Anastasiadis.
He used to play for UH.
Super good, he is a fan of mydad, which is such a weird thing
to even think about that Like aplayer that I used to watch as
a kid is like a fan of my dad,everybody's a fan of your dad.

(45:22):
He likes to think that everybodyis.
So he reached out to my dad andwas like, oh, I like have these
like volleyball trainings, likedoes your daughter want to come
?
So my dad reached out and hewas like, yeah, like is it okay
if I bring her?
And there is a volleyball gymon Dillingham called Volley Hoy.

(45:45):
That's where we had ourpractices and I would go and I
would just, I would just perfectmy craft and I would just be in
there all the time.
And my dad kind of implementedthat into me, that like the more
you work, the better you are.
Like you have to put in, notjust like like everyone is doing
this much.

(46:05):
You have to do this much to bebetter 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 doingthe same things as them.
So I was in there consistentlyand there was just one day where
he was like you know what?
Like I see so much potential inyou and I really think that you

(46:26):
know, like if we got you thechance, like I think you could
be, like I think you could be, Ithink you could go to UH, and
like that sentence alone, justlike.
Like.
I was like no way.
Like like growing up, likewatching these girls and like
just like idolize, likeidolizing them and being like

(46:47):
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 thecoaches and then my one of my
uncles um, my uncle Jason likeknew coach Rob when they were

(47:11):
younger and in college and myuncle Jason has always been
super supportive of me and hewas he.
The funniest part was that whenI was younger, playing
volleyball, he would like if mydad 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

(47:32):
next recruit and like coach Roblike has no idea who I am and my
uncle was just like, hey, likehere's, here's my niece, like
recruit her likebring her home.
And my uncle reached out tocoach Robin, was like my niece,
this is my niece like I justwant, like if you could give her

(47:53):
like the opportunity, like justto try out.
And he kind of talked to herand 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 daywhere I just got I don't
remember if it was email or text, but I got some kind of message

(48:13):
from the recruiting coordinator, one of our coaches, coach
Khalil, and he was like hey, Iwould like to, like I would love
to sit down and chat with you.
And I almost cried.
I was like wow, like are, likeare you serious?
Like this is actually happening.

(48:34):
And I was like I'd love to.
And then I finally got in touchwith um coach rob through my
uncle and she was like coachingher club team at um gym, one
over here at uh.
But she was like yeah, justcome.
I I'm pretty sure these werelike 16 year olds and I was like
19 at the time.

(48:55):
And she was like come practicewith my girls.
And I was like okay, like I wassuper nervous.
I showed up to the practicelike an hour early and I was
like, oh my gosh, like I'm sonervous and I went and I guess
she saw like I did have thepotential, that my uncle said
that I did, and after that I gota call from them.

(49:17):
They're like, hey, can you cometo the coach's office?
and I was like, okay, like Ididn't think anything like
anything of it and I was likeall right, like okay, I'll be
there as soon as I can, becauseI literally dropped everything
coming right now.
Yeah, I was like like I think Iwas at practice when they called
me and I was like do you needme to come right now because

(49:38):
I'll leave my practice?
They're like, no, just comeafter.
And I was like, okay, um, sorry, like that was weird.
And um, I ended up going andthey sat down and they're like
we'd love to offer you like awalk-on position on your team.
And I was sitting there and Iwas like trying to have a
straight face and be like ohyeah, I was like shaking inside.

(50:01):
I was like, oh my gosh, oh mygosh, oh my gosh, like the like
little Tyler was freaking outand that's awesome it was.
It was like so surreal.
I was like there's no way thatI'm sitting in front of these
coaches and they're like I wantyou to be on my team.
And I didn't even care aboutlike the scholarship part of it.

(50:21):
I was like you just told me youwant me to be on your team.
That's all I needed to hear.
Yeah, and I was so, I was sothankful.
I was like thank you guys somuch.
And it was funny because coachRob was like yeah, like just go
home, just talk to your family.
You know, you don't have to letus know like right away, but

(50:42):
you know when you can?
I in my head was I don't haveto talk to them.

Speaker 2 (50:48):
I was like I'll tell you this right now yeah, I was
like, can I just say yes now?

Speaker 1 (50:52):
But I had to hold it back and then I think the first
person that I called, oh, Imight have.
I'm not sure what I didactually I was so excited in the
moment, but I do know that Iwent to Starbucks and I got a

(51:13):
celebratory drink.
But I remember sitting in myauntie's car in the Safeway
that's over here and just likecrying tears of joy.
I was like this is amazing andjust like crying tears of joy.
I was like this is amazing,like like everything that I'd
like I've gone through with likehigh school and like my junior

(51:34):
college, like it led up to thisand like I kind of felt like all
the hardship that I had gonethrough wasn't just like
something that was for nothing.
And I was like, okay, like Ilike, like I did, did it, I did
what, like my dream is, whichwas playing for uh yeah so how
dope did it feel putting on thejersey with your name on it?

(51:56):
it was.
I wish we had our names on it.

Speaker 2 (51:59):
I would oh, that's right, you guys don't have it on
there, that's right, I'm tryingto.

Speaker 1 (52:03):
I'm trying to petition to get our names on it,
to put on your jersey with yournumber I was like if my last
name was on it, I think it'd bea little cooler.
But putting on the jersey forthe first time, I'm pretty sure
I took a million pictures and Iwas showing all of my family and

(52:26):
all of my friends.
I was like guys, like I can'tbelieve this, like it's real.
The first time that I put on ajersey wasn't actually like a
game or anything.
It was like for media and I wasjust like I had to walk from the
stand sheriff center all theway to like one of the buildings
that's by the parking lot in myjersey and I was like I'm cool.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
I was like I'm the long way around.

Speaker 1 (52:48):
Yeah, I was like I'll walk slower.
Yeah, everyone looking me and Iwas.
Yeah, I was just super excitedand I remember that I kept it on
for a really long time aftermedia day was done because
that's so cool.
I was just like sitting in thelocker room because, like, I
even got my plaque, so it has myname and like it says I am holy

(53:12):
, and I'm just like sitting atlike 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 knowwhat to do, like do I take it
off?
or do I like?
Can I keep it?
But yeah, it was just.
Yeah, it's just, that's supercool.

(53:34):
Top 10 moments of my life.

Speaker 2 (53:36):
I can't wait till my daughter hears this.
That's so inspiring.
And yeah, I mean I seen yourpost.
It has the.
When you had your jersey on andit says chapter three to
homecoming, I was like yeah,yeah, yeah.
That's pretty cool.

Speaker 1 (53:54):
I kind of like that I had to think about that one,
yeah.

Speaker 2 (53:58):
That's extremely good .
And how has it been?
So this is your second yearplaying for UH, right?
Yes, so how has it been fromlast year to this year?
Because, um, you guys did allright last year and, um, you
guys, in my opinion, got so farand I feel like you guys are

(54:20):
like gonna hit that next levelis you guys are fun to watch.
I mean, I, I got to have courtside seats, one of your games.
Oh yeah, it's pretty scary, youcannot.
You got to pay attention.

Speaker 1 (54:32):
Yeah, you got to be locked in too, because I don't
want to be on Hungry Hawaiiangetting 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 (54:42):
Yeah Like oh well, there went my career as anything
.

Speaker 1 (54:47):
There went my career as anything.
Now you're known as the guythat got punched in the face at
a volleyball game, exactly, buthow has it been from last year
to this year?

Speaker 2 (54:56):
You guys are getting excited to start the season.
Well, you?
Got a little bit of time leftright.

Speaker 1 (55:03):
Yeah, from this.
Well, okay, so, from my, myfreshman year, my true junior
year, to my cause I I redshirtedmy junior year.

Speaker 2 (55:19):
So Okay, so you get two years left.

Speaker 1 (55:20):
Yeah, so I had this year and well, so this past year
I was supposed to have beengraduated, but I have this next
coming year in the fall, whichI'm super thankful for.
And from my first year here tomy second year it was, it was

(55:42):
definitely like a different kindof team, because my first year
we had, I believe, six seniors,oh yeah, and compared to my
second year we only had two.
We only had two seniors, and tohave a group, like a group of 16
people and take away like sixlike core people, kind of threw

(56:10):
everything off and like we hadto kind of I would say like last
year was like our rebuildingseason kind of, and it was a lot
of figuring out like who'sgonna fit in what role and who's
going to do what, because, likeI said, like we had six core
people, six basically leadersjust leave, and we're trying to

(56:35):
figure out like how to upholdthe standards that they had for
us, like coming into a new year.
And it was definitely rough atfirst, but I think the group of
girls that we did have and thetwo leaders that we had, it just
it worked out perfectly and weI was I would definitely say
that I think that if we had thesame team from those prior year

(57:01):
coming into the next one, Idefinitely think that we would
have made it a little bitfurther in the ncaa uh finals
and yeah, I mean I'm hoping thatthis this past year kind of
transitions into this comingfall yes, but losing your setter

(57:21):
and libero yeah, we lost kate,our setter, and taylor, libero.
The good thing is that this well, okay.
So we have about like five, sixlike new people that came onto
our team this spring, so rightnow we're working on
incorporating the things thatwe've had.

(57:43):
Oh well, okay.
So the oldest person is me, um,so you're not a heater I like
to think so, but maybe notenough in.
In my own way I am but, um,we're trying to carry on the the
like legacy of some sort thatwe had from my first year and

(58:09):
from that second year and kindof carry it into this third year
and upholding that standardthat was kind of implemented
from the start.
So it's kind of what we'reworking on now.
So I'm hoping it gets a littlebit better, but it's we.
We've always had a good groupof girls like, yeah, there's

(58:30):
never been a time where it'slike there was really any real
drama, because usually that'swhat happens with girls sports
is there's always some kind ofdrama, something's happening.

Speaker 2 (58:40):
But yeah, club ball is the same.
Like these girls are insaneespecially all our girls is from
waimanalo kaniyia they get themoca hauntus action and, like
you guys, gotta knock it off.
Oh, I'm sure, yeah coach rob.

Speaker 1 (58:58):
Coach rob definitely is a coach.
That is like no dramawhatsoever.
She's very um she.
She tries to uh teach us how tobe people and not just athletes
yeah so a lot of the time she'slike oh, if you have a problem,
like go and talk to that person, like say it to their face.

(59:20):
Like we don't want, like oh,did you hear what so-and-so said
?
Like we try to, we're tryingour best to like cut that out
and stuff, and that's the bestway yeah, and she, like I said,
like she's trying to teach ushow to be people and not just
athletes.
Like like our whole life is notjust volleyball.
Like we're after volleyball,we're gonna have to have like

(59:42):
some kind of life skills, yeah,but yeah, we're, we're.
I would say this is like alsopart of our rebuilding here, in
a way, and yeah, we have a, wehave a little bit of a way to go
, but I'm I'm confident thateither fall it'll, it'll be all

(01:00:04):
yeah, I'm confident too and I donotice, through, like a bunch
of yours and your teammates,instagrams, like you guys, do
seem very close and silly andfun, and I think that's that's
what matters.

Speaker 2 (01:00:20):
I mean, you're doing this to not have fun, but you
gotta lock in at some point.
Um, shoot, your story is prettycool.
Like it's probably noteverybody has one I guess that's
on the team but yours on to meis cool.
I think you could inspire someof these young up-and-coming
girls and hopefully, because ofhow you take your career, like

(01:00:45):
they'll take notice and I'm yeahfor me personally, I'm excited
to share this um episode with mydaughter and some of her
teammates, maybe motivate themin a positive way.
Um, we've been going for almosthours.
I want to get to some questions.
My daughter wanted me to askyou.
She said how do you balanceyour academics and sports and do

(01:01:12):
you have any tips for her?

Speaker 1 (01:01:15):
academics, well, okay .
So the thing that is kind ofthe biggest thing is remember
that you're student beforeathlete.
It's always student athletes,never athlete student.
So there's a lot of times whereyou have to prioritize like
school instead of um, like, oh,my friends are gonna go hang out

(01:01:39):
and oh, like you know, I meanlike the fun part I think that's
kind of what I was brought updoing from a young age was like
just prioritizing, like what aremy priorities?
Like my dad kind of taught melike okay, like you have to
surround yourself with peoplethat are like-minded, have like

(01:02:00):
goals that are like first andespecially like for us being on
the road all the time.
School is super important andluckily our coaches understand
that too and they give us, uh,like specific study hall hours
during our trips, which I thinkis also just something that's

(01:02:20):
really important to do, even if,like, even at your daughter's
age, like yeah like studyingtime, like setting time, like
okay, like this is what my, likemy week schedule is looking
like.
I have practice Monday,wednesday, friday, from four to
six, tuesday, thursday.
Let me get rid of like, let medo all my homework, like right

(01:02:40):
now, and also like, when you dohave just like the littlest
amount of downtime, if you havesomething to do, you have
something to do.
If you have homework that's duetwo weeks from now, just do it,
just get it out of the way.

Speaker 2 (01:02:58):
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 shedoes try to do that.
She'll try to do assignmentsahead of time that way.
Yeah, she doesn't have to focuson it after um, yeah, I think

(01:03:19):
another like.

Speaker 1 (01:03:19):
Another thing, sorry, but is like don't overload
yourself at the same time.
Like do what you have to, butalso 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, likeyou're stressing yourself out
because then you're gonna get toa point where you're just like
I just don't want to do any ofit and it's gonna be like I

(01:03:41):
don't want to go to practice andI don't want to do my homework.
I'm kind of just gonna sit hereand like be not stressed out for
a second.
So, like I would definitelyrecommend like not being like
okay, like I have to do this,this, this, this, this right now
, because I have practice atthis time and oh, I have to do
this, and just kind of.
I think one of my biggest tipswould be to like I had I picked

(01:04:05):
this up really late, like itprobably within like the last
year I picked this up using aplanner or a calendar and
scheduling things makes yourlife so much easier.
Like I know there's schoolsthat like give kids planners
like to use to like write theirhomework down and stuff.
I took that for granted becausecollege does not give you

(01:04:27):
planners, you have to do it onyour own.

Speaker 2 (01:04:29):
Yeah, but you got these things.
You can put it in here yeahdead alarms and all kind of
stuff.
Okay, let's see the nextquestion what helped you get?
What helped get you to whereyou are today?

Speaker 1 (01:04:48):
I think the main thing I would say there's about
like two things.
I one thing being the supportthat I've had, just like the
support from my family, for myfriends, from everyone that
cares about me, also my coachesand like kind of not just like
having the support, but alsolike using the support that I

(01:05:08):
have, like kind of like fallingback on it and being like okay,
like I can do this.
Like a lot of.
There's a lot of times where Ido lean on my parents, like I'll
call my dad and be like I had abad practice and he'll kind of
talk me through it.
And like I like to think thathis job is to make me feel
better about myself and kind oflike hey, like, since he's a

(01:05:33):
comedian, he's always the personthat like if I need to laugh
about something, he'll alwaysknow how to do that.
And my mom is always a personlike I can call her and just
like vent about everything andshe'll be like okay, are you
done?
Like are you good?
Yeah, I am.
And like like using thatsupport that I have and using

(01:05:55):
just like the resources ingeneral.
It's like also from like avolleyball standpoint, it's like
, oh, hey, like do you havetraining today, or like like
should I?
Like asking the coaches, likeokay, what do I need to work on?
And kind of like that kind ofstuff too.
And the second thing I would sayis, throughout my entire years

(01:06:16):
of playing sport, like thenumber one thing is like what do
you do outside of what you haveto do?
That's like the number one thing.
Like what extra are you doingthat other people aren't doing?
Like my dad always like kind ofput in my head when I was
younger, like he would, therewas like a time where he would

(01:06:38):
make me go to high school andlike run or something, and I was
like I don't want to, like Iwas a little kid, like I just
want to like either sleep, watchtv or like go play outside.
Like I don't want to go run outof high school right now.
And the one thing that alwaysstuck with me was like you're
doing this while these othergirls are sleeping, like that

(01:07:00):
was always what I like likestood out to me.
I was like you're right,they're probably sleeping.
I was just like this is this islike I go to saying like what's
the extra that you're gonna dooutside of like what everyone
else is doing, and I thinkthat's also what just like
builds character and kind ofgives you like that, like what

(01:07:20):
are you willing to do to be thebest at what you do?

Speaker 2 (01:07:27):
yeah, you have no idea how happy I am that you
just said that, because I usedto be a martial artist and I had
that same mindset.
And I'm trying to keep thatkind of mindset with my daughter
and she's been, she's beentraining with me but I always
want her to do more.
And it's like my daughter'sfive feet, she's small and she's

(01:07:50):
a libero and she's soaggressive and she's she's that
kid, like she's the one thattries the hardest.
And I tell her you're two feetsmaller than everybody, so you
gotta work two times harder thaneverybody.
And she'll come to the gym withme, do plyometrics and like
she'll do the work and she takesit serious.

(01:08:12):
And it's hard to hear from herdad and every time she's like
okay, dad's telling me thisagain 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, likeyou said, can do whatever she
wants to do, but it's thatlittle bit.

(01:08:35):
And I always tell her you canhave two talented people, but
the person that works thehardest is the one that's going
to be the it.
It's always hard work beatstalent when talent doesn't work
hard and I think it's startingto sink into her as she's
getting older.
She's only a freshman and, um,yeah it, it's, it's cool to hear

(01:08:59):
you say it.

Speaker 1 (01:09:00):
So hopefully, when she hears, you say it then um
it'll resonate like yeah, that'syeah, like yeah, I like that,
when you've been telling her thewhole time, but that's how it
works yeah, well, we've been um.

Speaker 2 (01:09:17):
She had a couple other questions, but you
answered it throughout ourconversation.
So, yeah, and I was gonna askyou if you do, what kind of work
do you do extra, likeplyometrics, um weight training,
like all that stuff?
Like, what do you do on theside of like your traditional
volleyball stuff?

Speaker 1 (01:09:37):
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 regularseason we'll have weights every
once in a while and, um, I thinka lot of the stuff that I do
specifically on my own is morein, like the summertime, because

(01:09:58):
that's kind of when we're likeour coaches aren't really
allowed to like instruct us onanything.
I go to this place that's overhere.
It's called, uh, tacticalstrength and conditioning, uh,
daring yap, I go there.
I've been going there since Iwas, I want to say, in the
seventh grade and over.

(01:10:19):
I want to say, one summer.
I, because it's it's like a bigthing to be able to touch 10
feet in volleyball.
If you can touch 10 feet, like,you're good.
Um, there was, there was, ayear that I definitely wasn't
touching 10 feet at thebeginning and by the end of

(01:10:39):
summer I was touching 10 too.
Oh, wow, yeah.
So he focused he's like reallyspecific 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 ofjumping in general, and I think

(01:11:05):
that was something that helpedme a lot.
I would say that, for from likea soccer player going to like a
volleyball kind of aspect, thething that was the like, the
best thing for me overall waslike the footwork aspect.
Oh yeah, like I think there's alot of people like that don't
have that like footwork andthey're kind of like you know

(01:11:29):
what I mean like I canconfidently say that I have the
best footwork on my team because, I played soccer and I think
that that's like a really bigthing to work on too.

Speaker 2 (01:11:42):
So, like plyos, weights every once in a while,
um conditioning when I feel likeit, and a lot of work and yeah
well, um, one thing I want totouch on before we're done is

(01:12:03):
what I liked about talking toyour dad was the way he
described his and yourrelationship.
And for me, I kind of as aparent, I always take stuff from
other people and because I havea daughter and that's, I only
have a daughter, I only have adaughter.

(01:12:30):
And I learned a lot fromtalking to your dad and seeing
how your dad is and how hethinks about you.
And then I seen him at yourgame, like he's standing on,
like by the tunnel and there'sno way you're not going to know
that's him Right, and like justto see the pride in his face and
and how happy he was to see youdoing your, your dream.
And I want that kind ofrelationship and have that kind

(01:12:53):
of interaction with my daughterand I think it's working out in
that aspect.
But, um, yeah, I, I definitelyadmire yours and your dad
relationship as a fatherdaughter and I think that's
super cool and that's somethingthat I don't take for granted
with my daughter and I'velearned from you guys.
So thank you for being a greatexample well, thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:13:16):
It took, it took us a while to, yeah, get to that
point for sure, but me and mydad have always been close since
I was a little kid, so it wasalways just like he was always
there for me and I think that'salways like a big thing.
And we actually just got backfrom he had a show on Kona and I

(01:13:36):
went with him as hisvideographer, so I got to spend
24 hours with him and I meanit's always a good time because
I I definitely take over my dadin the kind of like way that he
cracks jokes.
We kind of have the same humorfor sure.

Speaker 2 (01:13:58):
Yeah, you guys made videos together too.

Speaker 1 (01:14:01):
Uh, yeah, yeah a lot of the time I'm kind of forced
to do that.

Speaker 2 (01:14:04):
But yeah, that's what I thought.

Speaker 1 (01:14:05):
Sometimes I'm like do I really have to do that?
But yeah, that's what I thought.
Sometimes I'm like do I reallyhave to do this?
Like I'm in college now, likethis is not.
This is not stuff that regularlike other college people are
doing.
He was like do you want to be,do you want to be a social media
marketer or not?

(01:14:25):
And I'm like I guess yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:14:27):
I mean, yeah, thank you.
I mean a lot though, lot though.
Yeah, that's super cool.
Well, on instagram, where canpeople find you on your social
media?

Speaker 1 (01:14:34):
uh, my instagram is my name, tyler reese k monic,
and that's pretty much the mainsocial media that I use right on
and they'll be able to see youat stan sheriff this coming
season.

Speaker 2 (01:14:48):
And, and for me, as always, you can find us on above
the bridge podcast, onInstagram, our YouTube above the
bridge podcast, our website isatbpodcom and my personal
Instagram is daddy, daddy Hi.
Um, one thing I do have to ask.
Uh, after the season is done, Iwould ask for you to come on

(01:15:10):
and talk to me about you guyswinning some championships.

Speaker 1 (01:15:16):
So I would request that.

Speaker 2 (01:15:18):
That would be super cool, and this is going to be
your senior year, yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:15:22):
So I'll have my senior night this coming year.

Speaker 2 (01:15:25):
All right, I'll probably be there.
Perfect, yeah, have nice seniornight this coming year.
All right, I'll probably bethere.
Yo, perfect.
Yeah, well, I appreciate youand thank you for taking time
out of your busy schedule and itmeans a lot, and, um, thank you
for having me.
Yeah, hopefully this willinspire some of these young
girls and get them, get themgoing chasing their dreams,
whatever it may be.

(01:15:45):
Yeah, I'd love to meet yourdaughter one day yeah, for sure,
for sure, she, she's a littlefirecracker.
Yeah, right on.
Well, um shakas for the camerasand we're out.
Shout out to the artist GroupNetwork Aloha.