ESPN turns lens on Titans
Lauren Medeck, 11th, Kyla Dyrstad, 11th, Kenzie Dyrstad, 12th, Stella Adeyemi, 12th, Charlee Solomon, 10th, and Ava Greene, 12th celebrate after scoring a point on Millard West. (Photo by Piper Holland).
October 1, 2022
ESPN is coming to Papio South to put Titan volleyball on the national stage in the second annual GEICO Invitational Tournament. The Titans will compete in the televised tournament against Ponte Vedra High School of Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, Cathedral Catholic High School of San Diego, California, and Skyview High School of Nampa, Idaho, all among the top nationally ranked teams last year.
One word to describe the team’s reaction when they learned of this event would be shock.
Lauren Medeck, a junior on the varsity starting lineup was one of the first players to learn of the tournament.
“I was like no way! You’re joking … that is going to be so cool,” Medeck said. “They’re all coming here to watch us.”
Stella Adeyemi, a senior on the starting varsity lineup said, “I just had a little bit of an adrenaline rush. I was like this is awesome. There was just a little bit of nervousness, because it is ESPN, but we’re just such a good team I feel like we can literally take on anything. This is just such a great opportunity for us.”
Coach Katie Tarman learned about the team’s involvement in the tournament in May.
“The team that won that national tournament last year was ranked No. 1 in the country; we were ranked No. 2 in the country. So, when they were trying to choose … we were on that list,” Tarman said.
The Paragon Marketing company first created a national tournament to highlight LeBron James and his team while he was in high school. Now the company has expanded to more sports and partnered with ESPN to deliver over 700 live high school sports broadcasts. They specifically create tournaments for nationally ranked teams. Tarman said she was stunned by the offer to be in the tournament, and the offers of things the organizer was willing to do to get her team in the tournament.
“[The organizer] said that she wanted to invite us to this tournament and they were going to pay for everything – hotel, air fare, all of it – and wanted to know if we were interested in playing.”
Then the invitation grew into something much bigger for Papio South. Tarman explained: “[The organizer] was like, ‘We would love to have you.’ I said, ‘Obviously we are very interested, and we would like to,’ and she goes, ‘Well, you’ll either be flying to one of these locations, but we would actually really like for you guys to host it.’ I was like … OK, that would be amazing, too. It was a bit of a shock for sure. I was definitely very very excited for our kids.”
ESPN+ has a viewership of 22.8 million subscribers, so to be streamed on the platform is a big deal for any athlete.
“If I were in their shoes, this would be like a dream,” Tarman said of the volleyball players who will compete in the tournament. “I would never think that it would be a reality to get to play in my home gym against the other top teams in the country on ESPN. That platform, in and of itself, is just so huge that I don’t think anyone would even conceive of getting to do that.”
Knowing that your every move is being broadcast live on a network like ESPN comes with a lot of pressure.
Adeyemi said, “ESPN is a really big stage, so definitely one [challenge] would be our nerves, but I feel like we can handle that pretty well. In situations that we are nervous, we use that as excitement, so we can overcome that.”
The team is focused on being mentally strong and assured of their skills. They are not worried about taking a loss; they’re more focused on playing at the highest level possible.
Medeck said, “I feel like the pressure might get to us a little bit, but we definitely work on keeping [our] composure and knowing everyone is feeling a little bit of pressure, and it’s not just us. I think it will benefit us, because it will give us a lot of confidence to know we’re good enough to be on ESPN and that we’re good enough to accomplish bigger and better things.”
Medeck gets through the pressure by reminding herself, “I know that I’m good enough to perform at a high level like everyone is expecting. I just have to go out there and just be myself and just play volleyball. I know that we are capable of winning. Obviously we were good enough to make them come here and want to broadcast us.”
Tarman said, “[Playing on ESPN] does not change anything with us mentally. We work day in and day out on being a high-level, mature team, and being able to play at a consistently high level and regulate our emotions throughout every match, no matter who we’re playing. Our lowest level games or playing on ESPN, we want to play the same way.”
Adeyemi added another perspective. “It’s going to allow us to play with competition that we don’t usually play in high school. Obviously, [the teams] are from all over the country, so for us, this will allow us to play with the top teams. That will just grow each and every one of us in multiple different ways.”
Regionally, the Titans, defending state champions, are already the team to beat. Being on ESPN will only bring them more attention.
Tarman said, “They’ve had a target on their back all of the time. They feel that pressure regularly. But we did take a loss to Millard West in which we redeemed ourselves early this season. That actually relieved a lot of that, because it helped the girls to realize that they are human beings. We don’t have to be perfect; we just have to be consistently getting better. I think of course they’re going to be very nervous for those two days, but right now they have goals, they have a final destination that they want to reach, and I think that’s what we’re focused on right now.”
