Speaker 1: In the game of life, Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and
Speaker 1: nurturing meaningful connections with family can be among the most
Speaker 1: formidable challenges we face.
Speaker 2: I was able to know that, you know, I wasn't
Speaker 2: alone in it. My sister went through the same thing,
Speaker 2: and we're like the same person, So I knew that
Speaker 2: I was going to struggle the same way that she was.
Speaker 1: Yet, for many professional athletes, fostering both has proven to
Speaker 1: be a triumphant recipe for success.
Speaker 3: I'm going to beat her in every single card game,
Speaker 3: every single you know, everything like that, I'm going to win,
Speaker 3: But when it comes to the big things, I only
Speaker 3: want to see her succeed.
Speaker 1: I'm John Frankel. For the past two decades, I've traveled
Speaker 1: the globe covering some of the most impactful human interest
Speaker 1: stories in sports. On this show, I'm sitting down with
Speaker 1: some of the biggest families in the game, the legends,
Speaker 1: current superstars, and the up and coming playmakers to understand
Speaker 1: what's really making them tech. What can pro athlete families
Speaker 1: teach a new generation about the importance of care for
Speaker 1: your health and finding success in the face of adversity. Together,
Speaker 1: we'll hear stories of their remarkable comebacks, setbacks, and the
Speaker 1: crucial role their family and self care played in their
Speaker 1: paths to championship glory. This is part of the game.
Speaker 1: As teenagers in Tennessee, Logan and Shay Eggleston helped build
Speaker 1: a volleyball dynasty at Brentwood High School. The sisters each
Speaker 1: won four state championships at Brentwood, and they had volleyball
Speaker 1: coaches from across the country trying to recruit them. Their
Speaker 1: paths would diverge after high school. Logan chose the University
Speaker 1: of Texas, while Shay, two years younger, went to the
Speaker 1: University of Alabama. Both found success and fulfillment on campus
Speaker 1: in different ways. Logan became a superstar outside hitter for
Speaker 1: the Longhorns, even leading them to a national title in
Speaker 1: her final season.
Speaker 4: Logan eton no nurse for Eggleston tonight.
Speaker 1: Shay was a key contributor for Alabama before deciding she
Speaker 1: needed a fresh start and transferred to the University of Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: She's fully embraced campus life, maximizing her time as a
Speaker 1: student athlete as she strives for greatness on the court
Speaker 1: and in the classroom. Shay Eggleston and Logan Eggleston thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us. We really appreciate it. You grow
Speaker 1: up in Tennessee, you grow up in Nashville, and you
Speaker 1: go to your local high school I assume in Brentwood, Tennessee.
Speaker 4: Yes, yes, Brentwood High School.
Speaker 1: And it's a powerhouse volleyball school that over time won
Speaker 1: sixteen state titles, including eight in a row, of which
Speaker 1: Shay and Logan you were both part of. Right, you
Speaker 1: each won four titles? Is that right?
Speaker 4: Yes?
Speaker 1: Does the school owe its success to the two of you? Specifically?
Speaker 3: We would love to take that on her, but no,
Speaker 3: I think our coach did a great job building an
Speaker 3: amazing program at Brentwood, and we had a lot of
Speaker 3: really talented volleyball players just come through the school and
Speaker 3: leave a legacy that Shay and I were able to
Speaker 3: continue on.
Speaker 1: Logan and Shay's father, Stan Egleston, played college basketball, and
Speaker 1: early on Logan played hoops too. Then one day, during
Speaker 1: her freshman year of high school, she finally beat her
Speaker 1: dad playing one on one. That victory would mark the
Speaker 1: end of her basketball career. By that time, the fiercely
Speaker 1: independent older daughter had already decided to give volleyball a shot.
Speaker 1: Your dad was a college basketball player. I assume he
Speaker 1: pushed you towards basketball initially just because it was probably
Speaker 1: his passion. Why did you end up playing volleyball in
Speaker 1: that basketball? Well?
Speaker 3: Yeah, he was actually both of our coaches growing up.
Speaker 3: And it's funny because usually when your dad your coach,
Speaker 3: he's super hard on you. We know he played basketball.
Speaker 3: He wanted us to be great in basketball, but he
Speaker 3: never forced us to play basketball. It was just something
Speaker 3: that we got to do fun together and he was
Speaker 3: honestly a great coach.
Speaker 4: Like, he never was too hard on us. Shay, I
Speaker 4: don't think he was hard on you met there was.
Speaker 2: He yeah, I mean he definitely was like involved, like
Speaker 2: more involved than a normal parent would be. But I
Speaker 2: would say, like, I feel like other parents sometimes are
Speaker 2: more like pushing it. And we both loved it when
Speaker 2: we both started, and so he really just wanted to
Speaker 2: be a part of that.
Speaker 1: I guess the more important question is how did you
Speaker 1: go to dad and tell him that you wanted to
Speaker 1: play volleyball rather than basketball.
Speaker 3: It wasn't as hard of a conversation as some people think.
Speaker 3: I think our mom took it a little bit harder
Speaker 3: than our dad because she loved watching us play basketball.
Speaker 3: But I remember telling my dad like, hey, I think
Speaker 3: volleyball is what I want to do. I think I
Speaker 3: should focus on it. And he was super excited because
Speaker 3: he loves watching volleyball, and I think it kind of
Speaker 3: took a little bit of the pressure off of him
Speaker 3: because he didn't have to be our coach and you know,
Speaker 3: know everything about the sport. He could really just sit
Speaker 3: back and just enjoy the sport rather than knowing everything
Speaker 3: about it.
Speaker 1: Logan, tell people your position and what the objective is,
Speaker 1: what your charge is as a player.
Speaker 3: So I'm an outside hitter, me and Shay both are,
Speaker 3: and an outside hitter kind of has to do a
Speaker 3: little bit of everything. So we pass, play defense, we attack, block,
Speaker 3: and serve, and then also set whenever the setter isn't
Speaker 3: in system. So outside hitters are kind of tasked with
Speaker 3: doing a lot. And that's one piece of advice I
Speaker 3: tell young players is just to learn how to play
Speaker 3: volleyball and to be an overall volleyball player, because just
Speaker 3: knowing all the skills and being able to step in
Speaker 3: and do anything that's needed is the most important thing
Speaker 3: in the sport.
Speaker 4: And I think that's what outside hitters do the best.
Speaker 1: Shay natural for you to be an outside hitter, or
Speaker 1: big sister did it, so I'm following Big sister.
Speaker 4: I would say like a little bit of both.
Speaker 2: When I was in middle school, I was a setter,
Speaker 2: and then when I started playing club, I was a
Speaker 2: middle A lot of outside hitters started off play different positions.
Speaker 2: Just like she said, like, it's really important to be
Speaker 2: able to do everything. Logan's always been my role model,
Speaker 2: so obviously I've always looked up to her and I've
Speaker 2: always wanted to do what she does. So I do
Speaker 2: say like that was probably what kind of drew me
Speaker 2: to being an outside hitter. But once I got there,
Speaker 2: like I knew that I had the experience from being
Speaker 2: the other positions and you know, just having other skills.
Speaker 2: So after that, I was just like I was kind
Speaker 2: of all in on the position.
Speaker 1: At Brentwood High, Shay left her own mark. She set
Speaker 1: the schools all time kills record, that is, when the
Speaker 1: offense hits the ball to the opponent's side of the
Speaker 1: court and results in a point. Like her sister, Shay
Speaker 1: won the Gatorade Player of the Year in Tennessee, except
Speaker 1: she won it twice, but when it came time to
Speaker 1: move on to college, she took a different path than
Speaker 1: her big sister.
Speaker 4: Growing up.
Speaker 2: Obviously, everyone always is going to say, oh, that's Logan
Speaker 2: Egleson's little sister, And I think a lot of pressure
Speaker 2: came with that. And although I saw how successful she
Speaker 2: was at Texas, I love the people at Texas, the coaches,
Speaker 2: everyone in that program, I never really wanted to go there,
Speaker 2: and I think that we could have been able to
Speaker 2: play together and we would have had a great time.
Speaker 2: But I just think that for me as a player
Speaker 2: and for me as a person, I needed to be
Speaker 2: able to, you know, do my own thing.
Speaker 1: Logan, help our listeners understand how vicious is the recruiting
Speaker 1: trail for volleyball. We hear about it for college football,
Speaker 1: we hear about it for women's basketball, men's basketball. Obviously,
Speaker 1: how is it for volleyball.
Speaker 3: It's exactly the same as what you hear in the
Speaker 3: sports you just listed.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: I know the rules have changed now to kind of
Speaker 3: help young players not have to go through this process
Speaker 3: so early, but coaches were coming to tournaments to watch
Speaker 3: thirteen year olds, twelve year olds, fourteen year olds play
Speaker 3: and offering them scholarships, you know, that early in their career,
Speaker 3: and so it was pretty intense, you know, feeling like
Speaker 3: you had to make a decision that is going to
Speaker 3: impact you five years down the road. I'm so grateful
Speaker 3: for my younger self for, you know, vetting the options
Speaker 3: the way that I did and making the decision I did,
Speaker 3: because I think it was the perfect decision.
Speaker 1: Shay. You choose to carve out your own path. You
Speaker 1: start at Alabama, You're now at the University of Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: To most people who watch college sports today, that may
Speaker 1: not sound so unusual. We're seeing it now with the
Speaker 1: NCAA Transfer Portal, which is a website that manages and
Speaker 1: facilitates the process for student athletes looking to switch. People
Speaker 1: are flying around going to different schools. How difficult was
Speaker 1: it for you to make that move? Why did you
Speaker 1: make that move from Alabama to the University of Cincinnati.
Speaker 2: I graduated high school early, so I committed my junior
Speaker 2: year to Alabama. It's a great place to be a
Speaker 2: student athlete. There's a lot of resources there, and so
Speaker 2: my freshman year I went in. I was seventeen, I
Speaker 2: just graduated high school and then we ended up having
Speaker 2: a coaching change. I also got injured my freshman year.
Speaker 2: I had a stress fracture in my foot, and so
Speaker 2: I think stepping away from volleyball because of my injury
Speaker 2: had me look at the university in a different way.
Speaker 2: It really like stressed the importance to me of really
Speaker 2: loving where you are and making sure that the school
Speaker 2: was a great fit for you. And so I realized
Speaker 2: that Cincinnati was a much better fit for me all around.
Speaker 2: It had a lot more things that you know, helped
Speaker 2: me as a person, and so I ended up choosing
Speaker 2: to come here and it's been great ever since.
Speaker 1: Shay, when you entertained the idea of entering the transfer
Speaker 1: portal and finding another school, was your first call to
Speaker 1: mom and dad or is your first call to Logan?
Speaker 2: It was definitely to Logan, I would say, honestly, like
Speaker 2: I wasn't happy my freshman year, and I was like
Speaker 2: terrified of not being able to go somewhere that would
Speaker 2: be better for me, and I was terrified that it
Speaker 2: wasn't going to work out. And every other person, like
Speaker 2: my parents too, they were also kind of had the
Speaker 2: same fears. But I think like knowing that Logan had
Speaker 2: faith in me and she was always like, you know
Speaker 2: that you can be happy y or somewhere else. You
Speaker 2: know that something else is better, that's waiting on the
Speaker 2: other side of the door. And she really helps me
Speaker 2: to make that jump and help me to realize that,
Speaker 2: you know, I'm supposed to be happy, Like it's not
Speaker 2: supposed to be as heavy as it is. And so
Speaker 2: without her, I probably wouldn't have made the jump, and
Speaker 2: I probably wouldn't have ended up as happy as I
Speaker 2: am now. So I'm always eternally grateful for that.
Speaker 1: While she was settling into her new life in Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: Logan felt right at home in Austin. During her time
Speaker 1: with the Longhorns, she won Big Twelve Conference Player of
Speaker 1: the Year three times. She capped her senior year by
Speaker 1: helping Texas win the national championship and was named most
Speaker 1: outstanding Player in the tournament. The challenges of college athletics
Speaker 1: most people from the outside don't see. They don't understand
Speaker 1: that you are carrying what is essentially a full time
Speaker 1: job workload as a student and a full time job
Speaker 1: workload as a college athlete at a Division one program.
Speaker 1: Talk about the stresses of that.
Speaker 4: It is a struggle.
Speaker 3: I'll start there on top of being an athlete, you
Speaker 3: have to focus on being a student and keeping your
Speaker 3: grades up. If you want to play, you have to
Speaker 3: make sure you're eligible and that you're performing well in
Speaker 3: the classroom. But then on top of that, you also
Speaker 3: need to make sure you're taking care of yourself as
Speaker 3: a person and as a human being. You know, there's
Speaker 3: so many mental things that come along with being an athlete.
Speaker 3: There's so much pressure, expectations that you feel like you
Speaker 3: have to live up to. And I think that's really
Speaker 3: important for athletes to realize, is the importance of taking
Speaker 3: care of yourself and taking care of things outside of
Speaker 3: your sport, because when you're able to do that, you
Speaker 3: can perform so much better in your sport.
Speaker 1: And I think you speak to a point that where
Speaker 1: you're all learning more and more about, which is the
Speaker 1: mental health of athletes. Say you're actually a psychology major, right, Yes,
Speaker 1: I am, so. I imagine this all gives you a
Speaker 1: perhaps a little better understanding. I don't know if it
Speaker 1: helps you cope with it at all, But do you
Speaker 1: feel some of the same things that Logan just discussed.
Speaker 2: Yes, And I think think for me and Logan, especially,
Speaker 2: like we've both always been very academically driven, and so
Speaker 2: you have to put in a lot of work to
Speaker 2: do well in academics and in your sport, and I
Speaker 2: think that's one of the hardest parts too, especially in
Speaker 2: season you're traveling four to five days out of the week.
Speaker 2: You have a bunch of stuff that you have to juggle.
Speaker 2: You have to, you know, become the queen of time management,
Speaker 2: which I think we all end up figuring out.
Speaker 1: Are you both satisfied with the way that colleges and
Speaker 1: your coaches have dealt with the issue of mental health
Speaker 1: one hundred percent.
Speaker 3: My coach at Texas, Jarre Elliott, has been probably like
Speaker 3: the most supportive he could be. Obviously, he's a man
Speaker 3: coaching female athletes and so he can never really understand
Speaker 3: what we go through. But just the willingness that he
Speaker 3: had to be empathetic and to ask questions and check
Speaker 3: in on us and make sure we're doing okay was
Speaker 3: just amazing. In my senior season, I was really struggling.
Speaker 3: I wasn't playing the way I wanted to. I just
Speaker 3: felt all this pressure of having to be perfect. It
Speaker 3: was my last chance to win. I just felt this pressure,
Speaker 3: and he was like, you're coming to my office. We're
Speaker 3: going to have a conversation. He was like, you need
Speaker 3: to be vulnerable, you need to tell me how you're feeling.
Speaker 3: And I think if that conversation hadn't happened, we wouldn't
Speaker 3: have ended up winning it all at the end. It's
Speaker 3: just so important for coaches to recognize when their players
Speaker 3: are struggling and actually be proactive and having conversations with
Speaker 3: them and checking on them, making sure they're okay and
Speaker 3: being okay, having kind of like awkward conversations and really
Speaker 3: digging to understand what's going on with them.
Speaker 1: Shay, have you and Logan, I assume you've compared notes
Speaker 1: on this, and would you say that her coach at
Speaker 1: Texas is the exception in this case when it comes
Speaker 1: to dealing with mental health.
Speaker 2: I would say that it's more rare than people think
Speaker 2: to have coaches that truly do care about you and
Speaker 2: truly want to know every single aspect of your life
Speaker 2: and why you're struggling. I would say my coaches here
Speaker 2: at Cincinnati are the same way. Our head coach, Molly,
Speaker 2: She's been here for twelve years and she kind of
Speaker 2: has the same approach of really making sure she knows
Speaker 2: her players and she cares about her players, and I
Speaker 2: do think not a lot of coaches have that mindset,
Speaker 2: which I think is why mental health has become such
Speaker 2: a problem in college athletics. But I do think that,
Speaker 2: like all around, the resources have increased. Like Logan had
Speaker 2: sports psychologists at UT, I have sports psychologists here at
Speaker 2: the University of Cincinnati, and they've really started to stress
Speaker 2: the importance of talking to people and you know, not
Speaker 2: being afraid to be vulnerable.
Speaker 1: We actually did a story at HBO Real Sports that
Speaker 1: covered the Temper Scale, which was named after a professor
Speaker 1: at Ohio State University who did a study of not
Speaker 1: only college athletes, but compared it to other professions in
Speaker 1: some of the most strenuous, demanding situations, including those who
Speaker 1: were in the military, which is considered to be one
Speaker 1: where people are under extreme duress. And they found that
Speaker 1: the worst situation is for a Division I college athlete,
Speaker 1: and typically they come in in with a much more
Speaker 1: positive and healthier mental outlook than the traditional student. But
Speaker 1: very quickly on the graph, the Division one athletes mental
Speaker 1: health begins to turn downwards and deteriorate, and the regular
Speaker 1: student body season uptick. If you will, and I don't
Speaker 1: think people really recognize there's stress that college athletes are under. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think it's because you come into college and you're
Speaker 3: so confident and you're so excited for what can come
Speaker 3: in the future. You know, you set up these high
Speaker 3: expectations for yourself and for your team, and then it's
Speaker 3: the reality of meeting those expectations. You know, you can
Speaker 3: always set these goals for yourself to accomplish, but then
Speaker 3: when it comes to you know, being a freshman and
Speaker 3: playing in these games and being in these high pressure situations,
Speaker 3: that first experience definitely takes a toll on you because
Speaker 3: you realize that although you are prepared, it's not as
Speaker 3: easy as you think it is. There's definitely a wall
Speaker 3: that you hit that kind of changes perspective little bit.
Speaker 1: I'm always sort of amazed when I watch grown men
Speaker 1: and women roots so hard and in some cases the
Speaker 1: happiness of their week is determined by the success of
Speaker 1: a seventeen or eighteen or nineteen year old student athlete
Speaker 1: win the critical game, and if their school doesn't, they
Speaker 1: go home moping and they're in a bad mood. Is
Speaker 1: that too much pressure for people who are seventeen eighteen,
Speaker 1: nineteen years old.
Speaker 3: Volleyball fans in general love the game and just love
Speaker 3: and respect the players that play. But Shay was at
Speaker 3: Alabama and al she's at Cincinnati, I'm at Texas. We have,
Speaker 3: you know, football programs that are expected to do really
Speaker 3: big things, and it's definitely hard to see these athletes
Speaker 3: just ridiculed and torn down by people.
Speaker 4: It's definitely an excessive.
Speaker 3: Amount of pressure that does harm these athletes, and I think,
Speaker 3: you know, it needs to be addressed and we need
Speaker 3: to find ways to the humanize these athletes and you know,
Speaker 3: let them relax and play free, because that's the only
Speaker 3: way that you're going to perform well.
Speaker 1: Logan, were you able to give little sister Shay some
Speaker 1: advice about this and offer some insight about what it
Speaker 1: was going to be like when she stepped down to
Speaker 1: a college campus as a student athlete.
Speaker 4: Yes, one hundred percent.
Speaker 3: I remember, like the second Shay committed to school, when
Speaker 3: she was packing, when she was getting ready to go,
Speaker 3: I was like, this is what's going to happen.
Speaker 4: You need to prepare for it. I might have been
Speaker 4: a little.
Speaker 3: Harsh just telling her exactly how it was going to
Speaker 3: be a Shay. You can let me know if I
Speaker 3: was or not, But yeah, I wanted to. I really
Speaker 3: did want to prepare her for what to expect because
Speaker 3: I wanted her to be successful.
Speaker 4: I'd agree.
Speaker 2: I mean, I definitely think like I have my whole
Speaker 2: life just like watching you and how you went through it.
Speaker 2: Whenever she was struggling her freshman year, she would always
Speaker 2: communicate with that with me, so I definitely knew what
Speaker 2: was coming. I wouldn't say that it made it easier
Speaker 2: when I hit that wall, but I was able to
Speaker 2: know that, you know, I wasn't alone in it. My
Speaker 2: sister went through the same thing, and we're like the
Speaker 2: same person, so I knew that I was going to
Speaker 2: struggle the same way that she was.
Speaker 1: It sounds like then you've been able to lean on
Speaker 1: each other.
Speaker 4: I would agree.
Speaker 2: I think we're both kind of the people that don't
Speaker 2: like to tell other people what we're going through, and
Speaker 2: so I think being able to have each other to
Speaker 2: talk to just really helps both of us get through
Speaker 2: both of our struggles.
Speaker 1: Coming up, Logan and Shay discuss their future and what
Speaker 1: volleyball's growing popularity could mean for the sport in the
Speaker 1: years to.
Speaker 3: Come United States Olympic teams, beach indoor and the Paralympic
Speaker 3: teams all three one goal that the lost Olympics. People
Speaker 3: are tuning in to watch it. We have really talented
Speaker 3: American players and I think that's what's going to drive
Speaker 3: people to love the professional sport as well.
Speaker 1: Part of the game will be right back and now
Speaker 1: back to part of the game. When Shay Eggleston was
Speaker 1: mulling the decision to enter the transfer portal and leave Alabama,
Speaker 1: her sister Logan was there to support her every step
Speaker 1: of the way. She encouraged Shaye to put herself first
Speaker 1: and make the choice that was best for her and
Speaker 1: her future. Logan, why were you so confident that there
Speaker 1: were greener pastures?
Speaker 3: I mean, I think Shay is the most amazing person
Speaker 3: on the planet, and because I think so highly of her,
Speaker 3: I didn't want her to have to go through that struggle.
Speaker 3: So I just kind of told her. I was like,
Speaker 3: you need to be a little bit selfish here. You
Speaker 3: need to think about yourself, and you know, I was like,
Speaker 3: I want you to see yourself the way I see you,
Speaker 3: as this great person who can thrive and be somewhere
Speaker 3: where they can succeed at such a high level, there
Speaker 3: can be a place where you feel confident, happy, successful,
Speaker 3: And she found it gratefully. But I just I wanted
Speaker 3: her to feel that for herself and not feel that
Speaker 3: she needed to, you know, make us a situation.
Speaker 4: Work for her that wasn't the right situation.
Speaker 1: I hear a ton of love, admiration, respect between the
Speaker 1: two of you, which is so sweet, not unusual for siblings,
Speaker 1: but there is also the term of sibling rivalries. How
Speaker 1: competitive are the two of you, given that you are
Speaker 1: both extremely talented athletes.
Speaker 2: I'd say we're both very competitive athletes, but we've never
Speaker 2: really been competitive between the two of us, like maybe
Speaker 2: in your you know, your family game night, that kind
Speaker 2: of stuff, But when it came to volleyball and when
Speaker 2: it came to the things that we're both passionate about,
Speaker 2: we've never been competitive in that realm, which, like you know, say,
Speaker 2: for like a few comments, like I remember whenever I
Speaker 2: won Gatorade the second time, I'm like, well, you didn't
Speaker 2: want a second gatorade, you know, like that, but it's
Speaker 2: never actually competitive to the point that it's like I'm
Speaker 2: trying to do exactly what she does. It's just like
Speaker 2: maybe the playful sibling banter, but at the end of
Speaker 2: the day, like we do love each other so much
Speaker 2: and we do just support everything that each other does,
Speaker 2: and there's really no hostility in any way when it
Speaker 2: comes to volleyball.
Speaker 1: I'm going to ask Logan if she felt that it
Speaker 1: was friendly family banter when you mentioned that you won
Speaker 1: Gatorade Player the Year in Tennessee two years in a row,
Speaker 1: when she only won it once.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna say that still bothers me to this day
Speaker 3: that you got you got to win it, but I'm
Speaker 3: so happy that you got it.
Speaker 1: You know, I wouldn't.
Speaker 3: I don't think anyone else deserved it, But no, I
Speaker 3: think I mean Shay's right, it's we both want to
Speaker 3: see each other succeed in anything that we do, and
Speaker 3: that's the most important thing. When it comes to little
Speaker 3: things like, yeah, I'm gonna beat her in every single
Speaker 3: card game, every single you know, everything like that, I'm
Speaker 3: gonna win. But when it comes to the big things,
Speaker 3: I only want to see her win. I only want
Speaker 3: to see her succeed. It's so important to have someone
Speaker 3: like that in your life, that you know, regardless of
Speaker 3: what you're doing, you have someone cheering you on and
Speaker 3: who's always on your team and you can always rely
Speaker 3: on and you know, regardless of what she does in life,
Speaker 3: I'm always going to be her number one fan, and
Speaker 3: I know that she's the same way for me, And
Speaker 3: it's just it's rare to have someone like that, and
Speaker 3: I'm just grateful.
Speaker 4: That we get to be that person for each other.
Speaker 1: While at Texas, Logan was heavily involved in campus activities
Speaker 1: and used her voice to push for change. Well, many
Speaker 1: athletes choose to stay in their lane and avoid controversy,
Speaker 1: Logan did the exact opposite. Logan, when you were at Texas,
Speaker 1: you were president of the Texas Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Yes,
Speaker 1: I want you to explain to me what that was
Speaker 1: and why you chose to participate and rally for change
Speaker 1: if you will.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, there's one at every
Speaker 3: single school. It's an organization that has representatives from each
Speaker 3: sport that comes together just to talk about changes they
Speaker 3: want to see on campus. They talk about ways to
Speaker 3: engage with campus, engage with community, build community within the
Speaker 3: athletic department, and do different community service events. And then
Speaker 3: I really wanted to become a leader within the athletic
Speaker 3: department and I don't know, just find ways to continue
Speaker 3: to grow as a person, And I think that was
Speaker 3: kind of the way to do it and a way
Speaker 3: to expand who I was.
Speaker 1: You know, outside of volleyball, Logan, you were also heavily
Speaker 1: involved in a program called LEAD Longhorns for Equity, Access
Speaker 1: and Diversity. What was the goal there?
Speaker 3: The goal of LEAD was to engage with the community
Speaker 3: and impact diverse groups who are looking for help. One
Speaker 3: thing I think is so important for college athletes to
Speaker 3: realize is how much the community supports them, and as athletes,
Speaker 3: it's important for us to get back to these communities
Speaker 3: who you know, show up to games, who donate money
Speaker 3: to the university, who just support from AFAR, who watch
Speaker 3: our games on TV, who buy our merchandise, things like that.
Speaker 3: So I think the goal with LEAD was to look
Speaker 3: internally at who we are as student athletes and then
Speaker 3: go out into the community, find organizations that are working
Speaker 3: towards goals that we believe in and helping them do that.
Speaker 1: So we've talked about the mental health part of the game,
Speaker 1: but we shouldn't diminish or dismiss the physical health and
Speaker 1: the challenges that go with that, and Shay, this is perfect,
Speaker 1: This is right in your wheelhouse now since you are
Speaker 1: actually recovering from an injury a broken ankle suffered earlier
Speaker 1: this year in the preseason. Help people understand how physically
Speaker 1: demanding volleyball is and how tough it is on the body.
Speaker 2: For sure, I'd say volleyball is very demanding. So I
Speaker 2: think the weight training aspect is very very important, you know,
Speaker 2: strengthening your body so that you can diminish the chance
Speaker 2: that you would get these injuries. You have to, you know,
Speaker 2: prioritize yourself physically, because if you're physically you're not there,
Speaker 2: there's no chance for you even to like the mental
Speaker 2: side to you know, overcompensate for that. And then also
Speaker 2: just with injuries like they happen. And I think that's
Speaker 2: something that is really important as you're going through the
Speaker 2: recruiting process and choosing a school, is that that's why
Speaker 2: it's so important to choose a school that is the
Speaker 2: perfect fit for you all around, because you never know
Speaker 2: what's going to happen. So I think that's why Logan
Speaker 2: has also given me a lot of advice about that
Speaker 2: is making sure that you're involved in things other than
Speaker 2: your sport at your school.
Speaker 4: She did a great job. She was the president of SAK.
Speaker 2: She did a bunch of things outside of it, and
Speaker 2: so she kind of encouraged me to do the same thing.
Speaker 4: And you have to have.
Speaker 2: Other places that you can go for outlet. You have
Speaker 2: to still be a person outside of your sport.
Speaker 1: While Shay continues her collegiate career at Cincinnati, Logan is
Speaker 1: playing professionally in Turkey. Logan, you have moved on from
Speaker 1: the University of Texas. You are now playing professional volleyball
Speaker 1: in Turkey. Yes, How has that transition been for you?
Speaker 3: Definitely a challenge. You know, I'm in a new environment,
Speaker 3: different culture, different language. So on top of it being
Speaker 3: a higher level of volleyball, there's also so many other
Speaker 3: changes in my life. You know, I'm all the way
Speaker 3: across the world, eight hours ahead from my family and friends.
Speaker 3: So it definitely was an adjustment, but also such a
Speaker 3: cool experience. You know, playing overseas and getting to be
Speaker 3: a professional athlete is something that you know, everyone in
Speaker 3: dreams of doing. And the fact that I get to
Speaker 3: play the sport that I love as my job is
Speaker 3: just you know, that's something I can't take for granted.
Speaker 3: And I know that thirteen year old Logan would be
Speaker 3: very very pleased with the career that I've had so
Speaker 3: far and would be very happy to see that I'm
Speaker 3: still playing and I'm you know, making a decent amount
Speaker 3: of money getting to do it.
Speaker 1: Shay, would you like to continue to follow in Logan's
Speaker 1: footsteps and venture overseas to play volleyball?
Speaker 2: To be honest, I don't think that going overseas is
Speaker 2: exactly what would be best for me, but they are
Speaker 2: bringing a few leaks here in the United States, so
Speaker 2: I definitely have been thinking about that as a potential option,
Speaker 2: but I'm not really sure. I'm my psychology major and
Speaker 2: I want to get my PhD, and so I think
Speaker 2: that's kind of to something that I might just want
Speaker 2: to move on from volleyball and you know, start my
Speaker 2: professional career, and so I don't know. I'm still trying
Speaker 2: to figure it out, but definitely looking at the options.
Speaker 4: I'm still convincing her don't worry.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you are. It's like the transfer porter all
Speaker 1: over because transfer overseas volleyball is immensely popular, particularly at
Speaker 1: the collegiate level in the United States, Penn State's women's
Speaker 1: team draws big crowds. Nebraska's women's volleyball home games have
Speaker 1: been sold out for more than twenty years. In August
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, the team set a world record for
Speaker 1: attendance at a women's sporting event, more than ninety two
Speaker 1: thousand people. But that popularity has not translated into professional
Speaker 1: opportunities here in America for the sport's top stars, at
Speaker 1: least not yet. Major League Volleyball played two full seasons
Speaker 1: in eighty seven and eighty eight before disbanding. The Women's
Speaker 1: Western Volleyball League went two seasons in ninety three and
Speaker 1: ninety four. The US Professional Volleyball League lasted one season
Speaker 1: in two and two. There's now something called the Athletes
Speaker 1: Unlimited Volleyball, a women's professional volleyball league in the US
Speaker 1: where forty four of the best players participate. But you
Speaker 1: get my point, Yes, there are not a lot of opportunities.
Speaker 1: It's not a viable career here in the US yet yet,
Speaker 1: Yes yet being the operative word. Why do you think
Speaker 1: that it doesn't translate?
Speaker 3: Well, I think the biggest reason that it's so popular
Speaker 3: in college is because these fan bases of these volleyball
Speaker 3: programs are also fan bases of the university. So you
Speaker 3: look at the Nebraska volleyball fans, and it's because it's Nebraska,
Speaker 3: you know. You look at the Texas libell fans and
Speaker 3: it's because it's Texas. These schools have huge brand names
Speaker 3: and have been so successful just as universities and as
Speaker 3: athletic departments for so long that they've been able to
Speaker 3: create this brand recognition that just draws people into any
Speaker 3: sport that the team plays in. But I do really
Speaker 3: think over the last few years we've seen really huge
Speaker 3: growth in women's sports, but it's specifically in volleyball. Like
Speaker 3: you said that, Nebraska just broke the women's attendance record
Speaker 3: in all the world in any sport.
Speaker 4: Like that, that's huge.
Speaker 3: And this year, last year, there's TV records being made,
Speaker 3: there's a tenant records being made at every single school
Speaker 3: across the country.
Speaker 4: It's been really crazy to see.
Speaker 3: So I think now although volleyball has been really really
Speaker 3: popular in college because of this brand recognition, people are
Speaker 3: starting to really love the sport as well, and so
Speaker 3: I think that there is an opportunity now for professional
Speaker 3: volleyball to kind of pop up and.
Speaker 4: Find some success in America.
Speaker 3: The United States Olympic teams both beach indoor, and the
Speaker 3: Paralympic teams all three one goal at the last Olympics.
Speaker 3: So people are saying that volleyball is important and we
Speaker 3: have really talented American players, and I think that's what's
Speaker 3: going to drive people to love the professional sport as well.
Speaker 1: You bring up the Olympics, so that's a wonderful transition
Speaker 1: to looking ahead the summer Olympics twenty four in Paris?
Speaker 1: Do you plan to try out for that team.
Speaker 3: I have huge dreams of playing the Olympics one day.
Speaker 3: I actually got my first invite into the national team's
Speaker 3: gym this last summer on like the pandem roster, which
Speaker 3: is like the roster.
Speaker 4: Below like the you know, main Olympic team.
Speaker 3: So just being in the gym amongst that level of
Speaker 3: talent was insane, and just seeing the way that they
Speaker 3: carried themselves and just how competitive and intense they were
Speaker 3: was amazing to see. And you know, my dream is
Speaker 3: to one day playing the Olympics. I don't think it's
Speaker 3: gonna be twenty twenty four, but I'm excited to watch
Speaker 3: them come home with another gold and then also just
Speaker 3: potentially in the future, get to be a part of
Speaker 3: that roster and to bring a gold back to America.
Speaker 4: I really believe that the.
Speaker 3: Team that we have right now is just gonna kill
Speaker 3: it next Olympics.
Speaker 1: I can see why you're such a great leader and
Speaker 1: people love to have you on their team.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 1: In June of this year, the McLendon Foundation announced that
Speaker 1: you would be one of eight individuals a WAD ordered
Speaker 1: a prestigious postgraduate scholarship. You've got ten thousand dollars towards
Speaker 1: a postgraduate studies in athletic administration, and you have the
Speaker 1: management undergraduate degree. So it sounds like that's where you're
Speaker 1: headed one day, whenever you decide to step away from
Speaker 1: the court.
Speaker 3: Yes, and I'm actually I'm doing it now. So I
Speaker 3: finished my business degree while I was at Texas, and
Speaker 3: then immediately after I finished my eligibility, I applied tom
Speaker 3: a sports management program that's all online. So I'm actually
Speaker 3: in grad school right now while I'm playing overseas. I
Speaker 3: know that volleyball is not going to be forever, and
Speaker 3: so I just want to prepare myself for what's after volleyball,
Speaker 3: I think I want to be, you know, in athletic administration.
Speaker 3: My goal one day is to become the athletic director
Speaker 3: at the University of Texas. And yes, I've told our
Speaker 3: current athletic director this. He knows this.
Speaker 1: You're coming for him.
Speaker 4: He knows it. He knows it, so he's ready.
Speaker 1: So I take it that we will not turn on
Speaker 1: the TV one day in the near future and see
Speaker 1: Shay and Logan Eggleston play beach volleyball together as a team.
Speaker 3: Hey, that's not a bad idea. We haven't thought about
Speaker 3: that one yet. That could be our side gig. We'll
Speaker 3: just do that in the summer and then Shay will
Speaker 3: be you know, doctor Shay Agleson, and I'll be you know,
Speaker 3: doctor Logan Agleson during the year.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna have a little fun here. I came
Speaker 1: across a few volleyball terms that I'd like to see
Speaker 1: if you guys know the definitions, can you explain campfire?
Speaker 3: The campfires are our favorite place. It's right in the
Speaker 3: middle of the courts where the defense isn't and it's
Speaker 3: like the best place to tip the ball and to
Speaker 3: put the ball where no one can defend.
Speaker 4: It. We also call it the donut here at Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: Okay, and I would prefer a donut around the campfire.
Speaker 1: That would be my form of recreation. That's perfect, all right.
Speaker 1: This one is often heard in football. I didn't know
Speaker 1: of it being refused in volleyball. A pancake.
Speaker 3: Yes, A pancake's a defensive play when someone dives on
Speaker 3: the ground with just their hand and the ball hits
Speaker 3: just our hand and stays in play.
Speaker 2: So it's kind of like a last resort, like if
Speaker 2: the ball's really really far away, you don't think that
Speaker 2: you can get there, and you know, play it with
Speaker 2: two hands. You stick your hand out and hope that
Speaker 2: it hits the top of your hand.
Speaker 1: So it's desperation. It's just trying to keep it alive.
Speaker 4: Yes, exactly.
Speaker 1: Okay, this is a little bit of a curveball, and
Speaker 1: I'm not even sure I'm going to be able to
Speaker 1: pronounce it correctly. Do you know what mintonet is?
Speaker 4: Mintinet?
Speaker 3: I'm pretty sure that's what the original name of volleyball is.
Speaker 1: Yes, I know, you know your sport.
Speaker 4: I know I didn't know that one.
Speaker 1: The original name of the game of volleyball, created by
Speaker 1: William Morgan.
Speaker 3: Okay, So there's a club in Ohio called Mintonette who
Speaker 3: used to play them when I was younger, and I
Speaker 3: was like, what is Like, what kind of name is that?
Speaker 3: And then that's how I learned that mincent was is volleyball.
Speaker 3: So thank you Mintnett Volleyball Club for teaching all of
Speaker 3: us amateurs more about our sport.
Speaker 1: Thank you Logan and Shay for helping us understand your
Speaker 1: sport a little bit more. Since the name of the
Speaker 1: podcast is hard of the Game, I'll ask you this,
Speaker 1: what does the heart of the game mean to you?
Speaker 3: What keeps me going and volleyball is just remembering to
Speaker 3: have joy and to find happiness every single day when
Speaker 3: I'm playing, and to play for that young thirteen year
Speaker 3: old whoever that kid is inside of you. When you
Speaker 3: play for that kid who loved the game and had
Speaker 3: so much passion and joy and happiness when they played,
Speaker 3: that's what keeps you going.
Speaker 1: Beautiful, beautiful Shay.
Speaker 2: For me, heart of the game is a lot of
Speaker 2: like just like remembering why you started. It's so easy
Speaker 2: to lose that original love for it, because I do
Speaker 2: think once you become a college athlete, it's so easy
Speaker 2: to get caught up in.
Speaker 4: All the other things.
Speaker 2: You know, the days get hard, you go through a
Speaker 2: hard practice, a hard lift, you really just think of
Speaker 2: how much of a privilege it is to be where
Speaker 2: you are and for everything that you've dreamed of to
Speaker 2: become into fruition.
Speaker 1: Logan is still playing volleyball overseas and even one day
Speaker 1: dreams of playing on the US Olympic team. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: she's earning her masters in sports administration and would like
Speaker 1: to be the athletic director at aer alma mater, the
Speaker 1: University of Texas. Shay expects to stop playing volleyball when
Speaker 1: she graduates college and plans to pursue a PhD. But
Speaker 1: no matter what they're after or how far apart they are,
Speaker 1: the sisters stand ready to help each other on a
Speaker 1: moment's notice, And who knows, maybe we'll get to see
Speaker 1: an Eggleston versus Eggleston pick up beach volleyball game in
Speaker 1: the future. Next time, on the season finale of Heart
Speaker 1: of the Game, I'm sitting down with the Boston Red
Speaker 1: Sox legend David Ortiz and his son, college baseball player
Speaker 1: DiAngelo Ortiz. We'll discuss life on and off the diamond
Speaker 1: and the impactful work of their charity, the David Ortiz
Speaker 1: Children's Fund. Part of the game is a production of
Speaker 1: Ruby Stut Deo from iHeartMedia. Our show is hosted by
Speaker 1: me John Frankel. Our executive producer is Matt Romano. Our
Speaker 1: EP of Post Production is Matt Stillo. Our supervising producer
Speaker 1: is Nikiah Swinton. This show was edited by Sierra Spreen.
Speaker 1: Our writer and researcher is Mike Avla. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: We'll see you next time.