Team Tampa Bay's Take with Joey Johnston - Meet Our NIL Brand Ambassadors
Growing the Game with Ragan Kinard and Tatiana Johnson
By Joey Johnston
Last March, USF volleyball player Ragan Kinard participated in the “#LikeAGirl program’’ with the Hillsborough County after-school program, demonstrating her sport and describing her experiences as a female college athlete before a breathless group of young girls at the Westchase Recreation Center.
As part of Kinard’s inspirational message, she told her audience, “Do not give up. Your mind will tell you it’s hard but do not give up. There are only wins and lessons. There are no losses.’’ Then she took questions.
One young student spoke up.
“What’s the worst part about being a girl in sports?’’
Kinard smiled and answered immediately:
“Nothing.’’
As Kinard and her USF Bulls prepare for the Road 2 Tampa Bay Volleyball Invitational — an Aug. 25-26 season-opening event involving the Florida Gators, Penn State Nittany Lions and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at downtown Tampa’s Amalie Arena and USF’s Yuengling Center — it definitely seems like the best of times.
The event’s participating teams are intent on returning to Tampa in December, when the NCAA Volleyball Final Four arrives at Amalie with USF as the host institution.
“These are incredible opportunities for our program and our school,’’ USF coach Jolene Shepardson said. “We are eager for the journey of this season and our players are very, very excited.’’
It’s an especially big opportunity for Kinard and Tatiana Johnson, who are serving as the Tampa Bay Sports Commission’s Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) Brand Ambassadors, where they will promote the TBSC, its social impact initiatives and its commitment to growing the game of volleyball.
“I definitely feel like women have shown they can work just as hard as any male athlete and compete at the highest level,’’ Kinard said. “The world is realizing that and I think our sport is only going to keep rising.’’
Johnson, a setter from Frederick, Maryland, was primarily a competitive ice skater from age 3 to 14. She dabbled in volleyball, then eventually discovered it was her future (especially when she grew 6 inches). Her mother, Silvia, played volleyball at Long Beach State, but often finds herself amazed at the advancements her daughter enjoys with the Bulls.
“The tutors, the support, the uniforms, the equipment, the attention, the way we’re taken care of … my mother didn’t have too much of that,’’ Johnson said. “She always tells me how lucky I am.
“I think it’s true. We’re playing volleyball at a great time. Women’s college sports in general are just taking off. Women’s basketball, I think, really made a huge jump. And now I think volleyball can do the same thing.’’
Shepardson, once Florida’s Gatorade Player of the Year at Tampa Prep, then a player at the University of Tampa and USF, has seen her sport approach a stratosphere she never imagined.
“When you look in the stands now, it’s not just local dads or friends … it’s people who want to watch a great sporting event,’’ Shepardson said. “I’ve seen this change in my lifetime. There has always been growth, but now it’s hitting a higher pace and we need to take advantage of that.
“We need to take advantage of that at USF. When I played here, we were never the biggest or the most talented, but we took down a lot of teams. We were ranked in the top 25. We had an attitude and a belief. We want to get back to that.’’
USF normally plays its home matches in the 1,000-seat Corral, but last season successfully moved its home meeting against UCF into the Yuengling Center. The chance to open the season at the cavernous Amalie and Yuengling venues has brought excitement to USF players.
Kinard, an outside hitter from the Panhandle town of Lynn Haven, said she imagines some young girls watching from the stands, maybe thinking, “One day, I want to do that.’’
“When I went to the Westchase Rec Center, it was cool to see the young girls who didn’t even know what volleyball was or how it was played,’’ Kinard said. “Then after I left, they were already in love with the sport, wanting to try it and practice it.
“I think there was probably a time when people would say, ‘Oh, volleyball is only for girls or it’s a girly sport.’ But it has become much more popular. People are realizing the work and athleticism that it requires. It’s getting the kind of hype that you’d see for a football game or basketball game. I’m so grateful that we’re here for it and we get to experience it in our town.’’
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