Ann Killion
San Francisco Chronicle
But the Olympics make for interesting connections.
Back in May, when her team was at a test tournament in Paris, water-polo team captain Maggie Steffens made a plea on Instagram on behalf of her team, which many consider one of the best-kept secrets in sports. The team has been a dominant force for three Olympics but few know about it.
In her post, Steffens — who grew up in Danville and went to Stanford — wrote “Water polo, women’s water polo specifically, may not be the most popular sport or on everyone’s radar…but I encourage everyone to give these women a try. To join our family & friends and watch them strive to defy odds and chase history.”
Steffens wrote that her team, which has won three straight gold medals, needs more financial support and wrote, “let’s continue to increase exposure of female teams & female athletes.”
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Among those responding to the post was @flavorflavofficial, who wrote “AYYY YOOO…as a girl dad and supporter of all women’s sports — imma personally sponsor you my girl…whatever you need. And imma sponsor the whole team.”
And then he did. Within days, there was a reel posted of Flavor Flav (real name William Jonathan Drayton Jr.) promising “Maggie Mag” to be the team’s “biggest hype man.”
“He has totally joined our team, in terms of his energy and authenticity,” Steffens said Wednesday. “He’s really committed to it.”
He signed a five-year deal with USA Water Polo, pledging a financial commitment to the program. He said he would give each player $1,000 and take them on a cruise.
This month, the rapper got in the pool with the team, trying to learn the nuances of the sport and scoring on dominant goalie Ashleigh Johnson (OK, maybe she let him). Video of the session has gone viral.
“He jumped right in the water,” Johnson said. “He was like, ‘Ash, get in the goal.’ I love his confidence. When the video came out, it was so cool to see.”
It was cool for another reason. Johnson is a rarity in the sport: a Black woman. To have a Black rapper trying out the sport in the pool brought new eyeballs.
“I read through the comments and I see people asking questions about water polo and people of color wanting to start playing,” she said. “That’s a different community than I’ve seen talk about our sport, the whole time I’ve been with this team. It’s a different side of things that Flavor Flav is bringing to our sport.”
In the early days of the connection, while the team was still in Paris, the players had wanted to see Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which also was coming through the City of Light. Swift was playing four nights at La Defense Arena, the same place where the water polo medal rounds will be held. Their team leader had reached out to the Swift camp about tickets for the team; having the Flavor Flav connection helped facilitate things. Hey, Grammy winners stick together.
“It was amazing; we had a team meeting and said if we get the chance to play in La Defense, we want to be like her,” Steffens said. “We want to be able to love the pressure, to be able to perform and have fun and enjoy that moment and make the most of it.
“And for her, as bad ass and powerful of a woman as she is, for us to be able to see that in person was pretty magical.”
Krikorian said the concert was a special team-bonding experience.
“I got a little emotional at the Taylor Swift concert,” he said. “You could feel the women empowerment. All these women striving to be strong, independent women.”
Flavor Flav will have his own Olympic news conference Friday morning. One thing Steffens has learned from her experience connecting with the rapper is to not be afraid to ask for help.
“I know I’ve been really empowered by other women in sport to use your voice, which can be a little scary sometimes,” she said. “But that’s exactly what sports like ours need, people who are willing to kind of open the door and give us a chance.
“He’s been great at shining a light back on us. We look forward to having him here in Paris and keeping that positive energy going.”
And you can guess what music the players listen to in order to get hyped.
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