Current:Home > StocksSurprise! USA water polo team gets tickets to see the Eras Tour in Paris from Taylor Swift -MoneyBase
Surprise! USA water polo team gets tickets to see the Eras Tour in Paris from Taylor Swift
View
Date:2025-04-17 23:10:32
A cold email with a big wish led to a once-in-a-lifetime night for 23 members of the U.S. women's water polo team.
"I don't know how I'm going to top this," says Ally Beck over Zoom. Beck, the operational manager, reached out to Taylor Swift's team earlier this year hoping to surprise her athletes with tickets to the Eras Tour.
"We've been preparing for the Olympics and got invited by France to do a test event in Paris," Beck says. When she looked for activities for the team to do, she noticed Swift would kick off the second year of her record-breaking tour in the French capital city. So she e-mailed the singer's team.
Weeks went by and while Beck was boarding the plane from Los Angeles to France, she got a reply that stopped her in her tracks.
"The audible squeal that came out of me on the plane," she says. "I was like, 'Oh, I'm sorry, everyone.'"
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Beck waited until the Wednesday before the concert to tell the team.
You can see the reaction in the video above.
"The girls just lost it," Beck says. "And from there, it was like, 'What are we going to wear?' We were squealing down the hallway."
'There is no amount of times to say thank you'
On Friday, 15 water polo athletes and eight staff members piled into the VIP floor section dubbed the "Red" lounge. Two of the biggest Swifties on the team are Denise Mammolito, the utility outside shooter, and center Ava Johnson. Mammolito's first concert was Swift's second era: "Fearless."
The Eras Tour added to an already amazing week for the team, after rapper Flavor Flav said he would help financially support the team's trip to the summer games in Paris.
Team captain Maggie Steffens took to Instagram with an inspirational post that read in part: "Some may not know this, but most Olympians need a 2nd (or 3rd) job to support chasing the dream (myself included!) and most teams rely on sponsors for travel, accommodations, nutritional support, rent/lodging, and simply affording to live in this day and age. Especially female sports and female athletes."
Flavor Flav replied, "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. My manager is in touch with your agent and imma use all my relationships and resources to help all y’all even more. That’s a FLAVOR FLAV promise."
Beck could not be more grateful to Swift and Flavor Flav for their generosity and kindness.
"There is no amount of times to say thank you," Beck says, "just seeing everybody light up, enjoy like the power that is Taylor and kind of getting to watch her in her element and then the extra layer of knowing she's rocking the La Défense arena and we're going to go for gold there in a couple of months, just the amount of inspiration we were able to draw from her is a whole other level."
The team will compete in the stadium at the end of July and beginning of August. They are poised to defend their three consecutive gold titles: 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and 2020 in Tokyo.
Swift continues her European leg of the Eras Tour in Sweden this weekend before heading to Lisbon, Portugal, next week.
Don't miss any Taylor Swift news; sign up for the free, weekly newsletter This Swift Beat.
Follow Bryan West, the USA TODAY Network's Taylor Swift reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.
veryGood! (34)
Related
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Storm Gerrit damages houses and leaves thousands without power as it batters the northern UK
- Returning to the river: Tribal nations see hope for homelands as Klamath River dams are removed
- These End of Year Sales Are the Perfect Way To Ring in 2024: Nordstrom, Lululemon, Kate Spade
- B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
- Oregon man reported missing on Christmas Day found alive in a dry well after 2 days
- Zoo welcomes white rhinoceros baby on Christmas Eve
- Arizona man seeks dismissal of charge over online post after deadly attack in Australia
- Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
- An ‘almost naked’ party of Russian elites brings on jail time, a lawsuit and apologies
Ranking
- Federal Spending Freeze Could Have Widespread Impact on Environment, Emergency Management
- Third mistrial is declared in Nebraska double murder case, but prosecutors vow to try man again
- Wawa moving into Georgia as convenience store chains expands: See the locations
- The Most-Shopped Celeb Picks in 2023— Shay Mitchell, Oprah Winfrey, Kendall Jenner, Sofia Richie & More
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Cardi B Weighs in on Her Relationship Status After Offset Split
- Iran holds funeral for a general who was killed by an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria
- Bobby Rivers, actor, TV critic and host on VH1 and Food Network, dead at 70
Recommendation
Taylor Swift Eras Archive site launches on singer's 35th birthday. What is it?
These Coach Bags Are Up To $300 Off & Totally Worth Spending Your Gift Card On
Navalny confirms he's in Arctic penal colony and says he's fine
Tom Smothers, half of iconic Smothers Brothers musical comedy duo, dies at 86
Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
'Music was there for me when I needed it,' The Roots co-founder Tariq Trotter says
Country star Jon Pardi explains why he 'retired' from drinking: 'I was so unhappy'
North Korea’s new reactor at nuclear site likely to be formally operational next summer, Seoul says