1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - DP Goes One-on-One with Crystal Elliott - October 5th, 9pm

Episode Date: October 6, 2022

DP Goes One-on-One with Crystal Elliott - October 5th, 9pmAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Coming at you live from the couple Chevrolet GMC studios. Here is your host, Derek Pearson, brought you by Mary Ellen's Food for the Soul, on 93-7 The Ticket and the Ticket FM.com. Thanks for hanging out. I know it's late, but unique company, so do we. So we're here for you. We're just going to sit up and talk for the next hour or so and take you into what should be.

be a really, really cool Thursday. But 402, 464, 5685, Sargamy, text line, Honolink and Hotline, if you want to join in the conversation, if you want to join in, if you want to check it out on the live video, stream, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter Live. What we're doing tonight is we're bringing in a closer. Somebody knows how to finish. It is the most difficult thing in all of sports.

And yet somehow she excels at it. Let's bring in Nebraska Bowlings, Crystal Elliott. it. Ma'am, how heck are you? I'm doing great. How about you? Good to see you again. Good to see you again. You know, trying to figure out a way to get you, you know, in rhythm. Yeah.

You know, you're back. You know, you're busy. You're a busy lady. So you've got stuff going on. Well, it was really busy, like, especially like this past, like, month because season wasn't in. So all my meetings for the rest of the year were pretty much getting planned out. So do you know what your life looks like now over the next several months? Hopefully. You know, I mean, the change is there.

Your first competition is when? Next weekend. We leave Thursday. Thursday and head to where? We head to Youngstown, Ohio. Who's in this invitation? Who's in this? Do you know?

I believe Arkansas, McKendry, Youngstown, because they're hosting. Us. And maybe a few littler schools, but. So you got some bangers in this. Oh, yeah, for sure. This is a good, like, starting out, kind of get your feet wet tournament. Yeah, I mean, this is deep. How far into it?

So you guys have been working all summer. Like, I know you've been busy and you've been busy on the lanes and trying to get your work in. And it's that. But three All-Americans return. That's some heavy lifting, right? Like, you guys are in good hands, right? So, okay. So talk to me about this thing.

win the national championship, you have a successful year, but not to your standard last year. Correct, yeah. Then there's the understanding that we didn't like the way last year felt. Yeah, for sure. At least that's what I'm told. Yes. Yes. Now, as the closer and a leader, a national standard, what do you do in the offseason to make sure that last year is never repeated?

I took all summer and I used all summer to gain more knowledge about the sport, gain more knowledge about myself and really just take the time to learn that bowling does not define who I am as a player. Because I feel like, especially last season, I really took it to heart because I wasn't bowling up to my standard. So I was like, oh, man, is that like, is that how I am now, like as a person? And so this past summer, I mean, I was on the lanes every day except like Sunday. And it really allowed me to figure out how I could have two separate lives, my personal life and my athletic life. And so I now feel that I'm more prepared for this coming season to not, I really, I guess, like, standardize myself based off of my bowling. Is that normally, was that the normal process?

Is that based on success or were you that person before you got here? I was, okay, in the youth realm of things, I was very successful. So like I personally have not dealt with a lot of hardship in the sport. And I really hadn't hit that bump in the road quite as hard as I had hit it last season. But I feel like it's something that every athlete, like you need to eventually figure out, your sport is not who you are. It doesn't define you. Like, you are someone completely different.

Like, you're nice. You're helpful. I, like, especially now, like, I volunteer so much in the community more than I ever have because I was like, this is my personal life that I want to set aside from my bowling world so I don't get the two mixed up. But so much of your existence before now was getting here. Yes. It's, I think for student athletes, and we'll get to in the next segment, the mental health aspect of it, because I know that's something you've been working on, and that's kind of my lane.

But I would say that to get to here, it takes everything. Oh, yes, for sure. Every bit of your focus, all your energy, all your, all the reps, all your resources, just to get here, just to get considered to get here. Right. So it makes perfect sense that everything is tied to this sports. athletic thing. Yeah. How did you know that you needed to separate the two?

When did that happen? It started affecting my game. And once it started affecting my game, I really had to step back and say, like, who do I want to be? Like, not the athlete I want to be because I already know I can achieve that. But who do I want to be off the lanes? Who do I want to be with my family? Who do I want to be with my friends?

Who do I want to be out at college? college. And so I had to answer all those questions truthfully for myself. I couldn't just make excuses for myself anymore. Like I was like, if I want to be better, like, I have to do better. Why was it, why was it, have you figured out, have you landed on why you felt the need to make excuses? I think because I wasn't ready for that, just because, again, like I had never faced that, like, not failure, but never faced that bump. And friction, friction. And so I think it really, that was like my like kind of slap in the face

like yo, get it together like you can be someone more than this. So you identified early what you were going to do. Like you knew bowling was a thing. It was important to you and that was how you were going to travel and do your thing.

When did you know that this is kind of my jam? Oh wow. Maybe when I was like, like 13 or 14. Okay. I missed junior team, or, yeah, junior team USA by one pin when I was 14 years old. And I was very upset at that.

Like that. But you realize how, how, how we'd take in the right way, how absolutely remarkable that is. That was like my little spark because, like, I don't know, I personally had never seen how, I guess, good of player I was and so I always took it for granted because I always saw those people that were cocky and I was like I don't want to be that person like I don't so like if I tell myself I'm bad then I must be bad and so that was like the realization of like wow like this my jam like I can probably do this I told you the first night we met I'm like okay you have lots to tell people and share people And from a leadership standpoint, it's necessary for you to understand your power in this space.

There are a limited number of national champions on campus. Yes. There are a limited number of absolute finishers on campus. There are limited number of people who compete on a national level and are relevant, extremely relevant. To say that there's 10 or 12 athletes, period, on campus, who have been in the space that you've been. So here's the reminder. Don't forget that. Like, do not forget that.

I'm working on it. Yeah, well, but that's why I said you're going to be around more because one, you're going to help yourself. But two, you're going to help the next you, and you're going to help the people around you who need. You're going to help your teammates. You're going to help your classmates. You're going to help people on this campus to understand what it's like to be a student athlete, to be a female student athlete, to be an elite student athlete, to be an elite student athlete, there aren't enough conversations

about how you're supposed to get through. Like nobody, it bothers me in coaching that a lot of coaches never teach young people what to do when they get everything they dreamed of. I don't think I ever was. Like it's a thing, like it's all of the stuff to get to the path and then go, hey, you're great, you're on your own.

No, no, that's when you need, leadership. That's when you need guidance. And the fact that you guys are getting together as student athletes and putting this stuff together, I want to have the conversation with you and have several conversations with you because you need to know. Like you need to know. It's okay to not get it right. It's okay to not be perfect. It's okay to have a bad day. We would say it's okay to it's okay to not be okay. Like to learn that thing. So at 14, you figure out that this thing

not only matters, but you're good at it because both have to happen. Like both have that. You can be good at it. If it don't matter, you don't care. But you figured that out. So then what was the plan of attack? Was it just to be excellent every day

and then whatever happens, happens? Or did you target University of Nebraska? Did you target other universities? How did that work for you? I really didn't target any universities. I just was like whatever opportunity is there, I want to see which one will, I guess, get me further in life. And so I was looking at it from that perspective. And I mean, I transferred here to the university because I originally went to Duquesne, which is a neighboring school of the University of Pitt.

Great time. Nothing to. But once I got a taste of college bowling, I was like, like, wow, like, I really want this. But it goes back to when I was 14, I had only dedicated. I was like, okay, like, I only want a bowl. I only want a bowl. I want to be the best person on the lanes. And I want it to be, like, without a doubt, who's the best person? Crystal Elliott is. And so, like, that's where my mindset was. And so eventually I had made junior team and stuff. But then I had hit a little bump in the road to where I was like, oh, maybe I'm just a house shot bowler.

and then I mean I also went to the university as well for academics because I believe they're a top 10 in the education realm of things and I want to be a teacher so I was like okay academically like this is a great fit maybe bowling wise it's maybe not my favorite but we all learn from new environments that we've never been in and I I would say that I definitely learned a lot I learned a lot about who I am who I am as a teacher teammate who I want to be and then I got the opportunity here so that I was able to really use those resources that I gained and apply them here at this team. What's harder? What's more difficult? What takes more energy? The scholastic part or the athletic part? The athletic part for sure. My academics are no like they do not time consume as much and athletics is like every day. I'm in the stadium for at least eight hours a day kind of thing. Well, I say this to my athletes all the time,

that you're the same person in class as you are. Oh, yeah. On the field. So the things that translate and transfer, you should be at the same level with both. Correct. Should be. Should be.

Should be. But you put more pressure on one than the other. Yes. You love one more than the other? I don't know, actually. Actually, I want to be a teacher. So obviously I want to stay in the realm of education some way or another. Are you already a teacher or are you going to be a teacher?

I'm going to be a teacher. Okay, so you're evolving in that space. Correct, yes. You know how you're going to be, I know you're going to be a great teacher? How? Because of the way you're approaching your athletics. You think so? Well, here's the thing.

Curiosity leads to more lessons. Correct. So you being curious about how you perform and having an understanding. and then high repetition, high volume, high level of volume, right? Like, we're going to do all this stuff. So, and having gone through friction, you now understand friction. So when you see friction, somewhere else you will have identified. Yeah.

And that's how, me as a coach, what I always said was, I made a million mistakes so my players never had to. Like, that's my job. That's literally my job is to take all my lessons and go, okay, I'm going to stop you before you burn yourself. I'm going to stop you before you hurt yourself. I'm going to stop you before you make yourself less than. But for you, to choose education is a lifelong thing.

Then it becomes about the person. And great teachers, this is, you ready for, I'm going to give you this one. This is great people make great teachers. Great teachers make great people. So you've got to get that thing right. Like you got to get the personal. side right to get the professional thing right because everybody's counting on you. There are people you haven't met yet who are going to cross past you waiting, hoping that

you got it right. Oh, I think about that all the time. Right. Right? Right. Right. That these young people are coming and they're going through their life and they're going through their doubts and their fears and they're hoping that at some point in their life,

somebody comes along and identifies what's good in them, what's great in them, what's leading them. The rest of the stuff is not your concern. It's that stuff that matters. So then you have to remember great coaches are coachable. Great teachers are teachable. Don't beat yourself up getting it. Because those kids don't need you to arrive beat up. They need you arrive in full. Like they need you in full. Right? They're coming for you. And so that thing, right? I do want to say this. We're talking to Crystal Elliott, Nebraska bowling, and through her journey to get through to becoming a national champion and all-American.

I always want to remind people that the journey is way cooler than the accomplishment. The accomplishment is just a result of you making a whole lot of really cool and sometimes difficult decisions. I'm going to ask you about your parents. to talk to me about the people who loved you first. My mother. Okay. My mother has been my rock, and I mean, definitely, you know, teenage girl to mom.

You always have those arguments grown up, but I, ever since going to college, she has become my best friend. I think I have called her at least a minimum of three times a day to talk to her. And I don't know, like, because I should say my freshman year, I did not want to talk to my mom. I was like, bye, see you later. Peace out. But then sophomore year, I was like, okay, maybe I want to call her a little bit more. And then because of my frustrations last year, I would call her all the time. And I was like, I don't know what to do.

And so now I just call her like three times a day. And I'm like, what you do? The fact that you say you call her rather than text her gives me more hope. Oh, I call her all the time. Okay, because I tell people all the time. I'll text her every once in a while. I'll be like, you up. Yeah.

See? I'm not surprised by that. I'm really not. So the education part and then you, knowing once you got to decaying that that wasn't the space. Yep. It wasn't the place for you. What was missing? The bowling aspect of it. I think because I am an athlete and I'm a competitor and I wanted to be the best. and I was like, what is going to get me there with the best resources? And mind you, like, Duquesne had a lot of great resources. Like, their physical therapist, their athletic trainer, everyone there was very understanding. And they all supported me.

They were like, we get it. Like, we're some small private school. And although we don't have what they have, like, it benefits those that here. And I'm like, wow, like, I really appreciate that so many of, like, the staff members. like we're like go ahead and do it and uh 2021 national championship actually our athletic director or the athletic director for dukane went with them and he saw me in the hotel and he's like oh my gosh and he was so happy to see me and so now i keep in contact with them and so look what you did and like that's a door that like i don't want to close though because he's a great person and i feel and like i had

so many conversations with them because i was like i don't want to leave because the act academic side of things are so great here, but I want to be an athlete. I want to be a national champion. These are the things I want, and I don't know if I'm going to get them here. So you were speaking to national championships and this sort of thing before you got here. Oh, correct. Like, I've always, like, I used to practice by telling myself, okay, like, you need all three in the 10th, then I'd get up there, and I would just be practicing, and I talked to coach about it. I was like, hey, can we do this as an exercise? And so now, before we get to, you. get to the national championship.

He's like, all right, Gwen, you need three in the tenth. All right, Crystal, you need nine spare strike or you need a double nine. Like, and we have to step up and do it. And like, he'll do that now with us. And I think it's so exciting because I'm like, my childhood dream. No, situational awareness. This is good. I mean, look, but I'm not, but I'm not surprised by that because, listen, you've got

an exceptional leader, great man. and I know he cares about you, well, you all. So that's good to know. What is your favorite thing, favorite moment? Is it your first ball or your last ball? Which one gives you the biggest amount of goosebumps? I don't even think it's doing that. I think it's looking back at your team.

And so I know especially like I have a video of the three shots that got us on to the TV show. And I just, I don't even look at the shots now. I look at the team. And that alone just gives me goosebumps because, like, the shots don't matter. It's the people who are behind you. Y'all are wild, though. We try to be. Y'all are wild.

Like, I had no idea of such a party. Oh, yeah. If you were not having a good time, then get out. Yeah, y'all are good. Yeah, I just, have you been to a bowling match card? Have you been to one there? I have not. Okay, put it on your list.

And unfortunately, there's only one here. But yeah. It's in March. Don't worry. You got time. You got time. I went through and I didn't know what to expect. But that, no matter what I expected, that wasn't it.

It was an alley full of screaming warrior women. Like it was just like they had group chants and it was on call and, and foot stomping and hand clapping. I'm going, what is happening? And then you notice that the fans behind it were way more into it than that, even the athlete. The fans who come to the parents, the parents are one group,

but the fans who are used to just coming to Nebraska bowling, apparently again, did know it was a thing like that. I just did it with a jaw on the ground. Like, what is happening in this space? Y'all are in this. It's a party. So I, look, I get the whole.

looking back because y'all get after it you all get after who who is the the the vocal leader the one that gets everybody going and keeps them going um i would say amar and gwen definitely keep them going uh but that's not a surprise no not at all like they they are just so outgoing and like the thing that really like it really has inspired me is that they don't have to be throwing a shot and they're still on the sidelines and they're like they're holding the iPad and they're like all right so you're going to strike this time they're just cracking jokes and everything just to like kind of get you smiling and like they never like they never let you down and that is like the most beneficial thing that anyone could be doing it will be my hope for this season that you guys get more coverage

and that somehow the athletic department figured a other way to give you guys to cameras So that it's not just Facebook live and mom and dad's surface. Yeah. Well, it's also really hard, like, just because we only have one event here. So it's not like we can carry around some TV cameras and be like, let's go crew. But you've never, you guys don't go on a row by yourselves. Like, your families show up. Some of our families do, yeah. Yeah.

I think my mom has only been to a total of two college tournaments I've been in. Does your mom know you're badass? Oh, yeah, for sure. Okay, okay. Because you've only been to two. She's missing out. Well, I think also because, like, my mom's a nurse. So, like, especially with the hurricane that had just hit Florida,

a lot of people are going into hospitals. And right now she's just trying to figure that out. So, like, I know that she won't be able to go to, like, the first two events. But valid reason. I mean, she's helping people that really need it. Correct. And so for that, I can't be. at it or I'd be like, I can always text and be like, Mom.

Get on Facebook. Yeah, get on Facebook. They can still do better than Facebook. I'm just saying, we'll throw the break more with Crystal L at one-on-one. Download our app by searching 93.7, the ticket in your app store. You're listening to one-on-one with DP on 937 the ticket and the ticketfm.com.