“EYES UP” PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE – TIARE JENNINGS

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Starting her softball career at the age of four and still batting away 18 years later at the age of 22, who is softball standout, Tiare Jennings of Tokelau and Samoa descent?

Before we get into the amazing accomplishments of Tiare Jennings, I would like to preface how iconic this interview and write up is. Let me introduce how amazing God works, because although Tiare and I haven’t met in person, we have indirectly known each other before we were even born. I have always known Tiare’s name through passing either on TV or through Instagram highlighting her alma mater University of Oklahoma’s run in the College World Series. But our connection actually dates back to our parents going to high school together and being in the same friendship circles with one another in the South Bay of LA County.

About 22 years later, who would have thought we would connect for this interview, where I get the privilege to cover an amazing Polynesian athlete and put her in the spotlight while mainstream media tries to silence some of the most important things Tiare Jennings believes in – her faith in God. This article is titled “Eyes Up” because we get a glimpse of how this simple motto keeps Tiare Jennings grounded through her sport.

Reader, if you don’t know who Tiare Jennings is, it’s okay because you soon will learn her name as well as her fellow Polynesian softball teammates who should be recognized in mainstream media, but this is the platform where we get to start the conversation. I was able to have a 30 minute video chat with Tiare in the midst of her crazy professional athlete life to go deeper into what makes Tiare Jennings one of the best Polynesian female athlete in the 21st century.

“So I’ve been kind of committed to Oklahoma for about seven years now going into college, but definitely my home. I’ll probably end up living in Oklahoma. I just absolutely love the people. The culture definitely reminds me of the Polynesian culture; surrounded by faith and love and family. So I definitely love being in Oklahoma and it was the best choice of my life.”
– Tiare Jennings

“Faith and Family” is what she was brought up in. Jennings always knew she was going to be an athlete in some way shape or form when the origins of her family dated back to when her parents met at El Camino College playing sports. Softball was and is Tiare’s whole life! She fell in love with softball at the age of four, and when she needed a break from her main sport, she would transition to play volleyball. Unlike other sports, the recruiting for softball starts as early as your middle school years! She went on her first few college visits in eighth grade! At that time, her dream school was to be a Bruin at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Being the school is right down the road from where she grew up and her dad was a big Bruin fan, that’s what Tiare knew to be her dream – one day become a Bruin. It wasn’t until someone planted a seed into Tiare’s ear to go to a camp all the way to Oklahoma. Her initial thoughts were “I’m a California girl!” Same girl, same. If you’re from California, you understand there’s no place like California – and I may or may not be biased.

Little did Tiare know at the time, she would find herself falling in love with the University of Oklahoma. Two years later after going to the camp her eighth grade year, Tiare verbally committed to be a Sooner. Her decision to be a Sooner was nothing short but a testament of the best decision of her life. The accolades in her years as a Sooner are too many to put into words, but here are some:

4x National Champion (Women College World Series – WCWS)
WCWS career record holder for RBIs(29)
Set a WCWS single-game record for most total bases (11 vs. Texas, 6/8/22)

And that’s just some of her accomplishments. I’m serious if you look in her college bio, it’s records on records, and titles on titles.

With the amount of accolades and record breaking accomplishments Tiare Jennings beholds, you would assume the ‘fame’ and the pressures would get to her, but if anything, it showcases the humility, grace, passion, faith, and love she has. Talking to Tiare and getting to know her throughout her interview, her humility shines through in the way she speaks.

I asked “How do you quiet the noise with all the successes you’ve had?” astonished by how she carries herself with the amount of pressure she has to live up to year after year.

“I think for me personally it was kind of just handling the pressure on the field to perform. The pressure from the media. Oklahoma fans love their softball, so the pressure from the fans, pressure from my parents, and everything. That’s kind of really when I leaned on my faith knowing that I’m more than a softball player and if I’m going to strike out or go three for three or whatever that’s just a game and just knowing my values and knowing who I am as a child of God took all that pressure away from me.”

Identity is huge in the world of sports! Many athletes get tied up in their identity being solely based on their sport and how they perform, but the success of Tiare and her fellow Sooner teammates comes from putting their identity in Christ. Early on in her freshman year Jennings gives credit to her upperclassmen teammates, “They taught me early on that the sport didn’t define who I was and that my faith was who I am.”

Fellow Polynesian teammate, Jocelyn Alo played a huge mentorship role in Tiare’s time at Oklahoma. Not only did they grow up together in California, but they were teammates in Oklahoma and still currently playing together professionally – #goals! Jocelyn helped embrace Tiare’s confidence and leadership as a freshman and helped her step into that confidence as she played. Grace Lyons is another mentor Tiare noted in her growth in her faith journey.

If you’ve watched any part of the Women’s College World Series in the past five years, you would know how amazing the Oklahoma Softball team is! They just won their fourth consecutive Women’s College World Series title and their eighth in program history! The beauty of the Sooners team is they are unapologetic in who they are – especially when it comes to their faith! Although not everyone on their team is a Christian, that was okay, because those that were, stood together and were bold for who they played for – Jesus! Each year they would have a theme or bible story that would get them through the year. Her favorite one out of her time at Oklahoma was “Eyes Up!”

“It correlates to the successes with God first and we always just ‘point up,’ because that’s kind of who we play for and who we did it for.”

As another fellow Christian, we understand mainstream media often likes to censor any faith talk, but our goal in this platform we have with Polynesian Music Network+ is to highlight the stories often overlooked on bigger platforms – especially when it comes to our Pasifika people. With that in mind, Tiare made a comment how ESPN did not like the Sooners professing their faith on mainstream media, but because the team did not shy away from them and continually gave the glory to God, they amassed many supporters and viewers for their unapologetic faith. “I’m just spreading the word. It’s all kind of what we kind of just try to do. We pray with teams after games just knowing that it’s more than softball.”

As Pasifika people, we were raised similarly to Tiare, big on Faith and Family. I wanted to shed a light on how faith is integrated into every aspect of our lives. In her time at Oklahoma, Tiare fixated her eyes up, and it has not only edified the faith she grew up with, but carried her throughout her collegiate years and now into her professional career.

Now, Tiare is currently playing on the Oklahoma City Spark, a professional softball team. She is joined with her Polynesian teammates Jocelyn Alo, Dejah Mulipola, and Chloe Malau’ulu. Jennings recently got back from playing with Team USA at the World Cup in Italy where they earned a second place finish bringing home a silver medal. “It was one of the best experiences. I played with a lot of professional softball players. I was reunited with some Polynesian sisters of softball.” Talk about 685 to the world of softball…we absolutely love to see it.

In the future, Tiare Jennings continues to have her eyes up and she is planning to return to University of Oklahoma as a graduate assistant to help coach her former team and continue to work on her Master’s program in Intercollegiate Sports Communications. She hopes to help more women in sports by either becoming a sports agent and helping women athletes get their NIL deals or become a softball coach.

If you didn’t know Tiare Jennings, not you know. Make sure to keep up with her and her fellow Polynesian softball sisters in their professional softball career.

Fa’afetai Family!