A cold email with a huge wish resulted in an unforgettable night for 23 members of the United States women’s water polo team.

“I don’t know how I’m going to top this,” Ally Beck admits over Zoom. Beck, the operational manager, reached out to Taylor Swift’s team earlier this year, wanting to surprise her athletes with Eras Tour tickets.

“We’ve been preparing for the Olympics and got invited by France to do a test event in Paris,” Beck explained. When she was looking for activities for the team, she realized that Swift will begin the second year of her record-breaking tour in the French capital. So she sent an email to the singer’s staff.

Weeks passed, and as Beck was boarding the plane from Los Angeles to France, she received a response that stopped her in her tracks.

“The audible squeal that came out of me on the plane,” she relates. “I was like, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, everyone.'”

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On Friday, May 10, 2024, the squad USA women’s water polo squad will visit Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Paris.

Beck waited until Wednesday before the concert to inform the squad.

You can see the reaction in the video above.

“The girls just lost it,” Beck explains. “From there, it was like, ‘What are we going to wear?’ We were squealing in the hallway.”

‘There is no number of times to say thank you’

On Friday, 15 water polo players and eight staff members crowded into the VIP floor portion known as the “Red” room. Denise Mammolito, the utility outside shooter, and center Ava Johnson are two of the team’s most prominent Swifties. Mammolito’s first concert was from Swift’s second era, “Fearless.”

The Eras Tour added to an already incredible week for the team, which included musician Flavor Flav’s announcement that he would help financially sponsor the team’s travel 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 (myself included!) require a second (or third) job to support chasing the dream, 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 athletes.”

Flavor Flav responded, “AYYY YOOO,,, as a female dad and promoter of all women’s sports, I’ll personally sponsor you, my girl, whatever you need. And I will sponsor the entire team. My management has contacted your agent, and I intend to use all of my ties and resources to assist you all even further. “That is a FLAVOR FLAV promise.”

Beck is really appreciative 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 and enjoy 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 for gold there in a couple of months, just the amount of inspiration we’re able to draw from her is a whole other level.””

The team will compete in the stadium in late July and early August. They are preparing to defend their three straight gold medals: 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, and 2020 in Tokyo.

Swift will continue her European leg of the Eras Tour in Sweden this weekend before traveling to Lisbon, Portugal, next week.