Sports

Jayden Maiava poised to become the first Polynesian starting quarterback at USC

Published

11 seconds ago

November 14, 2024

Jayden Maiava poised to become the first Polynesian starting quarterback at USC

Before he’d ever played the position, Jayden Maiava had a sense of what a Samoan quarterback could mean to his community. Growing up in Oahu’s Palolo Valley in a big Samoan family, he’d felt that power firsthand. Like so many other boys his age on the islands, he watched Marcus Mariota at Oregon and Tua Tagovailoa at Alabama with a sense of awe and wonder. He watched as the whole of Hawaii seemed to galvanize around them and boys emulated them, promising their friends they would be the next Marcus or Tua someday.

Maiava, at the time, had never been so bold as to envision a similar path for himself. Playing football had always been a foregone conclusion, but he’d never really considered playing quarterback. In his own family, where football roots ran generations deep, no one had ever tried the position. Most had settled along the defensive or offensive fronts, where Polynesian prospects were so often penciled in. Plus, Maiava was a quiet kid — not the type you’d first expect to welcome the pressure of the position.

But one day, soon after his family moved from Hawaii to Las Vegas, his new youth football team was in need of a quarterback. Uriah Moenoa, a former Hawaii offensive lineman who Maiava calls uncle, was helping coach the team. Moenoa expected, with his size and athleticism, that the seventh grader would gravitate to defense. Until someone asked if anyone could throw, and Maiava raised his hand.

“He’s been a quarterback pretty much ever since,” Moenoa says.

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava, right, fends off Wisconsin linebacker Christian Alliegro as he carries the ball on Sept. 28 at the Coliseum.

(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

Now that shy Samoan boy who watched Marcus and Tua captivate the Samoan community is poised to step into a place of similar cultural significance. When he takes the field Saturday against Nebraska, he’ll become the first passer of Polynesian descent to start a game at quarterback for USC.

The weight of that history — at a school known both for its wellspring of quarterbacks and lineage of Polynesian stars — hasn’t been lost on Maiava, who called it “a blessing and a privilege.” The fact that he’ll duel with Nebraska freshman Dylan Raiola, another quarterback of Polynesian descent, only adds to the special moment.

“It’s big shoes for me to fill,” Maiava said. “But I think, with the great team we have, the great players, great coaches we have, it takes a lot off. It makes my job easier.”

Consider the rest that’s at stake Saturday, with USC’s hopes of bowl eligibility hanging by a thread, and you might wonder if that weight would be too much to shoulder for a young quarterback still finding his way. But teammates and coaches say they’ve seen Maiava step seamlessly into that spotlight since being named the starter during USC’s bye last week.

“He’s been way more confident,” said wideout Makai Lemon.

“He’s been putting his heart out there,” added offensive lineman Emmanuel Pregnon.

That certainly seemed to be the case last Tuesday as Maiava strolled into a crowd of reporters with a newfound air of confidence, just 24 hours after he’d been named the starter. This quarterback was not the same one that had mumbled through his first meeting with the media months earlier. It was as if, suddenly, he’d found his voice.

“How’s everybody doing?” Maiava said for all to hear, smiling as he approached. “Why’s everybody so quiet?”

The irony of that moment was not lost on Moenoa, who’d known Maiava since he was born. He’d been on four-hour car rides to Las Vegas with Maiava where he barely spoke a word.

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava runs off of the field during a game against Wisconsin on Sept. 28 at the Coliseum.

That was how Moenoa had always known Maiava to be as one of eight siblings on the island. Hed’ always been quiet – and quick to defer to others around him.

“In Samoan culture, you never talk out of turn,” Moenoa said. “You never overtalk. You never boast. You just do your thing.”

But football had a way of bringing Maiava out of his shell. Quiet as he was off the field, Maiava had never shied away from contact on it. He was big and physical at a young age, but he was less sure quarterback was the right fit.

“At first, I didn’t want to play the position,” Maiava said this week. “I didn’t think I had what it took to play the position, honestly. But [family members] really pushed me and told me I could do it. As long as I put my mind to it, the rest would take care of itself.”

It wouldn’t be long before he started to believe. Maiava recalls one particular game against national power Bishop Gorman during his freshman year at Sierra Vista High as the moment it dawned on him that he could hang at quarterback.

Moenoa never doubted Maiava had the tools. Anyone could see that just looking at him. But that one season at Sierra Vista, he watched Maiava assert himself in a way he never had before.

“As a freshman, he took command of the team,” Moenoa said. “He had a lot of seniors on that O-line, but he really took command and everyone listened. As an uncle, I was proud watching him.”

Maiava would never get long to set his feet as a quarterback after that. He bounced between three high schools in two states before taking the reins as a freshman at Nevada Las Vegas last season. When he transferred to USC this past January, he stepped into a locker room that already had an entrenched leader at quarterback in Miller Moss.

Maiava was slow, at first, to warm up.

“He was new,” running back Woody Marks said, “so he really didn’t feel ready to open up.”

But that would come in time. By last Monday, when Lincoln Riley called him into his office to tell him he was the new starter, his teammates had already come to count on his steady demeanor.

“He’s just a guy who puts his head down and works every day,” wideout Kyle Ford said. “He’s not really worried about the end outcome all the time. He’s worried about the process and how he can get better every day, and I think that’s what he’s done to put himself in position.”

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava holds up the ball as he runs into the end zone in front of Utah State players on Sept. 7.

Stepping in as the starting quarterback, Maiava knew that he would have to be more vocal. But it wasn’t in his nature to announce himself as such, either.

“It’s just a matter of being present for them, letting me know I’m here for them,” Maiava said. “I’ve got my teammates’ back.”

For now, that’s all he’s worried about. He has tried to set aside the significance of Saturday, training his focus instead on his preparation.

“I know he’s hearing it, and he’s feeling it,” Moenoa said. “The message is still the same. Do what you need to do. Drown out the noise, focus on the task at hand.”

But for those who have watched his progress firsthand, it’s hard not to imagine what it would mean for a Samoan quarterback to become a star at USC.

Maybe, safety Akili Arnold wondered, he would even inspire other Polynesian football players to “not shy away from being that guy.”

“Now that Jayden is the first one at USC,” Arnold said, “it opens a lot of eyes for us.”

Sports

Barca’s new Nike deal explained: Is it really worth €1.7billion? And is it bigger than Real Madrid’s?

Published

7 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Press Room

Barca’s new Nike deal explained: Is it really worth €1.7billion? And is it bigger than Real Madrid’s?

Barcelona announced last weekend a new multi-year partnership with kit supplier Nike, extending and updating a deal which had been set to end in 2028.

In recent months Barca president Joan Laporta has regularly boasted that he would secure a deal which would be “the biggest in all of world football”, and the extended contract could now be worth €1.7billion (£1.4bn;$1.8bn) over the next 14 seasons to 2038, bringing a major boost to the club’s troubled and complex financial situation.

Confirmation of the new arrangement ends a year-long saga which hurt relations between the Catalan club and the American sportswear giant. Yet it remains to be seen whether the deal will bring immediate relief to the team’s issues with La Liga’s salary limits — including most pressingly whether last summer’s signings Dani Olmo and Pau Victor can be registered to play for the team over the second half of this season.

The Athletic spoke to figures inside and outside Camp Nou, all of whom wished to remain anonymous to protect relationships, about whether this is a good deal for Barcelona.

What did Barcelona say?

Announcing the contract on Saturday, Barca said in a statement: “This new partnership consolidates Nike as a main partner of the club and official technical partner across all professional and amateur teams, bringing a unique model that strengthens the brand association and fuels the global retail and licensing business growth.”

What are the financial details?

Barca officially told The Athletic that the details of the deal were confidential, but club sources stated a total figure of €1.7bn over the next 14 years.

The new contract will have two phases. The first is from 2024 to 2028, the latter year being when the previous agreement was to expire. Club sources say that for each of the next four years, the income will now be around €108million (£90m;$115m), close to doubling what the club had been earning in recent seasons.

From 2028, that figure will increase to around €120m each campaign over the following decade, according to the club sources.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta (Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

These sources said that Barcelona would also receive a ‘signing bonus’ of €158m which will be divided over the 14 years of the deal, including the current season’s accounts.

Barca consider it to be a big victory for Barca following tough negotiations, guaranteeing that most of the promised annual income will be received, regardless of the team’s performances on the pitch.

When previous president Josep Maria Bartomeu’s board signed the previous deal in 2016, a headline figure of €105m a year was trumpeted. However, under that deal, when the team were not as successful as hoped, for instance dropping out of the Champions League early, the club actually received only €50-60m from Nike.

What are Nike saying?

Nike and Barca have worked together closely since their first deal was signed in 1998. When asked by The Athletic to comment on the new deal extension, Nike said it was delighted to continue this deep and meaningful relationship.

A Nike spokesperson said: “We are excited to progress our work together at all levels, from grassroots football initiatives that inspire and empower young players, to elevating FC Barcelona as a global icon of style and culture. Together, we are particularly passionate about advancing the growth of the women’s game, and our partnership with FC Barcelona’s women’s team is a testament to our shared dedication to equality and inclusivity in sport.”

Nike said they could not confirm details of the financial or business sides of the agreement.

What’s the optimistic view?

The €1.7bn headline figure is huge, even by the standards of multi-million kit deals at the elite level in club football. It would be a huge improvement on Barca’s previous earnings from Nike, a significant boost in revenues which would help improve the club’s financial situation over the coming years.

Importantly for many around Camp Nou, with the signing bonus included it would also mean that Barca have achieved Laporta’s often-stated ambition to top Real Madrid’s €120m-a-year agreement with Adidas, currently accepted as the most lucrative in world football.

This would back the current board’s case that they are working successfully to fix the financial problems they inherited from their predecessors.

Barca need cash to be able to play Dani Olmo in the second half of the season (Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

What’s the reality of the situation?

It is not typical in football for a club to renegotiate a kit deal with four years still to run. But the agreement with Nike was identified by Barca’s board as a potential way to increase their revenues by ‘levering’ more money into their annual accounts.

Nike were only going to agree to a new deal if it suited them, and there had been anger within the U.S. multinational at how they had been treated through the whole negotiation process, including the Catalan club trying (unsuccessfully) to find a legal way to exit their previous agreement.

Laporta and his closest executives took charge of the negotiations which finally led to the weekend’s announcement. Full details of the agreement were not even shared with the board before last Friday’s vote to accept.

Some industry sources consulted by The Athletic were sceptical about the figures being claimed, with doubt from some in the Spanish capital about whether Barca’s deal really was going to be bigger than Madrid’s.

There were also concerns voiced about the effect of the new arrangement on the Catalan club’s Barca Licensing and Merchandising (BLM) arm, with the statement announcing the deal appearing to suggest a deeper role for Nike in this area of Barca’s business.

Since its launch by Bartomeu in 2018, BLM has been a big success. The €179m that Barca earned from kit and merchandising revenues was the most of any European club according to UEFA.

There are concerns that Nike playing a greater role in the many ‘casual’ ranges of clothing and other merchandise sold in official club shops will mean less of the profits end up in its coffers. Club sources have denied that this will be the case.

GO DEEPER

Barcelona and Nike’s breakdown in relations reveals deeper problems at Catalan club

What’s the latest on Barca’s salary limit?

As so often in recent years, Barca had to work hard this summer to be able to register all their current squad members with La Liga, including Spain international playmaker Olmo, a €60m arrival from RB Leipzig, and young striker Victor, a €2.7m signing from Girona.

Both were only registered at the last minute, using La Liga’s financial rule 77, which allows for the temporary replacement of injured players (in this case Andreas Christensen). That meant they were only registered with La Liga until December 31. For either or both to feature after the winter break, the club must find more money from somewhere.

Victor is another player experiencing uncertainty at Barcelona (Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

During a press conference in early September, Laporta said that Barca were “€60million away” from returning to a situation where La Liga would let them sign and register players as normal.

A few weeks later it emerged that Barca’s auditors had required a write-down in its 2023-24 accounts of the value of the club’s troubled ‘Barca Vision’ subsidiary, which holds its current and future media rights and activities.

This meant that Barca now needed to raise an estimated €120m to get back within its allowed salary limit for the current campaign.

GO DEEPER

Reading Barca’s accounts – and why a ‘€12m profit’ is actually a €91m loss

How could the new Nike deal affect the situation?

When Laporta has been asked about the Barca Vision problem, he would often mention the bumper benefits of a new kit deal as at least part of the solution.

One hope was that a ‘bonus’ of €100m-plus could fill most or all of the immediate holes in the club’s accounts caused by the failure of the Barca Studios lever. The agreed deal now divides this bonus over its 14-year term — meaning only an estimated €9m extra in 2024-25 (plus the extra €40m in normal revenues over the course of the season).

Club sources have told The Athletic that the new Nike deal helps but does not resolve the Barca Vision issue. So the search continues for more investors in that project. There is confidence at the highest level at Camp Nou that this will be successful, and player sales will not be required in the winter transfer window. However, as so often under the current regime, it looks likely to go right down the wire.

And over the longer term?

The general impression is that this new Nike deal fits well with Laporta’s policies during his second presidency. The club is gaining upfront money which it can use to fix holes in the accounts and continue to spend on the squad.

A longer-term issue with the new Nike contract flagged in multiple conversations with industry sources is that Barca are now locked into this deal for another 14 years. Given the inflation in the market, €127m a year may not look so good by 2034. “This deal could tie the hands and feet of the next president,” an ex-Blaugrana board member told The Athletic.

However, there is also an understanding that Barca are where they are, and the numbers coming from the club are impressive and necessary. “Financially this new Nike deal is a tremendous boost of oxygen,” said one influential figure in the club’s ‘entorno’ who has not always backed Laporta’s lever policies.

(Additional reporting: Pol Ballús)

(Top photo: Alvaro Medranda/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)

Sports

Megan Rapinoe 'overwhelmed’ by another Trump presidency, fearful for the transgender community

Published

7 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Press Room

Megan Rapinoe 'overwhelmed’ by another Trump presidency, fearful for the transgender community

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Former USWNT star Megan Rapinoe lamented Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss in the presidential election during her recent podcast episode this week, adding that she is fearful for the transgender community under another Trump presidency.

During Wednesday’s episode of the “A Touch More” podcast, Rapinoe and four-time WNBA champion Sue Bird discussed their thoughts on the election and how they have been processing Harris’ loss.

OL Reign forward Megan Rapinoe (15) talks to the media after the 2023 NWSL Championship match against New Jersey/New York Gotham FC at Snapdragon Stadium. (Orlando Ramirez-USA Today Sports)

“I feel overwhelmed by the reality that is going to be a Trump presidency, which we have seen before – so I don’t feel like I’m saying anything new – but the reality where like anything crazy could happen any day. I think that is really overwhelming,” Rapinoe began.

Rapinoe, who retired from professional soccer following the conclusion of the 2023 NWSL season, went on to say that her concern mainly lies with those around her, including the trans community.

“I think that I feel – not so much personally scared, because I think that we live in very progressive places, we’re unbelievably privileged in our place in the world and life and financially and all of these things, but I think that fear extends to just people in general that will be really affected. I’m thinking of all my trans friends and people that I know and trans kids. I’m thinking about the potential of mass deportations if that is going to happen, and just like the general chaos that’s going to be sown is really overwhelming.”

Then-Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event, Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Mint Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

MEGAN RAPINOE TAKES SWIPE AT ‘VIOLENT REALITY’ OF ANOTHER TRUMP PRESIDENCY

Rapinoe went on to say that if the promises President-elect Donald Trump made on the campaign trail were to come true, she feels “it’s going to be a long four years.”

Rapinoe added that she was surprised that Trump’s “hateful messaging” resonated with so many Americans.

“To see such a hateful message really resonate with such a large percentage of the electorate – I think that’s just hard to look at. I think we always know that it’s there. Let’s not be naive about this – this is America, and we were founded on slavery and inequality.”

Former soccer player Megan Rapinoe attends the Women’s Gold Medal game between Team France and Team United States on day sixteen of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 11, 2024, in Paris, France. (Tnani Badreddine/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

Looking ahead, she said the Democratic Party will need to re-evaluate.

“Obviously, the Democratic Party missed the mark on some things, and we need to look at that really honestly in the coming months, weeks and years to try to have this message and this party resonate with more people than is resonating with the other side, which did not happen this time.

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Sports

Girls’ high school volleyball: Regional playoff results and updated schedule

Published

8 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Press Room

Girls’ high school volleyball: Regional playoff results and updated schedule

HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL

SOCAL REGIONAL PLAYOFFS

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

OPEN DIVISION

First Round

Cathedral Catholic d. Los Alamitos, 25-16, 25-17, 25-19

Redondo Union d. Marymount, 25-20, 23-25, 28-30, 25-9, 15-10

Sierra Canyon d. Mira Costa, 23-25, 22-25, 28-26, 25-23, 15-7

Mater Dei d. Torrey Pines, 19-25, 13-25, 25-16, 25-13, 15-13

THURSDAY’S SCHEDULE

Matches at 6 p.m. unless noted

DIVISION I

Quarterfinals

#8 San Luis Obispo at #1 Huntington Beach

#5 Francis Parker at #4 Palos Verdes

#14 Oaks Christian at #11 Liberty

#10 Santa Margarita at #2 Temecula Valley, 5 p.m.

DIVISION II

#9 Bishop Diego at #1 Bakersfield Christian

#5 Eastlake at #4 San Dieguito Academy

#11 Windward at #3 Bishop’s

#7 Long Beach Poly at #2 Bakersfield Centennial

DIVISION III

#8 Point Loma at #1 Central Valley Christian, 5 p.m.

#5 Corona at #4 El Dorado

#6 Granada Hills at #3 Porterville

#7 El Capitan at #2 Palisades

DIVISION IV

#8 Laguna Beach at #1 Walnut

#5 Santana at #4 Brawley

#6 El Camino Real at #3 Crossroads

#7 Chatsworth at #2 South Pasadena, 5 p.m.

DIVISION V

#8 Charter Oak at #1 Eagle Rock

#5 Bell Gardens at #4 California City

#14 Southwest SD at #11 Woodlake

#10 St. Pius X-St. Matthias at #2 Reseda

Note: Semifinals in all divisions Saturday at higher seeds; finals in all divisions Nov. 19 at higher seeds; state finals in Divisions I & V Nov. 22 at Santiago Canyon College; finals in Open, II, III & IV Nov. 23 at Santiago Canyon College.