At OA, it’s a known fact that playing a sport and keeping up with the class rigor requires balance and level-headedness; however, for the Tiettmeyer siblings, the additional weight of a crowded household and a multitude of extracurriculars makes their varsity careers all the more impressive. Sophomore and Junior duo, Shay and Mac Tiettmeyer are both multi-sport athletes with responsibilities on the field, in the house, and in the classroom.
In a nine-person household, the Tiettmeyer siblings are constantly on the go, whether it be to little league practice with Coach Mac and little brothers Croz and Finn, indoor soccer lessons with Shay, or a musical theater rehearsal with little sister Shelly. Mac and Shay credit their ability to balance such a strenuous schedule to their parents, who ensured they were always active on a team or in a Girl Scouts troop.
“It’s kinda controlled chaos – there’d always a conflict but they [the Tiettmeyer siblings] figure it out at the end of the day,” said Shay.
The eldest two Tiettmeyers pride themselves in being multi-sport athletes with Mac on boys varsity soccer and baseball and Shay participating in girls tennis, soccer, and softball. During the winter-to-spring season shift, they remove their shin guards and lace up their baseball and softball cleats as they look toward yet another spring preseason.
“As baseball has kind of been ramping up, I’m there for around three to four hours a night so I just kinda have to find that balance between still having fun playing baseball and soccer but also helping my brothers and sisters with their sports,” said Mac.
The two manage to balance their strenuous class schedules filled with a multitude of AP courses as well as earning their Spanish Seals of Biliteracy.
“Being involved has definitely taught me time management because I can’t really scroll on my phone till 12 every night, you know, I gotta do homework at some point, I gotta eat dinner at some point so it’s really taught me to manage my time better and get things done,” said Mac.
On top of playing three sports, Shay also puts time toward some of her other passions such as being a content creator. Over the past year, Shay has amassed over 8.5k followers by regularly posting anything from skincare and makeup tutorials to reviewing products sent to her through some of TikTok’s most popular cosmetic brands.
“At first I really didn’t want anybody to see it, I was just so like embarrassed and nervous but now when people find my page it’s really it’s cool because it is something that is a source of income for me but also something I can be creative in,” said Shay.
As Oxford’s Tiettmeyer sibling duo balances school, sports, hobbies, and hectic family life, they look toward college athletics to continue their athletic journeys they have familiarized themselves with for so long and hope to continue their promising path in the near future. For now, the two set their sights on the spring baseball and softball season and hope to make this year’s CIF run as promising as the last where baseball won their very first championship and both squads qualified for the state-wide playoffs.
