HELENA — Helena Capital’s Teagan Clement signed a national letter of intent Thursday afternoon to play men's college volleyball at Division II Tusculum University in Tennessee.
But Clement’s journey to playing college volleyball was anything but a straightforward spike.
“Being from Montana, there’s no (boys) volleyball here,” said Clement. “I started when I was in like second grade, and I had to play with girls pretty much all the way up through high school — until I started traveling out of state.”
Clement’s mom, Katie, added that the lack of organized boys volleyball in Montana forced her son to compete against girls until he was 15.
“And then when Teagan hit 15, he couldn’t play on a women’s-height net anymore,” said Katie Clement. “So we had to find something else that he could be a part of and continue to grow his skills to get to where we are today.”
So to keep his volleyball dream alive, Clement joined a boys volleyball club in Spokane, Washington — which often meant five-plus hour road trips multiple times per week for he and his parents.
“It’s definitely a challenge,” said Clement. “And it wouldn’t be possible without the people who housed us down there – so my coaches, family, friends that are down there. They’re so amazing and they’re so supportive. They feed me when I’m down there. They house us in pretty much our own beds. They’ve basically become like a second family to us.”
And at every step of the way, it was Clement’s parents at his side, first cheering him on from the bleachers and now watching as he gets ready to head off to college.
“From him being super little and him saying that he wanted to do that to finally getting to that point and realizing that he’s finally growing up and he’s heading out on his own,” said Katie Clement. “But happy that he gets to do something that he absolutely loves to do.”
Clement said that his mom was the one that got him started on volleyball.
“Everything that she’s taught me about being a good athlete and being coachable and giving it my all and working hard,” said Clement. “Having her there with me the last couple years has been really amazing. And I’m going to miss her a lot while I’m in Tennessee.”
