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For 25 years, Jerritt Elliott has served as the head coach of the Texas Longhorns women’s volleyball team, one of the nation’s most successful programs.
Elliott is a three-time NCAA champion as a head coach and a 15-time Big 12 champion. But it wasn’t until recently that Elliott, who is bald, revolutionized the sport of women’s volleyball with one simple trick: a hair tie.
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Texas Volleyball Coach Revolutionizes Women’s Sports With New Hair Tie
Elliott, 57, has been coaching in some capacity since 1991. Along the way, he grew frustrated when his players would need to stop during a practice or game to fix their hair ties.
So he and his wife, Andrea Nucete-Elliott, who played volleyball internationally, came up with a solution.
Elliott created a new product called the TIY: A 3-foot strand of elastic covered in a fabric sheath. The product allows athletes with long hair to tie the ends of the cord, then wrap it in as many loops as needed to accommodate their hair volume.
“People that know me know that I have a wild brain,” Elliott told ESPN. “I’m very entrepreneurial.”
After doing market research and consulting several big-name women’s volleyball stars, Elliott discovered that the current hair tie market didn’t work.
“I didn’t really know if I had anything at all,” he said of his product.
His wife then sampled the product after accidentally breaking the hair tie she had been using during a practice. Immediately, she says, she knew the new product was a game-changer.
“I used the entire 34-inch version of the product, put it in my hair, called him right after,” she says. “I say, ‘We have something here. 100%. This is different.'”
Now, NCAA superstars such as Pitt’s Olivia Babcock, Nebraska’s Harper Murray, Louisville’s Cara Cresse, and many more swear by the product, saying it’s allowed them to completely focus during games and practices without worrying about their hair.
Additionally, they say the product addresses other issues such as damage to hair or headaches caused by traditional hair ties.