Misty May-Treanor kicked off the 2015 Pottstown Rumble on Thursday, June 25, hosting two sessions of her “Dream in Gold Clinic” at Pottstown’s Memorial Park.
After missing the event last year while pregnant with her first child, Malia Barbara, the three-time Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist admits she was itching to get back to teaching the game she loves.
“I love coming out here to this event in Pottstown,” she said. “We do clinics all across the country, but this place is always so much fun and so full of energy. It’s great to spend time with these kids and watch their eyes light up when they do something well.”
Many eyes lit up throughout the afternoon, as you could hear May-Treanor’s “nice job!” and “way to go!” ringing throughout the courts of the park.
Following each session, where players ages 8-18 were taught various volleyball techniques by the Olympic champion, May-Treanor sat down for an autograph and photo session with each participant in front of the giant, inflatable Pottstown Rumble volleyball.
The groups were divided by ages – 11-and-younger, 12-year-olds, 13-year-olds, 14-year-olds, 15-year-olds as well as 16-and-older – were instructed by several collegiate and high school coaches.
“They’re the future of this sport,” May-Treanor said. “Volleyball has really taken off since I started playing, so I’m really glad to see people coming out and getting excited to play.”
One participant who was especially excited for the event was Kayla Welsh along with her mother Missy, who took the three hour drive from West Virginia.
“I got this ticket for Kayla as a Christmas present,” Missy said. “My daughter eats, sleeps, lives, breathes volleyball; she absolutely loves it. She’s spent so much time looking up to Misty May and everything she has done.”
According to her mother, Kayla was nervous to come face-to-face with someone she idolizes.
“She was in the car this morning saying ‘Mom, I’m shaking, I’m so nervous,'” said Missy. “It’s not everyday you get to meet someone like her. I think today has really been a dream come true for (Kayla).”
Along with May-Treanor and her coaches was her father, Butch May, who competed for the American volleyball team during the 1968 Olympics.
May describes volleyball as the perfect team game.
“It not only takes talent to be able to play volleyball,” he said, “but communication is such a key part. That’s what I’ve been trying to stress to these girls today- – to talk out there and work together as teammates. You’ll never be successful in this game without your teammates.”
May-Treanor echoed the words of her father when she addressed the participants in their neon yellow shirts after the clinic, speaking from her experiences when she played in high school through her Olympic runs.
“You can never talk to each other enough when you’re out there playing,” she told the group. “It doesn’t matter how much different you are from one another – when you’re playing, you’re a team. You have to put aside your differences and work toward one goal.”
Aside from goals on the volleyball court, May-Treanor also stressed the importance of taking the initiative in the classroom.
“It’s important to take care of everything outside of volleyball first,” she added. “If you can’t keep up your grades, don’t play. It’s important to keep your passions and follow your dreams, but remember what sorts of things should come first. We’re all students in school, in sports and in life.”
May-Treanor won gold in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics in beach volleyball alongside teammate Kerri Walsh Jennings.
Still, through all of her triumphs and wins, she says that the basic techniques are what always proved to be most important.
Throughout the session, participants did a number of stretches and practiced basic techniques as directed by May-Treanor and her assistants.
“Misty taught us the important of fundamentals, which I think we forget about a lot,” said Natalie Maston, who will start her freshman year at Brandywine Heights in August. “It was really cool to take lessons from someone who has been so successful. There are a lot of new things I know I need to practice before school starts.”
According to the Pottstown Rumble’s organizer, Seth Kaas, the event has really taken off since May-Treanor started running her clinic two years ago.
This year, around 1,400 teams will be competing on 173 nets across several locations in the Pottstown area including Memorial Park, Sundstrom Field, the Police Athletic League field, a satellite field at the Coventry baseball park and a potential fifth field at Sly Fox Brewery.
“The first year Misty came, we experienced a huge bump in attendance,” said Haas. “The fact that she is associating herself with the Pottstown Rumble has really helped this event to keep growing. A lot of people come from all over just to be in her clinic.”
For May-Treanor, the clinics are a way for her to motivate participants to have that fuel to keep playing hard.
“I miss everything about training and competing in volleyball,” she said. “I want these kids to feel the fire that I felt when they play. I hope I can inspire them to keep getting better and to work as hard as they can.”
