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Olympic champ Misty May-Treanor dazzles local volleyball players

By Candace Buckner
Published: August 16, 2013, 5:00pm

PORTLAND — Belen Yager remembers sitting inside her kitchen on the day her mother asked the second most ridiculous question.

“‘This girl, Misty May-Treanor,'” Yager recalled her mom saying casually. ” ‘Do you know her?’ “

Yager, shocked at the inquiry, responded: “Of course!”

Next came the single most absurd question that Yager has ever heard — would she be interested in receiving hands-on training by the three-time Olympic beach volleyball champion at her upcoming Dream in Gold clinic?

Yager — the fresh-faced, volleyball-loving eighth grader from Hockinson — answered without hesitation.

On Friday, Yager joined nearly 300 girls and boys to soak in the instruction from May-Treanor during the opening of her three-day clinic in Portland. Yager and several friends attended the evening indoor session and realized a dream come true by meeting May-Treanor.

21 Photos
Misty May Treanor, center, who is hosting a volleyball camp, demonstrates technique.
Misty May-Treanor volleyball camp Photo Gallery

“She’s my hero in life,” Yager said.

On Friday, May-Treanor, one half of the most prolific beach volleyball duo, looked relaxed and approachable as she reigned as queen of the court. In the morning, May-Treanor and her crew of coaches instructed participants through a 21/2-hour session in the sand.

At the later clinic, held inside the Eastmoreland volleyball facility, more than 30 Clark County players attended along with many more girls and boys from across the Northwest. The day also included a “Coaching Setters” clinic as well as Q&A and autograph signings with May-Treanor.

“I love it,” May-Treanor, 36, said about the public response to Dream in Gold. “It can be very overwhelming, but you can tell how large the sport has grown and that’s from the players before us kind of securing ways for Kerri (Walsh Jennings) and I to play. And then Kerri and I taking the torch along with other players.”

“There are so many kids playing volleyball (now).”

This summer, May-Treanor kicked off her Dream in Gold 12-city tour and Portland served as a guinea pig. Earlier in the year, May-Treanor, with the help of Evergreen High coach and family friend Joe Boken, stopped in the city for a one-day clinic.

“She came to the area to visit a (Nike) sponsor and… I asked if she would be interested in doing a clinic,” Boken recalled. “More as a joke, because I didn’t think she’d have the time. (However), she said absolutely and we set one up in January in Portland.”

After the success of that winter session, May-Treanor decided to revive her previous volleyball clinics under the new name, Dream in Gold.

“It’s fun to bring the sport I love up here,” May-Treanor said.

As gray skies hovered above, the young players arrived early for the morning session and quickly got down and dirty. During one strenuous stretching exercise — seated on the sand, shoulder blades elevated while lowering their legs like a crane — several participants grunted and winced.

“If they get in trouble,” a wisecracking May-Treanor said while addressing the gallery of parents, “just make them do this.”

After the stretching, May-Treanor demonstrated the “star drill,” a footwork exercise that she had leaned on throughout her professional career.

After winning her third goal medal at the 2012 Olympics, however, May-Treanor has retired from competition. So these days, she breaks out the star drill and other tricks as a coach.

“I love coaching and teaching. Anybody who wants to learn the game, it’s what I’m here for,” May-Treanor said. “I want to pass on my information because we all can’t play forever, and these are the kids we’re going to need to continue to grow the sport.”

Through the day, after May-Treanor would show how to properly execute individual and dual drills, she would then walk around every court and offer one-on-one encouragement and assistance.

“I think it’s a really good experience for any girl who plays volleyball and looks up to Misty May,” said Hannah Lemieux, a junior at Hockinson High. “I want to be able to learn and see what she wants me to do to be a better libero” (defensive specialist).

Yager, Lemiuex and a pair of other Hockinson girls, Mallory Hylton and Abbie Johnson, all declared to be volleyball diehards. The girls also claimed to have watched every match with May-Treanor and partner Walsh Jennings in London and some even expressed their own desire to win Olympic gold.

“Me and my friend talked about going to the next Olympics,” Hylton said “and becoming the next Misty-May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings.”

In May-Treanor’s eyes, that kind of passion for the game would be the first step to achieving excellence.

“I think you have to have a passion for what you do. If you don’t have a passion for volleyball, you may want to look at ‘why am I playing it?’ ” May-Treanor said. “(Also), everybody’s got to work hard.

“I try to enforce here, you may see you’re not very good at this skill now, but give it time.”

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