Misty May-Treanor speaks to Long Beach Century Club

LONG BEACH >> Misty May-Treanor shared stories about the process of becoming the new director of volleyball at Long Beach City College at the Long Beach Century Club’s meeting at the Boathouse on the Bay late Tuesday.

Her new boss, LBCC athletic director Randy Totorp, introduced her and joked, “How do you introduce somebody that the city of Long Beach adores?”

May-Treanor joked and laughed with the hundred-some members of the club about her new position.

“This is my first full-time job since, well, ever,” she said. “It can be a little intimidating. I’m so passionate about being at this college that I really wanted it so badly. When you want something that bad you can get hurt. Thank God I never had that happen with the Olympics because you feel the same way.”

Tuesday also marked May-Treanor’s first full practice with the team, where she gave a team that finished 7-17 last year one message. “I told them, ‘We might not be the tallest and we might not jump the highest, but we’re going to put the work in and find a way to get it done,’” she said.

Still, there’s no doubt there’s a major difference in having an icon of the sport such as May-Treanor in the building. For starters, two of her references on her job application were Karch Kiraly and her college coach at Long Beach State, Brian Gimmillaro. As her players will lea shortly, having May-Treanor as a coach means having some serious firepower in the assistant coaching ranks as well. May-Treanor told the club that Hall of Famer Debbie Green will be her volunteer assistant. Green is considered one of the best setters and considered one of the best setting coaches.

May-Treanor’s father, Butch May, will also join the staff as well, bringing decades of coaching experience.

“It’s just nice to have people who want to give back,” May-Treanor said.

She also said that her husband, former Major League Baseball player Matt Treanor, has enrolled at LBCC as a student. He’s expressed interest in coaching as well, but since he went straight from high school to pro baseball, he has no college credits.

May-Treanor’s name is certainly going to draw a different level of talent. Multiple NCAA players have expressed interest to the school’s administration in transferring to the community college level to play for her, a trend that is likely to continue with the addition of Green to the coaching staff.

Still, May-Treanor won’t have long to get the program moving in the right direction. The Vikings have a scrimmage with Cerritos tentatively scheduled for Aug. 26, less than two months after her first practice with the team. The Long Beach State legend said she’s all in on trying to help her team improve.

“It’ll be weird not wearing the black and gold,” she said. “I’ll be wearing black and red. But I’ve got plenty of black and I’ve got plenty of red.”

The meeting was the second in the tenure of new Century Club president Keith Hansen, a former principal at Lakewood and Wilson high schools. Hansen took over from outgoing president Vito Lanuti in late June. The club meets every Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Boathouse on the Bay.

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