Beach volleyball at the Olympics will take place this summer without Misty May-Treanor for the first time since the sport debuted in 1996. And the three-time Olympic gold medalist won’t even be in Rio because she’ll be busy with a new job.
May-Treanor was announced Thursday as the new director of volleyball operations at Long Beach City College, where she will also be the head coach for the women’s indoor and beach teams. She starts the new position the first week of July.
“I really like the community college level,” May-Treanor told the Long Beach Press-Telegram. “I love getting the players to move on to four-year schools; it’s rewarding.”
May-Treanor’s most recent coaching experience has been at four-year colleges. She joined the University of Southern California beach program as a volunteer assistant in 2013, and previously assisted the beach program at her alma mater, Long Beach State. She then took time off from coaching after giving birth to a daughter, Malia Barbara, in June 2014.
May-Treanor earned a master’s degree in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University in May 2013, a degree she began pursuing while still competing worldwide with Kerri Walsh Jennings. Walsh Jennings will seek a fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal in Rio with new partner April Ross.
“We are thrilled to have an athlete of Misty’s caliber lead our volleyball program,” LBCC President Eloy Ortiz Oakley said in a statement. “She is an icon in her sport and a longtime Long Beach resident with deep roots in our community. She will serve as an inspiration to our students and a strong leader in our athletics department.”
May-Treanor, who has long lived in Long Beach with her husband, former major league baseball player Matt Treanor, has a tall task in front of her. The LBCC women’s volleyball team finished 7-17 last year and missed the playoffs.
MORE: Kerri Walsh Jennings, April Ross set Rio goal on TODAY (video)