Misty reveals her past

Misty May-Treanor is ready to return to the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Tour, as she’s playing in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. today. She’s also ready to release details of her troubled past, as a means of therapy and to inspire others.

May-Treanor, the two-time Olympic gold medalist who starred at Newport Harbor High, grew up with an alcoholic mother who became violent when drunk and a father who also had a drinking habit, the Associated Press reported Friday after obtaining an uncorrected proof of May-Treanor’s autobiography set for June. Her father, Butch, sobered up after he was jailed for drunk driving.

May-Treanor, the all-time winningest beach volleyball player, was also sexually assaulted during her college days at Long Beach State, according to the AP and the book, “Misty, Digging Deep in Volleyball and Life.”

May-Treanor, who is playing today after a year out because of a ruptured Achilles, did not return calls Friday, but she spoke about the book in general terms during a Florida Marlins game in Miami Thursday night. She was there to throw out the first pitch.

“When people read this book, they only see me as the athlete and they’ll know I have scars, that I’ve had things in the past that I’m not proud of that I’ve had to change, and that I now can express it,” she told the AP. “The book was kind of therapeutic, because I was talking about things that I haven’t.”

May-Treanor’s book details her life in beach volleyball. Karch Kiraly baby-sat her when her father, Butch, a 1968 Olympian, played beach volleyball. The book also features the work involved through three Olympics, the second in 2004 being emotional, as she won her first gold medal two years after her mother, Barbara, died of cancer.

May-Treanor has held her parents in high regard. She continued to write letters to her mother after she died and she spread her mother’s ashes on the sand at the Athens Olympics.

With her father, May-Treanor continues to assist him with his volleyball camps.

She exposed her past to help others, even if it meant stunning many. She said there were parts of the book that her husband Matt Treanor, a Texas Rangers catcher, didn’t even know.

“I didn’t feel comfortable coming out and saying it, or I’m ashamed, but now it’s OK,” she told the AP. “If it can help somebody else, if somebody else can read that book, a young girl can say ’Oh my gosh, she went through that same thing? No way!’ Then I feel that I’m helping.”

The news about the book surprised her high school coach Dan Glenn, as well as Charlie Brande, May-Treanor’s club coach and a friend of the family. Glenn was unaware of May-Treanor’s childhood. The book says most of the struggles occurred from age 4 to 15. Brande knew her parents were alcoholics, but was stunned to hear about the sexual assault, and was left with few words after her decision to reveal the details of her past.

“I just want to see her and give her a big hug,” Brande said. “I have great respect for her. Some people become stars and don’t get it. She always wants to give back. She’s a tremendous role model. I think it’s good that she exposed all this and got it off her chest.”