Reagan McMillon received Olympian Misty May-Treanor’s book “MISTY” as a Christmas gift two years ago and has been a fan ever since.
On Friday, the 13-year-old met her idol on a beach volleyball court at The Farm sports facility in Colorado Springs, a moment she never expected.
“I have these idols that I will never get to meet in person, so to meet her was awesome,” said McMillon, who later had her book signed by May-Treanor. “I was like ‘wow, we are standing on the same sand.’ How she coaches is very charismatic, she has a lot of empathy. She calls me ‘libero.’ I got chills every time she called me that.”
The two met during a volleyball clinic, part of Greatness Gives Back, a two-day outreach event that is part of the U.S Olympic and Paralympic Museum Festival that runs through Sunday. Friday and Saturday, Hall of Fame athletes conduct clinics and speaking engagements for all ages throughout Colorado Springs.
On Saturday there will be a panel featuring Bob Beamon, Tommie Smith, John Carlos, Billy Mills and Dan O’Brien at the U.S Olympic and Paralympic Museum Theater and a basketball clinic with Teresa Edwards at the Fountain YMCA.
“It’s amazing, just the amount of well-known Olympians at all of these events,” U.S Olympic and Paralympic Museum volunteer Molly Danner said. “A lot are the people I remember watching growing up. To see the kids and their excitement it’s just really cool.”
Beside the clinics, Hall of Famers Picabo Street, Tim Daggett and David Kiley spent part of Friday morning visiting multiple patients at UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central.
Coffee with alpine skier Picabo Street kicked off the outreach event with several sports clinics following, including a beach volleyball session with Hall of Famer May-Treanor, who earned three Olympic gold medals alongside Kerri Walsh Jennings, who will be inducted Saturday.
“It was fun to be back in Colorado Springs, I haven’t been back since I was inducted in 2019,” May-Treanor said. “I love the way the sport is growing and any time I have the chance to work with the next generation I love it. I used to do my own clinics all over. … I love coaching, it’s something I’ll never get tired of.”
The event was put on in part by Try Volleyball, a new USA volleyball program to encourage kids to get involved with the sport at a local level.
Despite 80-degree weather, Treanor was out on the court for the full two hours enthusiastically engaging and even playing with the 30 participants while Team Colorado Volleyball coaches led them through drills. She offered advice and playfully teased the players, some who were playing the sport for the first time.
“If I can give them one thought and they get 1% better each time, that’s all you can ask for,” May-Treanor said, “They were attentive, hard working. … It was a fun time. Lots of pink and red kids going home today.”
At the end of the session, she sat with the players in a circle on the sand court to answer questions about her life and career. With attentive eyes on her, the Olympian shared about her first beach volleyball tournament with her father at 8-years-old, and how volleyball has been an outlet through hard times.
She encouraged the kids to participate in multiple sports, and shared something her father told her growing up: Play for those that can’t play, there’s always someone that would love to switch places with you.
“I can’t put into words the impact of having her here,” Chrissy Elder of USA Volleyball said. ”She has been at the highest level of volleyball and Try Volleyball is meant to create Olympians. To have the highest level come and coach kids trying it for the first time. … You can’t put it into words how big of an impact it is.”
While she will head back home Saturday, May-Treanor was able to see the Olympic and Paralympic Museum for the first time, which she said was just a thought when she was being inducted.
Across town at Weidner Field, Michelle Akers, a member of the 1996 U.S women’s soccer team that won gold in the first ever women’s tournament, held a meet-n-greet before a soccer clinic on the pitch with 75 kids ages 7 to 13.
The meet-n-greet was not just for kids, a grandmother of one of the participants brought a Wheaties box from the 1990’s with Akers on it for the Olympian to sign for her granddaughter.
“It was fun,” Akers, sporting a grey Adidas tracksuit, said. “I told them to be out there for the love of the game, make sure it’s something you love and you are having fun. If you want to excel, having that love of just playing has to be part of the ingredients to be the best player on the field.”
McMillon was just one of several kids across Colorado Springs who had the unique chance to meet an Olympic athlete, with several more opportunities this weekend.
She will be a freshman at Coronado this fall, and the two hours with May-Treanor has given her a fresh boost of motivation to be a libero despite being new to the position.
“I learned from her that everyone’s journey is different,” McMillon said. “It doesn’t matter where you come from, you can still grow up to be who you want to be as long as you set your mind to it.”