Misty May Awards banquet will get 2010

the Rochester Area Sports Banquet has again landed a top tier world-class athlete in Misty May-Treanor. She will be the guest speaker for the January 24, 2011 event.

Back for its sixth year, this event honors the area's top team, top male athlete, top female athlete, top adaptive athlete, top coach and top organization. This event also has been recognized as the Self-Created Event of the Year in 2010 by the National Association of Sports Commissions.

So why Misty May-Treanor?

Each year the banquet committee reviews hundreds of possible speakers and narrows the list to the top choices. This decision is based on affordability (many top athletes get $20,000 to $50,000 per appearance), appeal, career accomplishments and the type of person they are in respect to a reflection to the youth of the community.

Misty fits the bill across the board. She has all the accomplishments to deserve the utmost respect. She is a two-time Beach Volleyball Olympic gold medalist capturing her second Olympic Gold Medal at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Misty and Kerri Walsh teamed up to be the first beach volleyball team ever to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals.

Most recently, Misty completed her summer season on the 2010 AVP Tour and was named Favorite Female Athlete at the 2010 Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards. This fall Misty will continue to teach players across the country the skills to improve their own game of volleyball at her M2 Volleyball Clinics.

Volleyball is one of the Rochester area's strongest sports. Home of the National Volleyball Center, we host numerous youth tournaments throughout the year. Rochester was also the home of the Minnesota Chill of the now defunct United States Professional Volleyball League. Bringing Misty May-Treanor to Rochester not only adds to the quality of the Sports Banquet, but it could open doors for her to select Rochester as a host site of future camps. This was done with past Sports Banquet guest speaker Jennie Finch, who will again bring her high profile camp to Rochester this December.

We are thrilled to have Misty May-Treanor as our guest speaker this year. She is a unique person with a long pedigree of success stories in the world of volleyball. In addition, she is a quality person who should reflect the positive role model we look for.

We hope the community will give her the old "Minnesota Nice" welcome since she'll be visiting in blustery January. We believe she is a perfect fit to enhance the 2011 Rochester Area Sports Banquet and we also hope to see a long-term relationship develop that will add to the quality and enjoyment of the sport of volleyball for our area youth.

Misty May
Misty May
Misty May
Misty May
Misty May
Misty May
Misty May
Misty May
Misty May
Misty May