LDS athlete to make Olympic encore
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LDS Olympian Ryan Millar has learned Church discussions can start in the oddest places. Once while living in Italy, he was approached by a teammate from his professional volleyball team. The young athlete was fascinated to learn Brother Millar was a "Mormon" plying his trade in the heartland of the Catholic Church.
The novelty offered "a good opening to talk about my beliefs," Brother Millar said.
Indeed, the 6-foot-8-inch blocker has grown accustomed to being the only LDS athlete on the volleyball court. Still, he's happy he will be flanked by fellow Church members when the U.S. Olympic men's volleyball team competes in Greece next month.
Assistant coach Carl McGown and team technical adviser Rob Browning are both members and will also be traveling to Athens. Brother Millar calls his teammates "great guys" — but adds having Brother McGown and Brother Browning along "makes me feel more comfortable." Both men coached the athlete during his national championship-winning years at Brigham Young University.
Brother Millar hopes they will have an opportunity to escape the Olympic hysteria long enough to find a Church congregation in Athens.
For the past several years, Brother Millar and his wife, Suzanne, have lived the transient life. There is no professional indoor volleyball league in the States, so the Millars spend part of each year in Italy where Ryan competes with a club team. Time apart from his professional team is often spent globe-trotting with the national team.
Still, the Millars have enjoyed the time they can spend with their small branch in Italy. The couple recently bought a home in Provo, Utah, and plan to one day settle down. But for now, he is willing to go wherever volleyball takes him. A veteran Olympian — he competed in the 2000 Games in Sydney — Brother Millar will be looked to as a team leader in Athens.
The United States will again be regarded as a medal contender, along with the usual volleyball powers Brazil, Russia, Italy and France. Medal or not, Brother Millar plans to make a third Olympic appearance in 2008 at the Beijing Games, "and as long as my body holds up, I would even think about a fourth."
E-mail to: jswensen@desnews.com
