Matt Proper Interview
This week’s interview is on former Penn State star, Matt Proper. He graduated in 2006 and went on to play professionally in Europe for 3 years. His career took him through Italy, Turkey, and Cyprus. Currently, Proper is working full-time as a medical consultant, but he still finds time to coach in a local club. Proper has also launched his own networking website for athletes all over the world, called Skyball. To read more about Skyball you can check out this article here!
Photo by Olympic Academy Volleyball
Name: Matt Proper
Position: Opposite Height: 6′ 7″
Nationality: USA
Career Highlights:
-NCAA Big 10 Medal of Honor
-Penn State Team Co-Captain (2006)
-2-Time NCAA All-American (2005,2006)
-SGK Turkey (Turkey), Perugia Volley (Italy), Anorthosis Volley (Cyprus)
1)Could you update us on what you have been up to since your senior year at Penn State?
Well, that seems like a long time ago now. Here’s the short of it: After I graduated in 2006, I came out to California to train with the national team. Then I played three seasons in Europe- Italy, Turkey, and Cyprus. Last year I didn’t end up playing, and I moved back to California.
Full-time, I’m a clinical consultant for a medical device company. Part-time, I’m coaching a little at Laguna Beach Volleyball Club.
And the rest of my time and energy is spent on Skyball. That’s where my passion is- tech + sports. I started it by myself, and I’m going to build it out into a full-featured web/mobile platform for managing your sports world. But it’s going to have a philanthropic mission as well.
2)What advice would you give to high school/college players playing the opposite position hoping to break into the next level? What skills, drills, or workouts should players focus on besides uselessly trying to crush the ball at the 3meter line to be a valuable opposite for college?
Haha, funny you mention crushing balls at the 3 meter line. I could never really bounce balls, even in warm ups. High and deep scores points.
My advice to players trying to improve on the right side is to work on drills that take you out of your comfort zone. Being able to deal with out of system balls that aren’t perfect- that’s what separates good right sides from great ones. Oh, and having a heavy, consistent jump serve helps too.
Photo by gopsusports.com
3)What would you say is the main job for the opposite? (i.e. blocking the other team’s outside, terminating plays etc.)
Cleaning up the garbage & siding out. Great opposites should be able to be able to put all of the out of system balls away, and get the team out of rotations if they’re struggling. On a good team, opposites should be your highest scorer. No player I’ve seen has epitomized the opposite position better than Clay Stanley. Usually someone who bangs the ball hardest, but can having a wide array of shots helps too- like Ivan Miljkovic or Jochen Schops.
4)In line with Q3, should coaches place their best attacker on the outside or the opposite?
Not necessarily. The opposite position has a different role and responsibility. A coach should evaluate each player’s strengths and put them in the best fitting position. If your “best attacker” can pass dimes, then you need to have him or her playing outside. But yes, and opposite should absolutely be a great attacker.
5)What was your favorite play/combination while playing at Penn State?
We didn’t run much in terms of combos at Penn State. Once in a while I’d come around and run an X2, and that was always fun because we hardly ever ran it. So most teams didn’t expect it, their middle blocker would pop, and I could swing on an empty net. That’s fun.
6)What was the most memorable experience/moment during your time at Penn State?
Beating UCI in the NCAA semis on our home court was by far my most memorable volleyball moment. Fifth set, game point- Max Holt went back to serve, and the lights cut out. They were on a timer set for 11PM. We had to wait for them to warm back up for 15 minutes, then he went back and ripped an ace to send us to the finals. Classic.
Unfortunately, we got smoked in the finals by a UCLA team who blew threw everyone in the playoffs after a mediocre season.
But my whole experience was legendary. I have friends from every other Men’s Volleyball school. And as far experience and culture, Penn State can’t be beat. The people, resources, support, and facilities at PSU are the best in the country.
7)Obviously playing for 4 years at Penn State must have had some bumps along the way. How did you manage to overcome personal difficulties, including your journey to the Championship match against UCLA in your senior year?
Honestly, the support system and my faith in God made me feel invincible. Sure, there were injuries, bad matches, too much school work, but that’s the joy of college. I was surrounded by so many rock stars on the court and off, and that, combined with my faith, made me feel invincible.
Was I? Of course not- no one is. But I held tight to the truth that ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’. Repeating that helped me bounce back from vomiting after a crazy workout or sleep deprivation or any super long practice that came through my way.
Photo by Volleyball Magazine
8)Has the game evolved since you started playing? How has serving, speed, defense changed in style/strategies within the past few years?
Well when I first started playing we used side-out scoring. Yeah, that means I’m getting up there in age.
Obviously hits are substantially harder and defensive players are better now than they’ve ever been. But I’m gonna have to say it’s way more technicalthan it used to. When I first got in the gym under Hugh McCutcheon and he started talking bio-mechanics, I knew things were on a whole new level.
The knowledge that’s out there now, along with the increasing accessibility to sports will continue to advance them. There wasn’t even YouTube when I was growing up. I had two or three VHS tapes from the 2000 Olympics that I watched over and over because that’s all the exposure I had to high level volleyball.
9)How important is weight-lifting and nutrition for young players? Are there certain workouts like squats or deadlifts that young players at the HS/college level can’t ignore?
I’m going to make a bold statement that weights aren’t extremely important for volleyball at the younger levels. I would suggest that young players focus more on plyometrics, flexibility, agility, and core strength.
It’s important to strengthen muscles around common injury areas- like strengthening shoulder muscles and deltoids to prevent shoulder injury or quads to prevent knee injuries. I would suggest to boys, more than girls, to then strengthen more major muscles. But focus more on fast twitch exercises as opposed to just bulking up.
10)We have a section on shoes and was wondering what pair you wear! What’s your idea on wearing basketball shoes like the Kobe’s for volleyball?
Aaah, well since I haven’t been playing, I can’t recommend any current shoes. But my favorite pair of shoes I ever played in were Jordan’s. Most basketball shoes are too stiff for me. I prefer shoes that flex.
11)How can the sport of volleyball grow further in the US? We’d love your input on the subject!
Connection. Continuing to let tech make the sport more accessible. Unfortunately, the sport is sparsely divided into like four different niches. Girls volleyball is obviously the most popular, then boys, then maybe recreational beach or grass, then NCAA. But 90% of these kids playing have no idea there’s even professional leagues out here, let alone can they name a professional player.
That’s something that I would love for Skyball to help solve. But that’s a big vision. Like I mentioned before, just having videos online of high level volley is great for younger generations. But to have a platform that they’re already using make the discovery and connection with the higher levels more effective.
Then kids will have life-size cutouts of Reid Priddy or Matt Anderson in their room.
Volleyball is one of the most popular sports in the world. I mean come on, my Amish neighbors in Pennsylvania played volley. But until there’s a connection to the higher levels, kids can’t have volleyball heros and we’ll never have an indoor pro volleyball league, or anything else that tons of other countries have but we don’t.
12)Could you sum up your immediate/long term goals in your career?
Skyball is my baby. It may take 10 years, but it’s an ongoing mission of mine to share my knowledge, abilities, and experiences to touch people’s lives. Those happen to be in sports and tech.
There are a ton of great companies that I look up to, like Tom’s shoes or On a Mission or charity:water that have a great purpose for being and really make a difference in people’s lives. Great contributions don’t have to be only through donations though. Tom’s is a great example of a for-profit company that makes a big impact in this world.
That’s what I’d like to do. That’s what I’d like Skyball to be. Something much bigger than myself.
