In this episode, I caught up with Matt Prosser, All American, professional indoor and beach volleyball player, father, and cancer survivor. Matt gives us an athlete’s perspective on health and wellness and the benefit of human connection as he battled cancer and an AVP comeback almost simultaneously.
Key Points, Top Takeaways, and Memorable Quotes
“In 2017, I was just kinda doing life, had two little kids and a house, a pool in the backyard, and a job. It was 120 degrees outside, but to get back to the cancer story.” 3:54
“One thing I didn’t know about Testicular Cancer is that it’s the most common type of cancer in white males between the ages of 18-34, which is a very big eye-opening thing; I was diagnosed at 38.” 7:54
“Besides being told you have cancer, to me, the scariest thing about it was just the word chemotherapy.” 9:21
“I played volleyball during chemotherapy with friends and I felt pretty good. I had to take it easy and chemotherapy made you a little more sensitive to the sun, and obviously, energy levels are a little lower.” 14:50
“I’m very grateful that I responded the way that I did to chemotherapy.” 15:14
“I compared it to sports and this was the path that I needed to do to get better for cancer and chemotherapy was the vehicle.” 16:21
“There’s a reason middle blockers don’t set.” 16:45
“The key is to check yourself; self-exam (hate to say it and laugh but) or have someone check for you.” 21:44
“The social connection and the physical exertion was so big for me for my own mentality knowing that I could be going through chemotherapy but I’m still able to play volleyball.” 23:19
“When other friends of mine go through life adversity and troubles and tests, I always want to be there to help them and make them know that I’m there to help them if they want my help. They have to come to me; I’ll make myself available.” 24:35
“A good mental check for me to know that I could still compete.” 34:02
“When I was playing full time, I would train harder than the matches were so that the matches seemed easier.” 37:46
“What it felt like to have that emotion flow through me from volleyball, but then from all challenges and to overcome them and to get back to a place where I was satisfied with volleyball.” 50:58
“When I was coaching at the college level, there was no social media. There was none of this pressure from external factors, from opening up instagram and seeing yourself get blocked on repeat every single ten seconds.” 56:36
“Accept it. It’s volleyball. You got blocked. Big deal.” 56:59
“Let them try all the sports, they’ll pick whichever sport they want to play, then when they get to the level where it’s more serious, there’s other dedicated full-time coaches for them to get coaching.” 58:14
“I really do enjoy talking about volleyball without it being to a team that I’m coaching or seeing faces and having to kind of rearrange your talk track a little bit.” 1:02:43
“I know that I need to have a goal athletically that's physically challenging for me to work towards, for my own personal psyche, and how I operate when I’m with my kids, what I want to do and where my focuses are. 1:14:33
“It’s not about going back and changing what's happened in my life to have gotten me to where I am today. It’s analyzing and thinking about the choices I’ve made given the situations that I was in that have brought me to where I am today, and what I can take from them moving forward for myself and the most important people around me in my life, whether it’s family or friends.” 1:22:39
“It’s not looking back in regret, but it’s learning from the choices and helping me make the right choices moving forward so it puts me in the place to be the things that I wanna be for myself, and as a parent for my kids or a friend or whatever I need to be for that day.” 1:23:12
“Realize where you are, what you have, take it, and be better for it.” 1:23:58
Guest Bio - Matt Prosser was born and raised in Ventura, California and now lives in Hermosa Beach. He is a 43 years old father of two young boys Nolan (8) and Welles (6). Matt started playing volleyball at the age of 13 after playing nearly every youth sport, once he found volleyball he was hooked. A self-described “volley-nerd” in middle school and high school Matt was a Junior Olympic Champion in 1997 and went on to play NCAA volleyball at Long Beach State where he was a 3-time All-American, team captain, and NCAA finalist. After graduating with a broadcast journalism degree in 2001 Matt went on to play one season of professional volleyball for OK Maribor in Maribor, Slovenia. Matt started playing beach volleyball in high school and during the summers of college in Ventura and decided to play professional beach volleyball in 2003. Matt played on the AVP tour for 13 seasons, and made the 2010 AVP Hermosa Beach Open Finals as the 13th seeded team with John Mayer but lost in the finals to Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers. Matt won the 2011 AVP Champions Cup in Huntington Beach with partner and childhood teammate Matt Olson. Overall, Matt competed in 105 professional beach volleyball events between 2003 and 2018. His final main draw appearance was in the 2018 Manhattan Beach Open when he partnered with Eric Beranek as the Q34 seed winning four matches to qualify for the Main Draw approximately one year after being diagnosed and recovering from testicular cancer. Matt turned his love of indoor and beach volleyball into an emerging career in international and domestic broadcasting, doing play-by-play and color commentary for Long Beach State Men’s Volleyball, Volleyball World, and Italian Professional Indoor Volleyball. Matt broadcasts VNL matches and will join AVP events later in 2022. Outside of volleyball, Matt enjoys coaching his sons sports teams, and stays physically and philanthropically active, supporting the Arthritis Foundation and will ride in the California Coastal Classic Bike Ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
Show Notes
0:00 - What I Meant to Say Podcast Intro
0:18 - Introduction
1:57 - Comeback Story
2:10 - Cancer Survivor Story
2:52 - From the Beginning
4:19 - During the Physical Exam
5:49 - Diagnosed March of 2017
6:20 - What’s the Course of Action?
8:48 - 5 Years Clear in May
9:11 - 9 Weeks of Chemo then Back to Volleyball
10:28 - Chemotherapy Was Very Scary
13:12 - Raw Vegan
13:48 - Grain Brain Book
14:30 - An Athlete’s Perspective on Cancer Treatment
15:54 - Only 28 Days
16:31 - Blocking Analogy and the Importance of Setting
18:29 - Back to Your Chemotherapy Approach
19:06 - My Hair Came Back
19:28 - There are Reminders
20:02 - Relying on the Data with Confidence
21:21 - What is Your Advice to Men?
22:58 - Fortunate to Play Volleyball During Chemo
23:51 - Feeling Comfortable and Safe
26:09 - Is it a Challenge to Get People to See the Doctor?
27:15 - The blessing of family support
28:12 - Effects of Chemotherapy
28:57 - Timeline to Hermosa Beach 2017
29:46 - 2017 Hermosa Beach AVP Qualifier
32:49 - Playing Stadium Court
34:02 - Reality Check
34:27 - 2017 Manhattan Beach AVP Qualifier
35:59 - Mentoring Eric Beranek
37:19 - Playing with Eric’s Energy Levels
38:24 - 2018 MBO Top Ten Video Clip
40:56 - Different Mindset in Austin
42:31 - Work Responsibilities Spiked
42:58 - 2018 MBO AVP Qualifier
47:14 - Last Match to Get In
48:37 - One of My Biggest Moments
49:17 - Jason’s Compilation of Top 5 Qualifier Matches in Last Decade
50:28 - Well of Strength in Overcoming Challenges
52:21 - Similarities with Tri Bourne
53:30 - Culmination of Playing AVP
55:35 - Journey of Athlete to Parenting
56:36 - College Athletes and Social Media
57:42 - Separation Between Being Parent and Coach
59:04 - Taking a Step Back and Broadcasting
1:00:28 - Color Commentary at Long Beach State
1:02:30 - Opportunities
1:03:22 - Where Do You Go from Here in Your Athletic Journey?
1:04:38 - 2018 Labor Day CalCutta
1:07:26 - No Wins on Saturday = No Sleep
1:08:16 - Something Happened Sunday and We Clicked
1:09:18 - Winning and Finding Fulfillment
1:12:50 - Do You Have Fun Playing For Fun?
1:14:00 - Ran First 10K Super Bowl Sunday
1:14:49 - Half Iron Man and California Coastal Classic Bicycle Ride
1:15:54 - Set a Goal and Go Achieve It
1:17:10 - Comfortable Discomfort with Challenges
1:19:20 - Longest Running Event or Distance
1:20:55 - Iron Man Challenge
1:22:15 - Wisdom to Yourself or the Younger Generation
1:23:58 - Be Better
1:24:38 - Where Can People Find You?
1:26:28 - WIMTS Podcast Closing
Links & Where to Find Matt
Arthritis Foundation - DONATE HERE
https://events.arthritis.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donate.participant&participantID=261153
See More from Wendy Jone
Broadcasts on ESPN+ Plus for Long Beach Men’s Volleyball www.NVAUSA.com
IG - @themattprosser