Cathy has been
instrumental in the growth of volleyball, specifically girls junior volleyball,
in Western New York since 1997. A wonderful and highly recruited volleyball
player herself, and a scholarship athlete at both James Madison University and
Hofstra University, Cathy has taken the VolleyFX mantra of "pay it
forward" to the next level. After record setting years as a player in high
school, college and at the Empire State Games, Cathy focused on giving back to
the sport by leaving a lucrative financial position in NYC to be a coach. First
coming to Western New York in 1997, she began with an immediate impact as the
co-coach of the Empire State Games - providing athletes from Western New York
with a higher level of training and commitment to the game. Reaching beyond
that scope, she has coached for Cheetah, Niagara-Frontier, and has served as a
clinician for VolleyFX. Leader of numerous camps and clinics across Buffalo and
Rochester, Cathy's most notable impact came when she was the first to
"believe" - to believe in OUR athletes, OUR goals, and OUR club.
Never afraid to cross into new territory, Cathy Hummel offered VolleyFX their
first scholarship athlete of the modern era in 2002. Continuing to
"believe" in what our athletes have worked for, she again offered at
least one scholarship to a VolleyFX athlete every year since that year - taking
players in 2004 and 2005.
An undying
supporter of the game, Cathy makes everyone around her better - with
connections to many great VolleyFX players and coaches. She has reached out to
more than a dozen of our athletes who are now playing around the country on
full-scholarship. She has also reached out to our coaches - Rob Werkmeister,
Candi Werkmeister, Jason Pariseau and Matt Glover have all been blessed to
coach with her, or have been given opportunities to coach because of her.
As stated best by Rob, "Cathy knows the game better than any
coach that I have been able coach with, she holds the players and coaches
accountable and pushes players to believe that they can experience the game at
a higher level. She has not only impacted the players she coached, but has been
a significant impact on me personally as an elite level coach."