Pat’s love of the game of volleyball began 30 years ago. He started playing volleyball in 1976, the fall of his senior year in high school in Northampton, MA. There was no boys’ volleyball team, so in 1975 two boys went out for the girls’ volleyball team. By his senior year there were actually six boys on the formerly all-girls team.
There were very few opportunities for boys to play volleyball back then and Pat subsequently played club volleyball at UMass/Amherst with his presenter, Steve Geryk. He played college club volleyball for three years and was named to the All New England team each year and he was selected Player of the Year twice. After finishing his collegiate club career, Pat started playing with adult teams in New England regional championships (as recently as 2006). At the US National Championships his teams have placed as high as 3rd (highest ever for a New England team). He was named an Open Division All American four times and was also selected the 30 and over Player of the Year. One of the most memorable highlights of pat’s career was when he played on the USA Select Team at the Pacific Ocean Games in Columbia, South America in 1995 and winning a gold medal.
In 1996 Pat’s friend Steve Geryk convinced him to take the assistant coach position for the Glastonbury High School boys’ team and then to fill in with the girls’ team in the fall of the same year. That was it… he was hooked on coaching. In 1999 at the urging of some of his high school players and parents, Pat founded Husky Junior Volleyball Club. Initially there were only six teams , but it has grown to be the largest USA Volleyball Junior Olympic Club in New England with 30 girls teams and three boys teams.
Pat could not pick just one person who was most influential to his volleyball career. There would be Don Matus (his high school coach) who introduced him to the sport; Dave Castanon (New England regional commissioner for USA Volleyball now) the captain/coach of Pat’s first high level team; and Steve Geryk who brought him into coaching.