top of page

Western New York Boys Volleyball Hall of Fame – Class of 2019

Writer's picture: tgardner1167tgardner1167

The 10th Induction Class to the Western NY Men’s Volleyball Hall of Fame will take place on Friday, November 15th at Ilio DiPaolo’s Restaurant (3785 South Park Avenue Blasdell, NY 14219) at 6pm. Tickets cost $31 and are available until November 8th by calling Dennis Gooch at 683-7204. Joining the Hall of Fame this year are Brian Carroll (OP player and Hamburg Coach), Frank Cwiklinski (official) and Scott Leary (OP player).

Brian Carroll

While attending Orchard Park High School, Brian Carroll excelled as a player under the coaching of Walt Stefani. In 1988, he was selected as an ECIC Division 1 First Team All-Star. During that season, Brian had 366 assists while accumulating 127 kills, hitting .635 from the floor. In 1989, Brian again led the team in assists and kills, once again earning All-WNY 1st Team honors as well as a selection on the Empire State Games Squad.

Carroll was a two-time captain at OPHS (1988 and 1989) and was a member of the National Honor Society.

In 1996, Brian Carroll became Coach Carroll when Charles Amo hired him as an elementary PE teacher and varsity volleyball coach at Hamburg High School. Coach Carroll would become the face of Bulldog Volleyball and was an influential fixture in the WNY Volleyball Community for the next 23 years. Two other mentors that Coach Carroll looked to were Joe Gillespie at Eden Volleyball Club (played in AAU National Finals in 1988) and Randy Syracuse, court coach at OPHS and at Northeastern Volleyball Camps.

His coaching scorecard was 391-188 including six ECIC Division titles, seven Section VI Titles, two NY State Championships, and over 25 All-WNY Selections. Coach Carroll founded and directed The Southtowns Volleyball Club for 15 years and focused not only on coaching the X’s and O’s to thousands of young men but also taught them how to be excellent teammates.

Brian retired from coaching after 2018 to focus his attention and energy on his wife Mary and their four children: Mary, Patricia, Brian and Evelyn. Upon retiring, Coach Carroll said, “These five are the only people that made retiring from coaching easy. It was clear to me that I was only a great coach when they were in the crowd. They showed me that I had a team at home that needed to be tended to. My kids will only have a few memories of their dad as a volleyball coach. But they will know that I gladly gave it all up… for Mary and them.”

Frank Cwiklinski

Despite Frank Cwiklinski never playing high school or college volleyball, he has become one of the most respected officials in the sport.

His first experience came during a tour of duty in Vietnam. Frank watched and learned the game of volleyball from a group of Airmen from New Mexico. Years later, he picked up the sport again with a group of his fellow officers at Wende State Correctional Facility. This time, the love of volleyball was cemented in his heart. Frank spent countless hours training on his own time and seeking the help of more skilled players, especially Rich Becker and Tom Reimer.

Frank joined every team he could find in an effort to try and hone his skills. Frank would become a setter for the Wende State Correctional Facility team and then became a member of a police team that went on to compete and win the NY State Police Olympics eight years in a row. This team then went to the International Police Olympics in Salt Lake City, where they were introduced to International volleyball rules and competed against teams from Hawaii, California, Sweden and Russia.

Cwiklinski began his officiating career as an umpire for softball and baseball in various WNY organizations and continued this for over four decades. Frank had the honor of working with players from all over the country in Cooperstown, NY. His volleyball officiating career began a decade later, starting as a high school junior varsity official, then a varsity official for both the girls and boys organizations in WNY. Frank continued on to become a PAVO state college official. Having officiated at every level of high school and college volleyball, participating in local, regional and state championships at both the high school and college levels, Frank is most proud of volunteering time at community events, such as the Scholastic and Senior Empire State Games, the Special Olympics and the World Heritage Games.

Frank became a member USA Volleyball with the Western Empire Volleyball Association (WEVA) Officials Group, attaining a Junior National rating in Dallas in 2008. This has allowed him to officiate at several prestigious events in many cities across the U.S., one of which is the Pop Idell Invitational Tournament. Held at Kutztown University; this event is the oldest continuously running tournament in the country.

Frank also travels across the state to volunteer at both the Boys and Girls State Championships.

Cwiklinski’s latest endeavors have included the training and advancement of referees within our WNY Girls High School organization. On the USAV side, Frank has been selected by WEVA as their referee chairperson. Frank said “My plan is to continue giving back to the game in any way I can for as long as they will have me.”

Scott Leary

The pinnacle of Scott Leary’s volleyball career was the 1991 season, his senior year. The ‘91 Orchard Park team, which Scott co-captained, accomplished an incredible undefeated 25-0 record, winning every tournament they participated in. Incredibly, the team won every match never having to play a deciding tie-breaker set in the best of three.

Scott was also named the Most Valuable Player in each of those tournaments. That was an accomplishment that Western New York had never seen at that time.

Awards came to Scott in 1991 in droves – Tournament MVP four times, Channel 7’s Super 7 Athlete of the Week three times, Mizuno All Star Team, Orchard Park’s MVP – Maroon Key, and the All-WNY Squad – 1st Team.

Scott had what many would call a “Dream Season!”

Orchard Park took their undefeated season into the Sectional Championships, destroying all opponents, sweeping all victories in three sets in the best of five format. Scott led the Quakers to their fourth Section VI Class A Championship. After being crowned WNY Volleyball Champions of Class A, the Quakers moved to compete for the New York State Championship Class A title that was held in Syracuse, NY. Scott raised the level of his game against the best teams in the state that night.

In the State Semifinals, Orchard Park whipped Half Hollow Hills from Long Island, 15-7, 15-3,15-9. The Quakers then moved on to play a mighty Gates Chili squad from Rochester, NY. Gates had three athletes playing on that team that would go on to collegiate fame. Scott acknowledged that those athletes were really good and that it was time to compete for the NYS Title.

Again, the Quakers showed their incredible talents, destroying Gates Chili in straight sets (15-6, 15-6, 17-15) to capture Orchard Park High School’s 2nd State Title. Scott was named the Class A NYS State Title Most Valuable Player for the two matches. He was a dominant force during the State Title matches accumulating an ace (24-24 serves), four blocks, four digs, and 38 kills and hitting .613! He was only blocked three times during those high-level matches.

Scott is considered one of the all-time great volleyball players at Orchard Park High School. In two varsity seasons, Scott showed what he was made of. He led by example and hard work. Scott has remained in the Western New York area as an entrepreneur and can still be found playing an occasional match with his comrades. His high school coach, Walt Stefani, said that it would not surprise him to see Scott Leary selected for the Hall of Fame at Orchard Park High School in the near future – he certainly is deserving!

This article was submitted by Jon Bednasz.

19 views11 comments

11 Comments


WKDU TRBD
WKDU TRBD
Jan 06

代发外链 提权重点击找我;

谷歌蜘蛛池 谷歌蜘蛛池;

Fortune Tiger…

Fortune Tiger…

谷歌权重提升/ 谷歌权重提升;

谷歌seo 谷歌seo;

谷歌霸屏 谷歌霸屏

蜘蛛池 蜘蛛池

谷歌快排 谷歌快排

Google外链 Google外链

谷歌留痕 谷歌留痕

Gái Gọi…

Gái Gọi…

Dịch Vụ…

谷歌霸屏 谷歌霸屏

负面删除 负面删除

币圈推广 币圈推广

Google权重提升 Google权重提升

Google外链 Google外链

google留痕 google留痕

Like

BFVY IRTO
BFVY IRTO
Dec 23, 2024

代发外链 提权重点击找我;

游戏推广 游戏推广;

Fortune Tiger Fortune Tiger;

Fortune Tiger Slots Fortune…

谷歌马甲包/ 谷歌马甲包;

谷歌霸屏 谷歌霸屏;

מכונות ETPU מכונות ETPU;

;ماكينات اي تي بي…

آلات إي بي بي…

ETPU maşınları ETPU maşınları;

ETPUマシン ETPUマシン;

ETPU 기계 ETPU 기계;

Like

AVXJ KAZD
AVXJ KAZD
Dec 13, 2024

google 优化 seo技术+jingcheng-seo.com+秒收录;

Fortune Tiger Fortune Tiger;

Fortune Tiger Fortune Tiger;

Fortune Tiger Fortune Tiger;

Fortune Tiger Slots Fortune…

站群/ 站群

gamesimes gamesimes;

03topgame 03topgame

EPS Machine EPS Cutting…

EPS Machine EPS and…

EPP Machine EPP Shape…

Fortune Tiger Fortune Tiger;

EPS Machine EPS and…

betwin betwin;

777 777;

slots slots;

Fortune Tiger Fortune Tiger;

Like


bottom of page