Hempfield grad Joe Sunder glad to sharpen players' skills at volleyball clinic

When Joe Sunder got the phone call from coach Sheron Watson asking him to help facilitate a volleyball clinic in Hempfield earlier this month, he couldn’t say no.

It helped that he happened to be in the area.

“I was in town for a wedding, so I immediately said yes,” Sunder said. “It had been a while since I’d seen her and talked with her about volleyball.”

Sunder played volleyball at Hempfield under Watson from 2004-07 and remembers her coaching style.

As the girls coach at Norwin, Watson was 642-21 with 12 consecutive WPIAL championships — 15 overall — and 12 PIAA titles, including seven straight.

“She was very intense, and it was unexpected based on her stature and normal demeanor off the court,” he said. “She really brought a lot of energy with her on the court and had a wealth of technical knowledge. She had success as the Norwin girls coach. Very fortunate to have her as a coach.”

After graduating, Sunder went on to win a national championship at Penn State in 2008.

“That experience taught me how to get after it and grind every day,” Sunder said. “It allowed me to see that working hard daily and putting it towards an end goal can pay off.”

In 2016, Joe and his wife, his girlfriend at the time, moved to Austin, Texas, to follow her opportunity as an assistant coach for the Texas women’s volleyball team. Sunder continued his career as a civil engineer.

After two years in the Texas program, Sunder’s wife wanted to be more involved in club volleyball, and that’s when he assisted her in coaching for the Austin Skyline.

“I was very involved from 2018 until now growing club volleyball as well as running and scheduling tournaments,” he said. “We’ve been full-time directors for the past three years, and it’s been fun to watch the club grow.”

The success Sunder had in growing the program led him to be named the 2022-23 AVCA 15U Club Coach of the Year.

“I have to give credit to the girls I coached and their families,” he said. “It was a good club coaching experience because of the people involved. Club volleyball is very much dependent upon the talent you have and letting the talent shine.”

Sunder’s job as director also put him in charge of coordinating camps and clinics in the Austin area to help volleyball players develop their talent. He was excited to come home and share his experience.

“It was great to come back to my hometown and spread what I’ve learned, not only from Texas, but from my years at Penn State and through my professional career,” he said.

The clinic was held at Hempfield Park Recreation Center and was open to anyone interested in developing their skills. Girls from Greensburg Salem, Norwin and Yough high schools were among those in attendance.

Receiving, passing, blocking, vision, hitting, attacking tempos in connection with setters, and defense in a six-on-six setting were highlighted aspects.

“We did an hour and fifteen minutes on drills and then we played six-on-six for the last 45 minutes,” Sunder said. “I feel girls get better playing the game. The more live playing reps you get is where the most growth happens.

“Since there was a good turnout, it would be nice to let more people know about it a little earlier. Maybe next time do a three-day camp instead of a two-hour clinic.”

A multi-day camp would be the ideal for Sunder. The two-hour camp didn’t afford him enough time with the players for in depth one-on-one coaching.

“Time and court allowance were the main reason why we didn’t hit as much as we could,” he said. “We were able to touch on skills, but we just weren’t able to go in depth in those areas. I enjoyed it, but next time I would want it to be a bigger event.”

Sunder is open to returning and running another clinic if it fits his busy schedule, which runs from January to July, when his Austin team is traveling and he is holding tryouts.

“The fall and early winter might really be the only window I have,” he said. “It might be a possibility again next fall.”