School: North Penn
Volleyball
Favorite athlete: Chase Utley
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Participating in the 2008 and 2009 USA Volleyball Junior Olympics with Club Lehigh
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: “While trying out for the golf team in ninth grade, I sliced my tee shot on the last hole over two rows of homes. Fortunately, I don’t think I hit anyone or anything!”
Music on iPod: “I listen to all types of music but mostly rock (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blink 182, Foo Fighters).”
Future plans: “I will attend Penn State University, Schreyer Honors College for Engineering and Sciences and Mechanics in the fall of 2010.”
Words to live by: “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.” (Vince Lombardi)
One goal before turning 30: “To become a successful engineer and begin a family.”
One think people don’t know about me: “I am an Eagle Scout and enjoy the outdoors.”
Kyle Sinding boasts quite a resume.
The North Penn senior is ranked sixth (unweighted) in his senior class of 900-plus students, he is a member of the National Honor Society, he is in his school’s engineering academy, and he is a member of the Technology Student Association that this week is competing in the state competition after taking top honors at the regional level.
Sinding still finds time to play volleyball where – not surprisingly – he is captain of his team.
“He’s a natural leader,” coach Kevin Eck said. “He will be a guy that whatever he decides to do in life he’s going to be very successful at because he’s just a natural leader, and people gravitate towards him.
“We have other guys on the team that are more vocal than Kyle, but he definitely leads by example.”
A three-year varsity player, Sinding is a converted basketball player who joined the team when he was a freshman.
“He was clearly athletic,” Eck said. “Volleyball is a different sport because everything is moving in different directions – the ball, the body, so there is an adjustment.
“What we’re looking for are kids that are athletic and kids that can take direction and are coachable. He had both of those things. He clearly was athletic, and he clearly wanted to learn the game.”
Sinding also boasted a pair of attributes you can’t coach – plenty of height and good hands.
“When he came out as a freshman, we wanted him to be a setter,” Eck said. “He had nice hands, he was tall, and he could also hit.
“We’re always looking for an all-around player.”
Sinding – who grew up playing soccer, basketball and some roller hockey – decided to try out for volleyball at the encouragement of a friend on the team. His father, Steve Sinding, had played recreational volleyball as well.
“My dad said he had tons of fun playing it,” Sinding said. “I liked basketball, but in ninth grade, I was sort of getting pushed around because I’m not that big.
“Volleyball worked because it’s not a contact sport, and I don’t have to worry about my bulk.”
He admits volleyball didn’t feel like a natural fit immediately.
“At first I was kind of hesitant about it because I kind of expected to be good right away, and that didn’t happen,” Sinding said.
Sinding now measures in at 6-5 and has developed into one of the area’s premier hitters. He regularly leads the Knights in kills and draws the attention of several blockers on the other side of the net.
“Clearly this year he’s our top offensive weapon again, and the nice thing is he can run out of any part of the rotation,” Eck said. “He hits from all six places on the floor, and that’s pretty much why we have him playing back row. To have him as a weapon, he’s just too valuable to take off the floor.”
Sinding, according to Eck, is a special student-athlete.
“There are kids that struggle in school, but when they come to play – this is the thing they love to do, and they try real hard at it,” the Knights’ coach said. “Our bigger problem when we have kids like that is trying to keep them doing well in school.
“Kyle is an exception to most of that. He’s a phenomenal athlete, he’s a great student, he’s a natural born leader, and he has progressed every year.”
That progression didn’t just happen. Sinding worked hard at his sport, joining Club Lehigh the fall of his sophomore year where he developed his hitting skills. The following spring he no longer was used as a setter but instead at the net. He played jayvee and enough varsity to earn a varsity letter.
As a junior, he played left side hitter and was the team’s MVP. This year, he is the undisputed go-to player at the net.
“When he’s playing, he’s not a guy looking to grab a lot of attention,” Eck said. “He’s a hard worker.
“He’s a guy that goes out there and does his business. You see him at practice every day, and he works as hard as anybody and harder than a lot of them.”
Eck acknowledges that he values the input of his senior captain.
“Feedback from players is huge,” the Knights’ coach said. “It’s not just about coaches telling players what to do. Players have to have a vested interest in this, and for me, I want to hear what they have to say.
“Even last year, Kyle stepped into that role and has been great giving feedback. This year he’s stepping into that role even further as team captain. I prefer to coach in a player-driven atmosphere where players, particularly team captains, have a very large responsibility on my team to keep guys in check and to make sure they’re giving what they need to give during practice. He’s a natural at it.”
Sinding and his teammates entered the 2010 campaign with high hopes, but they suffered a setback when Bhavit Vora, the team’s 6-8 middle hitter, was lost for the season with an injury.
“That was real tough,” Sinding said. “Bhavit really stepped it up from last year and was a major part of our team.
“He got hurt, and it was like, ‘Oh, what now?’ I think beating Souderton and then Quakertown gave us some confidence.”
Sinding has traveled around the country playing volleyball – twice going to nationals with his Club Lehigh squad. It’s a scenario he couldn’t have imagined when he stepped onto the court for the first time as a freshman.
“Not in a thousand year,” he said. “Now volleyball is my favorite sport. I never had more fun playing any sport.”
Sports is just one small aspect of Sinding’s life.
He joined the Boy Scouts – Troop 178 - when he was 11 and quickly moved through the ranks and became an Eagle Scout.
Again, it was a natural fit.
“I always liked camping, being outside and going on hikes with my family,” Sinding said. “I joined the Boy Scouts, and it was just more of that, and I just had a blast.”
Next fall Sinding will be attending Penn State University where he will be enrolled in the Schreyer Honors College for Engineering Sciences and Mechanics.
He hopes to play intramural volleyball as he continues to add to a resume that is already impressive.
