Eye on the Ball: Cindy strives for the century mark

Well, here I am again writing a sports column about a game that I know nothing about.

The game is volleyball and at least I’ve played a little. Even though I have watched the game quite a bit, I really know little about its basics and rules.

What do you do when you know nothing about a sport that you’re about to write about? Right, you go to the most knowledgeable person you know and let them speak. That person on Shelter Island would be Cindy Belt, coach of the girl’s championship varsity volleyball team for the past five years.

Why do I call them a championship team? Easy. In their first year in the league they finished second and then went on to become the division champs the past four years.

I spoke with Cindy on the front porch of the Islander Restaurant for almost two hours about her love for sports. She’s a Rhode Island girl, graduated high school in 1978 (sorry Cindy, there goes the age thing) and in high school was into gymnastics, cheerleading and volleyball.

When Cindy started to play, girls’ sports still weren’t very popular. Title lX was introduced in 1972 and women were just starting to play.

Cindy was a good athlete and justifiably proud she could combine good grades with top sports performance. This combination of talents got her into Cornell University where she tried out for the volleyball team, made it and played all four years.

If not for Cornell, she would not have met her mentor, Coach Andrea Dutcher. Much of what she teaches today, she said, she learned from Coach Dutcher. Like most people who loved their coaches, Cindy still keeps in touch with her as well as many of her teammates from those winning years.

In her senior year, her team set a Cornell record that still holds today. They have the most wins ever in one season. When I asked her what the record was, she said, “47-6-1.” She never had to pause to give that answer.

In 1982, on schedule, Cindy graduated Cornell University. She immediately went to work doing humpback whale research. At the same time another Cornell graduate, Mark Cappellino, was doing the same research. She admitted to flirting a little when she met Mark. It must have worked.

Six years later, they were married and are still married today after 35 years.

Cindy and Mark now have two boys, Andrew and Matt, who seem to have the same goals as their mother and father. Andrew was class valedictorian along with excellence playing three sports when he graduated Shelter Island High School and is now at SUNY Binghamton. Matt will be a senior in high school and also combines terrific grades with excellence in three sports in school.

Although they came to the Island in 1990, Cindy didn’t start to get involved with the school athletics program until around 2002. She became the JV volleyball coach in 2004 and remained in that position until she took over as varsity coach in 2009.

I asked her, besides having excellent athletes, what she attributes this tremendous success to in the last few years. Cindy was quick to answer that first it was the training that Karen Gibbs gives them in junior varsity. She feels that Coach Gibbs gives the children of that age the basics they need, positive reinforcement, the gift of fun and then she just lets them develop. She and Coach Gibbs both feel they should develop every child regardless of their athleticism.

She pointed out that the parents were very encouraging as well as the community being “super supportive.” The Lions Club, for instance, purchased new equipment for the team, gave scholarships and purchased shirts. Cindy made a special point of saying that Garth Griffin is always there for them. She said Garth would always find a way to get them into the gym or just help setting things up.

Cindy said she still loves to play and learn and works with other coaches, attending volleyball clinics during the time she is off. She said she believes in a few basics and she does want her players to be prepared. She then quoted one of her philosophies: “Practice does not make perfect. Practice makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect.”

She believes in correcting mistakes in private and giving praise in public. Next year Shelter Island will have a young team with only two returning players, but Cindy still feels good because these young players have some talent.
Before she retires, her goal is to win 100 games. Her current wins are somewhere around 70 to 75. Cindy said she teaches the kids to enjoy the moment and before every game she says, “play well and have fun.”

If the game is really important she will add one more word: “Win.”