Walt Stefani has guided many young athletes to excel at the sports of volleyball and basketball at the high school and collegiate level, and produced many All Stars, All Western New York athletes, and several All Americans. He has served the Orchard Park Men’s Volleyball and Basketball programs for many years, and has had many successes as a coach and mentor.

When Walt first started teaching Social Studies at Orchard Park Middle School in 1978, he was asked to coach the Men’s Modified Basketball team, and shortly after, assumed leadership of a struggling Men’s Varsity and Junior Varsity volleyball program at the High School. Over the next four years, he built his volleyball team into a “Power House” that won the Divisional Championship, and was honored as Western New York Volleyball Coach of the Year in 1982.

Under his direction, the Orchard Park Men’s Varsity Volleyball team has won 18 Divisional Championships (with a .750 winning percentage and 480 wins) and 9 Sectional “A” Championships, and 3 Regional New York State Championships.

In 1991, Walt led a team to an undefeated season (25-0), and won every divisional and non divisional game, all the western New York tournaments, the Sectional “A” Championship, the Divisional Championship, and the Regional New York State Championship.  He also posted undefeated seasons in 2008 (34-0), winning every divisional and non-divisional game, all western New York tournaments attended, the Sectional “A” Championship, the Divisional Championship, and the Regional New York State Championship, and 2009 (33-0), leading his team to the Regional New York State Championship.

Walt coached the Empire State Games Western Region Scholastic Boy’s team in 1985 and 1986, and the Empire State Games Open Men’s Volleyball team for five years, from 1996 through 2000. He served as a Mizuno High School all-Star Volleyball Coach, and was on staff with the U.C.L.A. National Traveling Volleyball Camps from 1986 to 1998.

While Walt continues to serve as C0-Coach of the Orchard Park Varsity Boy’s Volleyball team, he is also active in building interest and commitment to the sport of volleyball across the western New York community. In 1988, Walt founded the Power Station Volleyball Camp, a summer day camp providing an instructional clinic for boys and girls who are interested in the sport of volleyball.  In 1994, he formed the Power Station Volleyball Club, which competed in regional and national boy’s volleyball tournaments as part of Western Empire Volleyball Association (WEVA), sponsored by the USA Olympic Volleyball Committee.  Walt has also served as Western New York Section VI Men’s Volleyball Chairman, since 1999.

Over the course of his 30-year coaching career, Walt has won the Western New York Volleyball Coach of the Year award 7 times; twice earned the coveted Channel 7 “Super 7” Volleyball Coach of the Year award; was selected twice to receive the Joe Gillespie “Friend of Volleyball” award, and was named New York State Volleyball Coach of the Year in 1994.  In 2000, he received the “Friend of Volleyball” Award from the Orchard Park High School Hall of Fame Committee.

Walt graduated from Grove City College with a B.A. in Psychology, and received his M.S. in Social Science Education from Buffalo State College.  He lives in Hamburg, NY with his wife, Beth (also a Grove City College alumni), and their children, Mike and Valerie, who are attending The Ohio StateUniversity and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, respectively.