Rochester Jewish Sports Hall of Fame

Local Athlete Inducted in Jewish Sports Hall of Fame

Volleyball player and coach, Sandy Kleinberg will be honored by the Rochester chapter of Sports for Israel on May 23rd when he is inducted in the local sports hall of fame. “This is a wonderful opportunity for me to look back at what I’ve done in this sport over the last eighteen years. More importantly, it reinvigorates me to continue to work with young people using volleyball as a medium.”

Sandy Kleinberg began playing volleyball competitively as a freshman at Pittsford-Mendon High School. Kleinberg started out as a middle hitter on the Mendon JV squad. He instantly gravitated toward volleyball, joining the Pace Bootlegger / Rochester Volleyball Club the following year as an outside hitter. During his junior year of high-school, Kleinberg joined the Pittsford Boys Varsity volleyball team contributing to the New York State Intersectional title. The following year as a senior, Kleinberg was both the MVP of the Pittsford team and an all county selection.
SJ Kleinberg, Courtesy of Nazareth College

Kleinberg went on to study electrical engineering at the University of Buffalo in addition to playing for the rolling Rhinos. Upon graduating from UB, Kleinberg both began his coaching career and joined the United States Men’s Volleyball Team for the 2001 World Maccabiah Games. Kleinberg contributed to a Silver Medal during those games, which took place in Israel. Kleinberg was selected twice more to the US team, winning a bronze medal in 2005 and silver in 2009. Kleinberg also participated as an assistant coach on the women’s team in 2009. Kleinberg also brought home a bronze medal from Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2007 during the Pan American Maccabiah Games.

Sandy Kleinberg began his coaching career in earnest when he took over as head coach of the Pittsford boy’s varsity volleyball team, his Alma Matter. Kleinberg gained experience both coaching the boys as well as coaching the VolleyFX, girl’s volleyball club. Currently, Kleinberg is an assistant coach with the Nazareth College Men’s Volleyball team, which is routinely a top Division III team in the United States. The Nazareth College Golden Fliers will be playing for the 2010 NCAA Division III national championship on April 16th and 17th in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In this role, Kleinberg was reunited with his Pace coach, Cal Wickens. “Working with the players and coaching staff at Naz has been an outstanding experience for me. I’ve learned so much and I’ve also been able to contribute to the team with my knowledge of volleyball.”

Sandy Kleinberg has a Masters degree in public policy from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. He works on business process and software development projects at Excellus BCBS. Kleinberg lives in Mendon, NY with his wife, Jessica and newborn son, Jacob.