Kathy Noseworthy – Athlete

Inducted October 18, 2003

Kathy Noseworthy is one of the finest female volleyballers ever produced in Newfoundland and Labrador and she backed up her international volleyball career with outstanding achievements in soccer and track and field. Overall she is among the very best female athletes ever from this Province. A strong, enduring athlete who was blessed with speed as well as quickness, Kathy continuously demonstrated exceptional determination and was always willing to make the personal sacrifices necessary to accomplish her goals. While she performed at a very high level as an individual, her track and field achievements are prime examples, she enjoyed great success in the team sports of volleyball and soccer because of her great ability to work well with teammates. In addition, Kathy was a very smart athlete and the manner in which she quickly became aware of competitive knowledge, detail aspects of a game and the level at which she was performing are clearly demonstrated by the exceptional success she enjoyed at international and national levels of volleyball. Simply, she was immediately able to adjust to competition conditions and take full advantage of her skill, strength and speed for rewarding results.

In 1978 Kathy was selected to the National Volleyball Junior Team after a tryout camp and trained with the team in Calgary as the team’s starting setter and outside hitter. She played a major role in winning the silver medal at the NORCECA Junior Championships in Mexico and she was a member of the national junior team that won bronze in the Pacific Rim Tournament in Hawaii against China, Australia, Korea, Japan and the United States. In 1979, 1980 and 1981 she was selected to the national senior team and competed in many international games; in 1978 Kathy was captain of the Canada Games prospects team that represented NL in the Atlantic senior championship in PEI where she was selected an all-star, led same team to second place at an open tournament in Montreal and was a member of the team that represented NL in the national juvenile championships in Fredericton and the national junior championships in Montreal. In 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982 she was a member of the MUN Varsity team. In 1979 the team reached the semi-finals in the Quebec Open Junior Tournament and played in the Oland Open Junior in Antigonish. The MUN team was the first NL team to be ranked in the national top ten and the first team to win an AU Volleyball championship. The team represented the Atlantic region at the CIAU championships and placed seventh, won the Atlantic senior “AA” title, placed fourth at the national junior championships in Edmonton, won the Dalhousie-Acadia Invitational Tournament, won the University of Moncton Invitational Tournament with Kathy selected to the All-Star Team. Because Kathy was a national carded athlete, she was not eligible to play for Newfoundland and Labrador at Canada Games. She was cited as “one of the top three junior players in Canada” by national coach Brad Kilb. In 1980 the MUN team competed in the University of Waterloo international tournament, finished second in the AU championships where Kathy was selected to the AUAA Conference All-Star Team, she played in the Canadian Volleyball Association’s senior championship with a sixth place team placing, was a member of the team that won the silver medal for second place at the Canadian Volleyball Association’s junior championship and she was named to Canada’s national senior team. In 1981 the MUN varsity team won the AU championship and finished fifth in the CIAU championship, won the Atlantic senior championship and represented the Atlantic region at the Canadian Volleyball Senior Championship in Montreal. Kathy also played with Canada’s National Senior Team against the Cuban National Team. In 1982 MUN finished second in the AU championship and she was selected as an Atlantic All-Star. In 1979 Kathy was voted St. John’s Athlete of the Year, Newfoundland and Labrador Female Athlete of the Year and she was awarded the Richard Perry Memorial Award as top athlete at MUN, the first female to win the award since its inception in 1966. In 1980 and 1981 she was the winner of the female section of Supersports; in 1982 she was named to the MUN Athletic Honour Society. In 2002 Kathy was made a member of the Volleyball Newfoundland Hall of Fame.