2009 Leader in Volleyball Award - Cynthia Doyle Perkins

Cynthia Doyle Perkins
2009 George J. Fisher Leader in Volleyball Award

Like many others volleyball enthusiast, Cynthia Doyle Perkins had her start in volleyball with the YMCA. The importance of being a well-rounded athlete and a good official through YMCA activities exposed her not only to volleyball, but also to BB gun target practice, archery, tumbling, trampoline, swimming and a variety of other sports that require a keen sense of safety and supervision. These skills along with a love of competition helped Doyle Perkins elevate her skills and learn to enjoy competition.

Doyle Perkins's first exposure to interscholastic sports was pre-Title IX when girls were offered lunchtime intramurals at her middle school. There was never enough time to finish so games were played using time restrictions. For anyone worth their salt, participants left feeling incomplete and often jipped.

Title IX passed while Doyle Perkins was in high school. She competed in the first Kansas Girls State Track and Field Championship meet. From then on she knew standards for girls in all sports had to be elevated and that the greatest reward for participation was competing in front of a high school crowd for a state championship. She knew what ever she did in life; it would always involve competitive sports.

While in high school, Doyle Perkins decided to enroll in classes at Bethel Mennonite College in North Newton Kansas. At that time, the college had a school volleyball team that traveled in cars, packed lunches, wore homemade uniforms, and stayed with families instead of in hotels. It was a team of Christian girls who had never won a match.

As a first-year college athlete, Doyle Perkins was voted captain of the team, and the rest is history. The team won games, matches and finally to an undefeated regular season before she graduated. More important, under her leadership, the school program was transformed from recreational volleyball. This team from a college of less than 700 enrollment defeated and competed with teams like Wichita State University, University of Hawaii, University of South Dakota and others, because at the time, college sports for women didn't distinguish small school from universities. She has since been inducted into her high school Hall of Fame and the Bethel College Hall of Fame.

After college, Doyle Perkins wanted to coach volleyball, but could only find basketball coaching positions. She continued to play volleyball and immediately became a high school volleyball official in Beaumont, Texas.  Eventually, she was hired by the University Interscholastic League to direct state championships in Texas, including the state championships volleyball tournament.

Doyle Perkins left the University Interscholastic League to train under another great volleyball mind and her mentor at the National Federation of State High School Associations, Susan True. The work that Susan began at the Federation, including the covenanted relationships that NFHS and USAV still share, has never been duplicated by any other NGB.

Doyle Perkins authored a brochure on Hazing and Harassment that was published in several languages and is still downloadable on the NFHS website today. She would like to think that her mission of diversity and inclusion for willing sport participants has broaden the number of players, spectators, coaches and official who love and participate in and support the game of volleyball.

As one former pioneer for women's sport put it, "Volleyball is our Football." Never having forgotten the mission to raise awareness, opportunity and visibility of the sport, Doyle Perkins has championed changes at the local, state and national levels. A few of the ushered changes included rally scoring, extending the game from 15 points to 25 points, adopting three-of-five game matches and authoring rules that encourage continued play such as jousting, multiple contact on the first hit and the net serve rule. She was instrumental in standardizing signals across the officiating codes when possible.

Doyle Perkins used volleyball to help establish the Indiana Girls and Women in Sport luncheon by having Rita Crockett as one of the most recognized keynote speakers. The luncheon is now in its 10th season, and continues to attract female athletes from across the state.

Doyle Perkins and six other women of color in Indianapolis established the ongoing network called "Sisters-N-Sport" women of color who personally fund inner city middle and high school girls in events that always include a volleyball skills clinic and a free pass to a Division I volleyball game. Now in its sixth year, the program has served over 1,200 girls during these events.

Through her work, Doyle Perkins has challenged practices that discourage or exclude poor athletes, under-represented populations such as male players, female coaches, participants of color and officials of color. Her actions support and encourage initiatives such as Starlings, or other efforts that promote participation.