Dec. 24, 2006

On December 16, 2006, the Professional Association of Volleyball Officials recognized Marquette volleyball head coach Pati Rolf with the Honor Award and an induction in the PAVO Hall of Fame. The honor recognizes outstanding achievement and service to persons of high moral character and personal integrity who, by their leadership and effort, have made an outstanding and noteworthy contribution through officiating. Rolf has been a certified USA and PAVO National Official since 1991 and International official since 2003. This is the second part of a two-part series to recognize and honor Rolf for her achievements not only at Marquette, but also throughout her lifetime.

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The International Experience

On many occasions, when traveling to tournaments internationally, Rolf experienced many obstacles, language often being the greatest. In 2006, at the Pan American Cup Tournament in Puerto Rico, on the court, in meetings and even out at dinner, not speaking the Spanish language was a barrier for Rolf, but one she was able to maneuver around.

"All of the meetings were supposed to be in English, but because everyone spoke Spanish, they had them in Spanish. I had no idea what was going on, ever, in any of these training meetings. I had one other gentleman, who was an interpreter, that was able to translate, briefly, at the end of a two to three hour meeting everything that was said into five minutes."

On top of the seemingly unbreakable language barrier, being a female many times posed a bit of a challenge for Rolf.

"It is interesting because sometimes they would forget that you are really there. In Puerto Rico for example, the gentlemen from South American countries behave so much more differently towards women than do Europeans. One thing you really have to do is watch your `P's and Q's', be polite and be where you are supposed to be."

On another occasion, at the 2006 World Championship Qualifying Tournament in Guatemala, Rolf not only had her language and gender working against her, but the fact that she was a United States citizen made it almost impossible to cohabitate with the native country.

"In Guatemala, even just a simple thing like trying to get money exchanged at a bank was a challenge. I ended up walking out of a bank with close to 50 pounds of change one day, a backpack full. The people were persistent in not giving me dollars. It made it tough to be polite and represent myself well. Wherever I went, they would take my dollars and give me all their cheap change that isn't worth anything in their country. When I would take it back and explain to them what I wanted, they would laugh and walk away."

But not all of Rolf's overseas officiating experiences were difficult. She says one of most fascinating experiences of her life came in 2004 at the Boris Yeltsin Cup in Russia.

Rolf with Boris Yeltsin at the Boris Yeltsin Cup.

"At the conclusion of the matches in Russia, I was at the awards ceremony for the tournament which was called the Boris Yeltsin Cup. When Yeltsin was handing out medals, he saw me amongst the 15 male officials. He walked right up to me, shook my hand and gave me a big hug. He said something to me that my interpreter should have translated, but couldn't because she froze in disbelief that the president was talking to me. Instead, her mouth dropped and I remember her looking at Yeltsin in shock. I looked back at the president and smiled at him and said to his interpreter, `It is a pleasure to be in Russia. The people are so kind and it has been an amazing trip'. Yeltsin shook my hand and laughed and moved on. My poor interpreter, who was a college student and probably about 19 years old, was so mad after realizing she had froze. That was probably one of my biggest eye-opening experiences."

At the end of the trip, Rolf tipped the interpreter close to $100 U.S. for a week worth of work - the same as someone would have earned in the United States - and the student broke down in tears. The tip was unexpected and was enough to pay for six months of her schooling.

On another occasion, Rolf's U.S. citizenship granted her royal treatment.

"There were two players from the United States playing on a European National Basketball Team, which they thought was the greatest thing. Fifteen armed soldiers walk me up to the scorer's table to watch the Americans play. All of the male officials thought I was the best thing then because they thought if I could get into all these cool places as a woman, they wanted to be right next to me. In those moments, I was assisting them. It was really funny how things worked and how respectful some people became."

As great as things were in Russia, one occasion nearly cost her the international officiating title she had worked so hard to earn. Again, it came down to only being able to speak a language so many people do not know.

"In a match in Russia, Azerbaijan, a break-away Republic, and Russia played against one another. The match was much more than just volleyball to each country as political feuding was going on at the time. Yeltsin was at the match and an upstart country was trying to say they were better than Russia. I knew the politics of the match I was officiating. The Azerbaijan team played unbelievably. At one point, I made a call that was incorrect, and the Russian coach, who is one of the most intensely animated coaches in all of volleyball, caught it immediately. His assistant coach, who was a US citizen, yelled my name. The Russian coach then ran onto the court towards a Croatian referee and screamed something I could not understand."

Mistakes happen on the court, by players and officials alike. Rolf knew she had made a mistake, but it was very important that she remained confident and calm.

"I remember looking over at the Russian coach with his veins popping out of his head and the Croatian official talking to him. He looked at me with a gesture that asked what I wanted to do, and I responded back with a motion to play on because it was a mistake that could not be fixed. The entire stadium of thousands of people was in an uproar. The Croatian official then said something to the coach that must have been really funny because the Russian coach turned to me with a smile, threw his hands at me and sat down, and the match continued. To this day, the Croatian official only smiles when I ask what was said and will not tell me."

Russia went on to win the match regardless. Rolf explained that there is no such thing as a mistake in international officiating. Every person's name is on a list and every time someone makes a mistake, his or her name is crossed out. The names that remain left on the list are allowed to officiate the next day. Because the level of officiating is so high, a single mistake sometimes means the loss of a job. Rolf was lucky; she was assigned a match the next day.

"When working with male coaches, I learned to be very `dish-panned' as folks like to call it. I could not smile because smiles are interpreted differently in different cultures, especially from women. I really had to do my homework on the places I traveled to and understand their rules. Male coaches get very angry, but the biggest thing is that, no matter how tough it is, remain professional, on and off the court."

While in Guatemala, Rolf was able to meet and shake the hand of 1992 Noble Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu Tum, another experience that touched her life. It has been a goal of hers to touch and influence the lives of any person she comes across throughout her officiating trips.

"When the little ball girls were working the matches, it was the greatest thing that I was able to go down to the court before hand and play volleyball with them. They thought playing with me was the funniest thing because I was wearing my dress clothes. The next thing I knew, I was teaching them how to do one-footed slides and takeoffs. In the end, we took a picture and I thought it was the coolest thing to teach children and spend time with them talking about volleyball."

She said it was moments like this, and the many other experiences away from the court, that made the trips fascinating.

"It is oftentimes what happens off the court as an American when traveling around the country that you are remembered for most. It is something so special that I can't even imagine my perspective on the world without it. The trips have given me a greater respect for different cultures and values I otherwise would never have known."

The Marquette Era

Today, when juggling the question of what she would do if she could go back and start again, something she is asked often, Rolf replies that she would still choose to officiate and coach.

"I could make a living as an official at the international level, but it is a very individually driven occupation, it is very `me driven'. I am not a `me driven' person. It would be a lot of fun and a lot less stressful and I would be in control of my happiness, not 18 to 21 year olds," she joked. "But I would miss the women I am coaching and have coached. Sometimes there is a lot going on and it is difficult, but I love the influence I can have on other people. I am a people person."

Even if someone offered her a contract to officiate worldwide right now, Rolf said she would still turn it down because now, she sees the big picture. She is confident that if she retired from coaching, she could become one of the greatest female officials in the world, but doesn't plan on doing either anytime soon.

"Sometimes you have tough seasons and would like to move on and do something less stressful. I love coaching. I love Louisville vs. Marquette. I love Notre Dame vs. Marquette. Officiating can't be matched by coaching and the things that come with it."

She did say, however, that given the opportunity to go back to the beginning, she would be a player above all.

"I love what I do and I love the women I have coached, but I would have played professionally and played beach for a number of years. I would probably just be retiring now if I could go back. I had a family to raise and couldn't officiate or play because coaching paid the bills. Without that, I would be a player first."

From her childhood to her playing days and early on as a coach, Rolf rarely heard the word "no". Coaching at UMD, combined with the travel commitments of officiating, began to take its toll on the family. It wasn't until a little intervention from her son one evening that she realized maybe things needed to slow down a bit.

"My husband, Kent, was always really encouraging and let me do whatever I wanted because he knew the competitive person that I was. He should have told me to get a grip on myself, but he never did. People would ask me what I was doing for a vacation and I would say officiating. I had no comprehension of time or space. I would go 180 miles per hour in everything I was doing. I look back on it now and see how unhealthy that was, especially for my family. Kent was, and still is, great. I had a son who at age 14 said that I wasn't being a very good mother. I didn't take it personally. Instead I told myself that I had been given a gift and needed to change, and that is when we decided to take the Marquette job."

Rolf retired as a Big Ten volleyball official after 12 years and in 2002 her family made Marquette University home. She left Minn.-Duluth with a 310-169 record, 11 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference titles and four NSIC Coach of the Year honors. She retired from the school board and left many other things with a greater focus on her family and coaching.

"When you are young, you think you can do everything, and you can, but you don't realize the prices that you pay. My son paid a big price for 10 to 12 years when I wasn't around very much. When ever I talk to young women, I tell them straight out that coaching can take a lot of time and you have to be disciplined with your time."

Coaching at Marquette not only brought more family time back into the home, but it also brought more family time onto the court. Today, the entire Rolf family can be seen on a normal basis at practice and nearly every match. Kent works as a volunteer assistant coach for the team and Graydon, now a freshman at Marquette, is a team manager. Their daughter, Madison, who is in the seventh grade, also attends many of the practices, shagging balls and working on homework.

(L to R) Daughter Madison, husband Kent, son Graydon and Rolf.

"It is such a big deal to have everyone around. My son is here in school and I see more of him than I ever have. My husband, who is a tremendous player and coach, is working as a volunteer. It is great having a guy on the floor and someone I can trust. My daughter comes in and loves to spend time with the team. It makes things easier for her to see where much of my time is spent. It is great that Marquette allows me to do this. It has been a really great fit."

Rolf credits Kent as the main reason why her family has worked as well as it has over the years.

"Without Kent, none of this would have happened. He is the reason that I have a house and children. I don't cook, clean, do laundry or go grocery shopping. In that way, I am not the greatest wife. But I always say it is possible to find a man like that because he has allowed me to do all the things I have done."

Today, when she is not coaching, hot out on the recruiting trail or making calls on the court, Rolf enjoys spend a lot of time outdoors with her family, just as she did as a child. Wakeboarding, skiing, running or biking, she does it all.

"I think life is short and you need to stay awake for it, and I think life is short and you need to get after it. I like that there are so many neat things to learn, but I don't have enough time to learn them all."

At age 43, Rolf says she would like to try crew, cycling and mountain climbing someday, and maybe even the senior Olympics. She also has thoughts of working in Congress or the Senate, or maybe serve politically somewhere in a community. She would also like to get her pilot's license to be able to travel whenever she wanted.

"I don't just like doing things, I like to compete. I don't feel like 40, I feel like 20. Experience-wise, I feel like I am 40, and that is a good thing. I'm hoping at 60 I can look back and say I feel like I am 40. I am looking forward to coaching and working with young women for a while. It's a lot of fun. It is great taking them to places and showing them different things. It really is fascinating. I am going to keep going."

Coaching and family are a big part of her life. Officiating is a talent that Rolf loves to display.

"When I get up there, I don't really feel anything. I just enjoy being up there, letting the kids play the game, and making sure that I don't do anything to ruin the game for anyone. I really like to generate a perfect match in a sense that I think officiating allows me the opportunity to allow the teams to play. I enjoy watching from up above. For me, it's almost like I'm `in the zone'. I almost get into a place that is so quiet when I am officiating; it is so smooth. I know that I am good at it and I think that is what makes me keep doing it. I really feel like being able to officiate is a gift and I think my gift is just sports, and volleyball in general."

Return to Part One

Marquette Golden Eagles Women's Volleyball

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