SE: Danny Cavender’s Investment in K-State Student-Athletes Goes Beyond Athletic Success
Jun 27, 2018 | Sports Extra, Athlete Services, Strength & Conditioning
By Corbin McGuire
In a box at Danny Cavender's home sits a pile of thank you cards from former K-State student-athletes. They are reminders for Cavender, K-State's Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Olympic Sports, as much as they are keepsakes.
"When I have rough days," Cavender said. "I refer back to those and say, 'This is why I do this.'"
The letters came from a variety of former Wildcats. Some had great success in their sport. Others barely played. The common denominator between them is the lifelong tools they acquired working with him.
"When you see those athletes come in and they have, not only success in athletics, but they made their whole student-athlete career successful for themselves when they didn't think they could, or they didn't think they could ever get on the field or the court, or just to see them be successful and be on the team, to provide them with the tools to be able to do that, that's what you do it for," Cavender said. "When they come back and say, 'You know what? I'm a stronger person because of this whole experience and you were a part of that,' that's what's rewarding."
Kylee Zumach, a fifth-year senior for K-State's volleyball team, will likely add a letter to Cavender's collection.
After being named Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2014, Zumach suffered an ACL injury early in her sophomore season. Cavender, Zumach said, went the extra mile in helping her recovery.
"He put in extra time and made an extra effort to come in with me on off days and really work with me," Zumach said. "He's just so invested in the team."
Another example Zumach pointed out was before her redshirt sophomore season, as she prepared to make her return from injury. Cavender brought her to K-State's court in Ahearn Field House for a heart-to-heart conversation.
"He sat me down and was, like, 'See all these names up in the rafters? You could be up there, too.' It was like a half-hour talk but we sat down, listed my goals out, and he said, 'If you want to accomplish these, you need to do X, Y, Z,'" Zumach said. "He invested in me as a person, not just an athlete or another number. I remember that talk a lot, honestly. That talk, in particular, has really resonated with me."
Cavender's journey to K-State, in a way, started long before he ever knew it and did not end how he initially dreamed it.
"It was always a dream to come play here, and I wasn't talented enough to come here," said Cavender, a Clay Center native who played two years of football at Butler Community College. "But I always wanted to be part of K-State."
The door to K-State, however, opened for Cavender in part because of a hometown connection.
His best friend from Clay Center, Jon Wiemers, comes from a coaching family.
Wiemers' father, Larry, was the football coach for Clay Center High School. His brother, Dave, coaches at Pittsburg State. His sister, Suzie (Wiemers) Fritz, has been the K-State head volleyball coach since 2001.
"He was kind of like a little brother," Fritz said.
"They've always kind of treated me as part of the family," Cavender added. "So we go back a long ways."
Following his two years at Butler, Cavender finished up his bachelor's degree in physical education at Emporia State while starting as a student assistant under Fritz's brother Dave, then the Hornets' head coach.
Cavender soon got his introduction to strength and conditioning. He excelled at it and earned a graduate assistant spot because of his work. Before long, his position became a full-time job.
During this progression, he occasionally checked K-State's website. Naturally, the what-if thoughts of someday working for the Wildcats would creep in.
"But it's so hard to get this position and be able to get to this level," Cavender said.
Then one day, after six years at Emporia State, an opportunity at K-State became available.
"I got a call from Suzie Fritz and she asked me if I wanted to come up for an interview because they were looking for a full-time strength coach," Cavender said. "I came up, did the interview with them, got the job and I've been here ever since."
Cavender will begin his 11thseason at K-State this fall. He's in charge of overseeing K-State's volleyball, soccer, rowing, and track and field teams. His importance to these programs cannot be overstated.
"He is extremely valuable to our program. He brings intensity and demands so much in such a positive way," K-State head soccer coach Mike Dibbini said. "His ability to adapt to us being a brand new program and the way he communicates with our athletes has been so smooth. We are lucky to have him"
"He's amazing. I think we're pretty fortunate. He's wonderful at his job but he's an even better person," Fritz added. "His investment that he's willing to make in the athletes is pretty special."
Coming from a football background, Cavender certainly learned a lot on the fly — different sports, their positions, and strength and conditioning needs within each. He said hard work and "great leadership" from experienced K-State strength and conditioning coaches like Chris Dawson, Corey Meredith and Darren Honeycutt helped him hit the ground running.
"Coach Dawson does a tremendous job. He's taken care of me and I've learned and ended up being in a very good situation," Cavender said. "Working with the student-athletes, that's why I do this. It's just been a great opportunity for me."
Cavender's passion for his job is hard to miss. Ask any student-athlete, coach or co-worker about him and the responses will be nothing but positive, similar to the atmosphere he creates in his weight room.
Simply put, he makes getting up at 5 a.m., to work out worth it.
"It's probably not the first thing most people want to do, but you walk in and he just has positive energy and it puts you in a good mood," K-State soccer junior Katie Cramer said. "He just makes you want to work so hard for him because he's just always, always upbeat. I love working hard for him because he works hard for us."
To Cavender, his job is about building confidence in the student-athletes.
"Not just in their sport, but in life. That's kind of how I approach this thing," he said. "I think if an athlete is confident, they'll win games, they'll be successful in the classroom, they'll be successful outside of here, even when they get older and go into the real world."
Years later, some of them might even write Cavender a card, thanking him for his investment in them. Cramer, for instance, already knows what her card would say.
"I would say just thank you for making it more than soccer and working out," Cramer said, "because it definitely is so much more than that."
In a box at Danny Cavender's home sits a pile of thank you cards from former K-State student-athletes. They are reminders for Cavender, K-State's Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Olympic Sports, as much as they are keepsakes.
"When I have rough days," Cavender said. "I refer back to those and say, 'This is why I do this.'"
The letters came from a variety of former Wildcats. Some had great success in their sport. Others barely played. The common denominator between them is the lifelong tools they acquired working with him.
"When you see those athletes come in and they have, not only success in athletics, but they made their whole student-athlete career successful for themselves when they didn't think they could, or they didn't think they could ever get on the field or the court, or just to see them be successful and be on the team, to provide them with the tools to be able to do that, that's what you do it for," Cavender said. "When they come back and say, 'You know what? I'm a stronger person because of this whole experience and you were a part of that,' that's what's rewarding."
Kylee Zumach, a fifth-year senior for K-State's volleyball team, will likely add a letter to Cavender's collection.
After being named Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2014, Zumach suffered an ACL injury early in her sophomore season. Cavender, Zumach said, went the extra mile in helping her recovery.
"He put in extra time and made an extra effort to come in with me on off days and really work with me," Zumach said. "He's just so invested in the team."
Another example Zumach pointed out was before her redshirt sophomore season, as she prepared to make her return from injury. Cavender brought her to K-State's court in Ahearn Field House for a heart-to-heart conversation.
"He sat me down and was, like, 'See all these names up in the rafters? You could be up there, too.' It was like a half-hour talk but we sat down, listed my goals out, and he said, 'If you want to accomplish these, you need to do X, Y, Z,'" Zumach said. "He invested in me as a person, not just an athlete or another number. I remember that talk a lot, honestly. That talk, in particular, has really resonated with me."
Cavender's journey to K-State, in a way, started long before he ever knew it and did not end how he initially dreamed it.
"It was always a dream to come play here, and I wasn't talented enough to come here," said Cavender, a Clay Center native who played two years of football at Butler Community College. "But I always wanted to be part of K-State."
The door to K-State, however, opened for Cavender in part because of a hometown connection.
His best friend from Clay Center, Jon Wiemers, comes from a coaching family.
Wiemers' father, Larry, was the football coach for Clay Center High School. His brother, Dave, coaches at Pittsburg State. His sister, Suzie (Wiemers) Fritz, has been the K-State head volleyball coach since 2001.
"He was kind of like a little brother," Fritz said.
"They've always kind of treated me as part of the family," Cavender added. "So we go back a long ways."
Following his two years at Butler, Cavender finished up his bachelor's degree in physical education at Emporia State while starting as a student assistant under Fritz's brother Dave, then the Hornets' head coach.
Cavender soon got his introduction to strength and conditioning. He excelled at it and earned a graduate assistant spot because of his work. Before long, his position became a full-time job.
During this progression, he occasionally checked K-State's website. Naturally, the what-if thoughts of someday working for the Wildcats would creep in.
"But it's so hard to get this position and be able to get to this level," Cavender said.
Then one day, after six years at Emporia State, an opportunity at K-State became available.
"I got a call from Suzie Fritz and she asked me if I wanted to come up for an interview because they were looking for a full-time strength coach," Cavender said. "I came up, did the interview with them, got the job and I've been here ever since."
Cavender will begin his 11thseason at K-State this fall. He's in charge of overseeing K-State's volleyball, soccer, rowing, and track and field teams. His importance to these programs cannot be overstated.
"He is extremely valuable to our program. He brings intensity and demands so much in such a positive way," K-State head soccer coach Mike Dibbini said. "His ability to adapt to us being a brand new program and the way he communicates with our athletes has been so smooth. We are lucky to have him"
"He's amazing. I think we're pretty fortunate. He's wonderful at his job but he's an even better person," Fritz added. "His investment that he's willing to make in the athletes is pretty special."
Coming from a football background, Cavender certainly learned a lot on the fly — different sports, their positions, and strength and conditioning needs within each. He said hard work and "great leadership" from experienced K-State strength and conditioning coaches like Chris Dawson, Corey Meredith and Darren Honeycutt helped him hit the ground running.
"Coach Dawson does a tremendous job. He's taken care of me and I've learned and ended up being in a very good situation," Cavender said. "Working with the student-athletes, that's why I do this. It's just been a great opportunity for me."
Cavender's passion for his job is hard to miss. Ask any student-athlete, coach or co-worker about him and the responses will be nothing but positive, similar to the atmosphere he creates in his weight room.
Simply put, he makes getting up at 5 a.m., to work out worth it.
"It's probably not the first thing most people want to do, but you walk in and he just has positive energy and it puts you in a good mood," K-State soccer junior Katie Cramer said. "He just makes you want to work so hard for him because he's just always, always upbeat. I love working hard for him because he works hard for us."
To Cavender, his job is about building confidence in the student-athletes.
"Not just in their sport, but in life. That's kind of how I approach this thing," he said. "I think if an athlete is confident, they'll win games, they'll be successful in the classroom, they'll be successful outside of here, even when they get older and go into the real world."
Years later, some of them might even write Cavender a card, thanking him for his investment in them. Cramer, for instance, already knows what her card would say.
"I would say just thank you for making it more than soccer and working out," Cramer said, "because it definitely is so much more than that."
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