Joel Sanchez started playing volleyball in 2000 at Walton High School before transferring to Lehman College High School and playing there from 2001-2004.
Between those years he played club volleyball under Omar Vargas and his NYC starlings club. In 2003, Sanchez co-captained the Lehman High School team to a semifinal finish. Then, in 2004 he captained the team to a PSAL championship.
Following high school, Joel Sanchez joined the Lehman college squad and earned the “Most Improved Player” award following his freshman and sophomore seasons. Following his junior and senior seasons, he earned CUNYAC Second-Team All Star praise and was also named MVP of his team.
Joel’s coaching career includes his time serving as a volunteer at Lehman High School while he was in the middle of his collegiate career. He also spent time coaching at Kennedy High School as well as Walton High school. Under legendary coach Iris Bromfield, Sanchez coached her 17-1's team at her Bronx Bombers club. He also assisted the NYC boys empire state team to a Bronx medal finish in 2007. After volunteering for two years with the Bombers, he moved on to help develop the first New York City Volleyball Academy under founder Ulises Noboa. The academy is known as Bameso Volleyball Academy.
While at Bameso, Joel Sanchez represented the Dominican Republic in various nationwide events including the Bronx Local Patriot Games. After coaching at the high school and club junior level, he joined the Lehman College coaching staff under former Lightning head coach Daniel Skillins.
Currently, Sanchez plays libero/setter for the Dominican native Moca volleyball team. The team is currently ranked second at the BB level in the GEVA organization. Sanchez is working on a major volleyball project similar to an academy in Mount Vernon, NY. He is also giving private volleyball sessions and clinics to players and schools all over the city. In 2009 Joel Sanchez won a silver medal playing with Moca at the USA nationals
“Talking about Joel Sanchez is talking about recruiting,” Wolfgang Lucena says. “Joel has a magnetic personality for potential prospects. His great coaching experience will be really good to build a solid volleyball program at Lehman College as well.”
