Eugene Selznick
Eugene Selznick | |||||||||||||
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Personal information | |||||||||||||
Full name | Eugene Bleecher Selznick | ||||||||||||
Born | March 19, 1930 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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Died | June 10, 2012 (aged 82) | ||||||||||||
Medal record
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Eugene Bleecher Selznick[1] (March 19, 1930 – June 10, 2012) was an American Hall of Fame former volleyball player, and volleyball coach.[2][3]
Contents
Early life
Selznick, who was Jewish, was born in Los Angeles, California.[4][5][6][7] He also lived in Canoga Park, California.[8] Selznick attended Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles.[9] He was a physical education major in college, and first began to play volleyball in 1949.[7]
Volleyball career
Volleyball teams that Selznick played on won seven U.S. Open Volleyball Championships in 1951–53, 1956, 1960, 1965, and 1966, as well as seven runner-up titles.[4] He was the USA Volleyball (USVBA) MVP in 1959, 1960, and 1962.[10]
He was captain of the United States men's national volleyball team from 1953 to 1967.[4] His teams won the 1960 and 1966 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championships.[4][10][11]
Selznick's teams also wongold medals at the Pan-American Games in 1955 and 1959.[5][10] He was a member of the U.S. volleyball team at the Maccabiah Games in 1957, 1961, and 1973.[12]
He was an early supporter of California beach volleyball, and was designated the “First King of Beach Volleyball”.[4][11][13][14] Selznick played with Ev Keller to win the 1950 California Beach Men’s Open.[2][4] He later played with partner Don McMahon.[4] He won every Laguna Beach Open from 1955 to 1961.[10]
Selznick introduced Wilt Chamberlain to volleyball, and took him on a national tour in the 1970s.[10]
Coaching career
Selznick coached the US women's volleyball team, which won the gold medal at the 1963 Pan American Games and the 1964 Olympic Games.[4] He also coached women’s teams that won six USVBA titles (1959–61, and 1963–65).[4]
Selznick coached Olympic athletes Carl Henkel, Misty May, Holly McPeak, and Sinjin Smith.[4][11]
Honors
Selznick was named to the All America first team 10 times, beginning in 1951.[2][4][10][15] He won the 1956 international competition All-Star team MVP honor of "Mr. All-World".[4]
The FIVB named Selznick as one of the top American players of the 20th century.[4] The U.S. Volleyball Hall of Fame honored him as the “All-Time Great Male Player”.[4] In 1995, Volleyball magazine called him the "Karch Kiraly of his era."[2]
Selznick was elected to the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1988.[2][4][10] He was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.[4]
See also
References
- ↑ According to the State of California. California Birth Index, 1905–1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. Searchable at http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/39461
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- ↑ Baxter Holmes, "Gene Selznick Dies at 82," Los Angeles Times, June 12, 2012
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External links
- 1930 births
- 2012 deaths
- American volleyball players
- Men's volleyball players
- American men's beach volleyball players
- American volleyball coaches
- Jewish volleyball players
- Jewish American sportspeople
- Volleyball players at the 1955 Pan American Games
- Volleyball players at the 1959 Pan American Games
- Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States
- Competitors at the 1957 Maccabiah Games
- Competitors at the 1961 Maccabiah Games
- Competitors at the 1973 Maccabiah Games
- Sportspeople from Los Angeles, California