IN MEMORIAM Gene Selznick 1930-2012
Legendary volleyball great was a maverick who served as captain of U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team as well as dominating on the sand
o call Gene Selznick one of the greatest players in the history of volleyball is a disservice. Selznick was also a great innova- tor, a wonderful entertainer, an outstanding coach and an outspoken individual who fi rst started playing the game in the sand when he was 18-years-old.
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Selznick passed away on June 10 after a series of health issues culminating in pneumonia. He was 82. He is survived by his sons Dane, Bob and Jack. “Volleyball has lost one of the most remark- able performers and personalities in our entire life,” USA Volleyball CEO Doug Beal said. “Gene Selznick’s entire life was lived through and about the sport of volley- ball. It is hard to imagine anyone who will by the level of their skill and personality have a greater infl uence on the sport he loved so much. Gene’s accomplishments are leg- endary and he was truly someone who became larger than life. He was innovative, creative, stub- born, dogmatic, visionary and enormously infl uen- tial. His mark on the sport will last for as long as most of us will know, and we have truly lost a signifi cant portion of our history. I cherish the memories of the times I spent with Gene and know I was one of so many that he touched and infl uenced in his long tenure in our sport.”
Selznick, a 1988 inductee into the Vol- leyball Hall of Fame, was one of the most talented volleyball players who could play offense and defense both indoor and on the sand. He was selected USA Volleyball First- Team All-American 10 times between 1951 and 1965. Selznick was selected the USA
pionship team and the Pan Am Games team in 1955 and 1959.
“The biggest contribution Gene made was as architect of the modern game,” said Ron Lang, who was one of Selznick’s indoor teammates and playing partners on the beach for many years. “After the 1956 FIVB World Championship, he came back and wanted us to play more like the Europeans did. He started the concept of the 2-man block. I don’t think Gene has gotten enough recognition for what he gave to the game. ” Selznick was selected
ONE OF A KIND: Gene Selznick was an All-Time Great indoors and on the sand.
But Selznick was even more. He was a visionary whose efforts to change the way the game was played in the United States met with staunch opposition from the USA Volleyball leadership at the time and led to the only regret about a sport he loves so much when he was not allowed to participate on the U.S. National Team that participated in the 1964 Olympic Games.
Volleyball Open National Championships most valuable player three times following the 1959, 1960 and 1962 events. As part of a team, Selznick helped his clubs to national titles in 1951-1953 and 1956 with Hollywood YMCA, 1960 and 1965 with Los Angeles Westside Jewish Community Center and 1966 with Santa Monica Sand and Sea Club. Selznick served as captain of the U.S.
Men’s National Volleyball Team from 1953 to 1967. In 1956 Selznick became the fi rst American to be selected All-World following the FIVB World Championship in Paris. He also played on the 1960 FIVB World Cham-
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to a USA Volleyball All- Era Team for the period of 1953 to 1977, for which he was named most valuable player. He was honored as a USA Volleyball All-Time Great Player in 1982. Selznick, who won the title King of the Beach from 1950 to 1966, also won countless tourna- ments on the beaches of California, including every Laguna Beach Open from 1955 to 1961. He won a to- tal of 38 of 63 tournaments he played in, along with 19 runner-up fi nishes. Teamed with Bernie Holtzman, the tandem won 18 tourna- ments and advanced to the fi nals in all 20 events.
Selznick earned “Mr. All-World” status as most valuable player of an international tour- nament of a 24-team tournament in 1956. Selznick, who introduced basketball
legend Wilt Chamberlain to the game of beach volleyball, won his fi rst beach tourna- ment with Ev Keller at the 1950 State Beach Men’s Open. During his great playing career, Selznick also tried his hand at coaching, lead- ing the U.S. Women to the gold medal at the 1963 Pan Am Games.
Lang said Selznick would be missed. “He just loved the game and was always striving to better the game. He was one of a kind.”
PHOTO: USA VOLLEYBALL
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