{{Short description|American volleyball player and coach (1930-2012)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}} {{Infobox volleyball biography | name = Eugene Selznick | image = E.selznick.jpg | caption = | fullname = Eugene Bleecher Selznick | nickname = | height = 6'2" | birth_date = {{birth date text|March 19, 1930}} | birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | death_date = {{death-date and age|June 10, 2012|March 19, 1930}} | death_place = | medaltemplates-title = Medal record | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Men's volleyball }} {{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }} {{MedalCompetition | Pan American Games }} {{MedalGold | 1959 Chicago | Team }} }}
'''Eugene Bleecher Selznick'''<ref>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 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427102456/http://www.familytreelegends.com/records/39461 |date=2011-04-27 }}</ref> (March 19, 1930 – June 10, 2012) was an American volleyball player and coach.<ref name="bvbinfo1">{{cite web |url=http://www.bvbinfo.com/player.asp?ID=295 |title=Gene Selznick; United States |publisher=Beach Volleyball Database |access-date=August 18, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/more/wires/06/11/2080.ap.bvl.obit.selznick.2nd.ld.writethru.0617/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616054422/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/more/wires/06/11/2080.ap.bvl.obit.selznick.2nd.ld.writethru.0617/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 16, 2012 |title=Beach volleyball legend Gene Selznick dies in LA - - SI.com |publisher=Sportsillustrated.cnn.com |access-date=2012-06-12}}</ref> He played on world championship and Pan American Games championship teams. He was also inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
==Early life== Selznick, who was Jewish, was born in Los Angeles, California.<ref name="jewishsports1">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishsports.net/BioPages/EugeneSelznick.htm |title=Eugene Selznick |publisher=International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame |access-date=August 18, 2011}}</ref><ref name="google1">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofje00post |url-access=registration |quote=Eugene Selznick. |title=Encyclopedia of Jews in sports |publisher=Bloch Pub. Co. |year=1965 |author1=Bernard Postal |author2=Jesse Silver |author3=Roy Silver |access-date=August 18, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dAq4TGQsWwwC&q=%22Gene+Selznick%22&pg=PA224 |title=Day by day in Jewish sports history |year=2008 |author=Bob Wechsler |isbn=9780881259698 |access-date=August 18, 2011}}</ref><ref name="google2">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AgmDAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Gene+Selznick%22 |title=Encyclopedia of Jews in sports |date=October 9, 2008 |access-date=August 18, 2011|last1=Postal |first1=Bernard |last2=Silver |first2=Jesse |last3=Silver |first3=Roy }}</ref> He also lived in Canoga Park, California.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120614201455/http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/12/local/la-me-gene-selznick-20120612 Baxter Holmes, "Gene Selznick Dies at 82," ''Los Angeles Times,'' June 12, 2012]</ref> Selznick attended Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://rafu.com/news/2011/06/gymnast-sakamoto-inducted-into-lausd-sports-hall-of-fame/ |title=Gymnast Sakamoto Inducted into LAUSD High School Sports Hall of Fame |publisher=Rafu.com |date=June 8, 2011 |access-date=August 18, 2011}}</ref> He was a physical education major in college, and first began to play volleyball in 1949.<ref name="google2" />
==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.<ref name="jewishsports1" /> He was the USA Volleyball (USVBA) MVP in 1959, 1960, and 1962.<ref name="volleyhall1">{{cite web |url=http://www.volleyhall.org/selznick.html |title=Honorees |publisher=Volleyball Hall of Fame |access-date=August 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330225754/http://www.volleyhall.org/selznick.html |archive-date=March 30, 2012 }}</ref>
He was captain of the United States men's national volleyball team from 1953 to 1967.<ref name="jewishsports1" /> His teams won the 1960 and 1966 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championships.<ref name="jewishsports1" /><ref name="volleyhall1" /><ref name="google3">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J8aa1PGXkFEC&q=%22Gene+Selznick%22&pg=PA125 |title=Misty: Digging Deep in Volleyball and Life |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2010 |author1=Misty May-Treanor |author2=Jill Lieber Steeg |isbn=9781439155776 |access-date=August 18, 2011}}</ref>
Selznick's teams also won gold medals at the Pan-American Games in 1955 and 1959.<ref name="google1" /><ref name="volleyhall1" /> He was a member of the U.S. volleyball team at the Maccabiah Games in 1957, 1961, and 1973.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maccabivolleyball.com/ |title=Maccabi Volleyball |publisher=Maccabi Volleyball |access-date=2012-06-12}}</ref>
He was an early supporter of California beach volleyball, and was designated the "First King of Beach Volleyball".<ref name="jewishsports1" /><ref name="google3" /><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/beachvolleyball0000kira |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/beachvolleyball0000kira/page/4 4] |quote=Gene Selznick. |title=Beach volleyball |publisher=Human Kinetics |year=1999 |author1=Karch Kiraly |author2=Byron Shewman |isbn=9780585230450 |access-date=August 18, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/volleyball0000sher |url-access=registration |quote=Gene Selznick. |title=Volleyball |publisher=Lucent Books |year=2002 |author=Victoria Sherrow |isbn=9781560069614 |access-date=August 18, 2011}}</ref> Selznick played with Ev Keller to win the 1950 California Beach Men's Open.<ref name="bvbinfo1" /><ref name="jewishsports1" /> He later played with partner Don McMahon.<ref name="jewishsports1" /> He won every Laguna Beach Open from 1955 to 1961.<ref name="volleyhall1" />
Selznick introduced Wilt Chamberlain to volleyball, and took him on a national tour in the 1970s.<ref name="volleyhall1" />
==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.<ref name="jewishsports1" /> He also coached women's teams that won six USVBA titles (1959–61, and 1963–65).<ref name="jewishsports1" />
Selznick coached Olympic athletes Carl Henkel, Misty May, Holly McPeak, and Sinjin Smith.<ref name="jewishsports1" /><ref name="google3" />
==Honors==
Selznick was named to the All America first team 10 times, beginning in 1951.<ref name="bvbinfo1" /><ref name="jewishsports1" /><ref name="volleyhall1" /><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OolLAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Gene+Selznick%22 |title=United States Olympic book |year=1957 |author=United States Olympic Committee |access-date=August 18, 2011}}</ref> He won the 1956 international competition All-Star team MVP honor of "Mr. All-World".<ref name="jewishsports1" />
The FIVB named Selznick as one of the top American players of the 20th century.<ref name="jewishsports1" /> The U.S. Volleyball Hall of Fame honored him as the "All-Time Great Male Player".<ref name="jewishsports1" /> In 1995, ''Volleyball magazine'' called him the "Karch Kiraly of his era."<ref name="bvbinfo1" />
Selznick was elected to the Volleyball Hall of Fame in 1988.<ref name="bvbinfo1" /><ref name="jewishsports1" /><ref name="volleyhall1" /> In 1990, he was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scjewishsportshof.com/selznick.html|title=Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Home}}</ref> He was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.<ref name="jewishsports1" />
==See also== * List of select Jewish volleyball players
==References== {{Reflist}}
===Sources=== {{cite news |last=Vitello|first=Paul |date=2012-06-16 |title=Eugene Selznick, Beach Volleyball Pioneer, Dies at 82 |newspaper=New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/sports/eugene-selznick-beach-volleyball-pioneer-dies-at-82.html}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110128115621/http://genesteamvbc.com/ Gene's Team Volleyball Club] * {{Beach Volleyball Database}}
{{United States men volleyball team 1959 Pan American Games}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selznick, Eugene}} Category:1930 births Category:2012 deaths Category:American men's volleyball players Category:American men's beach volleyball players Category:American volleyball coaches Category:Jewish volleyball players Category:Jewish American sportspeople Category:Volleyball players at the 1955 Pan American Games Category:Volleyball players at the 1959 Pan American Games Category:Maccabiah Games competitors for the United States Category:Competitors at the 1957 Maccabiah Games Category:Competitors at the 1961 Maccabiah Games Category:Competitors at the 1973 Maccabiah Games Category:Volleyball players from Los Angeles Category:Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in volleyball Category:21st-century American Jews Category:Jewish American sports coaches Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:Competitors at the 1965 Maccabiah Games