COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (March 14, 2005) – Dane Selznick, who helped guide Misty May and Kerri Walsh to the first Olympic gold medal in USA women’s beach volleyball history last summer, is one of five finalists for the United States Olympic Committee National Coach of the Year Award, it was announced Monday.
The National Coach of the Year Award—along with honors for Developmental Coach of the Year, Volunteer Coach of the Year and the "Doc" Counsilman Science Award—will be presented May 1 during the USOC Coach of the Year Recognition Banquet at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
The other four finalists for the USOC National Coach of the Year include Mike Candrea (Casa Grande, Ariz./USA Softball), April Heinrichs (Gainesville, Va./U.S. Soccer), Yevgeny Marchenko (Plano, Texas/USA Gymnastics) and Eddie Reese (Austin, Texas/USA Swimming).
To the casual beach volleyball fan, Selznick (El Segundo, Calif.) was lost in the spotlight of May and Walsh’s historic gold medal performance at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. But May and Walsh would be the first ones to tell you that Selznick played a huge role not only in their Athens glory but in all of their success in the time leading up to Athens.
In addition to the Olympics, the dynamic duo won 10 other tournaments during the year along with a second-place finish (injury forfeit) and a third-place result. Together they posted a season match record of 70-5 (four of the losses were forfeits) and won 141-of-153 sets played (eight forfeits).
When May was sidelined by an injury, Selznick helped Walsh and Rachel Wacholder capture the FIVB Austrian Grand Slam with a perfect 6-0 record.
“Dane has been unbelievable,” raved Walsh. “I think about it, and he needs to be appreciated and recognized more because he has been such a huge, huge part of our success. Without him, really and truly, we wouldn’t be near as strong. He has really trained us so well.”
On the men’s side, Selznick also coached budding beach stars like Casey Jennings, Matt Fuerbringer, Jason Ring, George Roumain and Sean Scott to wins on the AVP pro beach volleyball tour last season.
Selznick, the son of Volleyball Hall of Famer Gene Selznick, has been a pioneer in the beach coaching development in the United States—and around the world—for more than 12 years. He has trained more than 160 domestic international professionals, including 25 Olympians. He has also worked in the entertainment business for the past 28 years as a technical coordinator and advisor on volleyball-related movies and commercials.
Photo courtesy of Dane Selznick
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