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Bernie Holtzman:
 
Bernie Holtzman
United States  
 
Vital Statistics
 

Photo: "Artie" Couvillon
Home Town Chicago, IL
Resides Hollywood, CA
Height 5'11"
  Best Finish Winnings
United States 1st (17 times) $0
   P&R 1st (17 times) $0
Overall 1st (17 times) $0
 
Bio Bits

Bernie Holtzman is a gracious sportsman who spent a lot of time playing volleyball, but he also spent a lot of time talking about volleyball (he still does!), Holtzman once said that "Volleyball is God's gift to the beach bum." Bernie always had a lot of good things to say about his long time friend and partner, Manny Saenz, who he felt was the most natural volleyball player that he had ever seen.

Holtzman first started to play volleyball on the beach in 1935. Holtzman was just 13 years old at the time, when he would hitchhike from Hollywood to the Santa Monica Pier area, where he would hang out at the "Playground" Promenade and Arcadia Terrace. This is where he first tried to get into the volleyball games that were taking place. Eventually one of the older players asked him to play in a six-man game, although he was only allowed to set. This was the beginning of Holtzman's illustrious career that was enhanced by the talent he acquired with the use of his exceptional hands.

A few years later, while still in his teens and after numerous hours of playing, learning and training, Holtzman was the best player at the Playground. Holtzman and a fine player named Carl Stewart were winning all of the 2-Man games there.

Holtzman was most successful on the beach with two different partners. His first tournament championship came when he paired-up with Manny Saenz at the 1948 State Beach Men’s Open. They formed an unbeatable combination. Together, they would hold the main court at State Beach, day-in and day-out. On the tournament circuit, they virtually won every event that they entered, during a period when there were only two or three "Open" tournaments a year. As a team, they ended-up with 10 "Open" titles together.

Holtzman finally teamed-up with Gene Selznick, forming another "almost" unbeatable combination. Selznick and Holtzman were virtually unbeatable during pick-up games and they only lost two tournament finals together. During a period when there were only a few "Open" tournaments a year, from 1955 through 1957, Holtzman won 18 out of 20 "Open" tournaments with Selznick, including the 1957 "Volleyball Extravaganza" that featured Greta Tyson’s famous kiss.

Bernie also had enormous enthusiasm for the indoor game and was a distinguished player in the gym. He was a star player for the famous Hollywood YMCA Team. In the year 2000, when Holtzman was 77 years old, he was still playing volleyball at the Hollywood YMCA, two to three nights a week. In 2004, at age 82, when the Hollywood YMCA scheduled "Volleyball-Play" in the Gym for 10:00pm, Holtzman stopped playing volleyball, but began to learn the sport of Racket-Ball, since the courts were available at all hours.

Holtzman is considered the teacher for some of the greatest players of the early years of volleyball, including Gene Selznick. Over the years, he has written several articles about volleyball

 
 
Awards
 
  • CBVA Beach Volleyball Hall of Fame 1992
  • Volleyball Hall of Fame 2006
 
Career Summary
 
United States
Season Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 9th Money Points Rank 13th 17th 25th
1948 P&R 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00     0 0 0
1949 P&R 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00     0 0 0
1950 P&R 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 $0.00     0 0 0
1951 P&R 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00     0 0 0
1952 P&R 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00     0 0 0
1953 P&R 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00     0 0 0
1955 P&R 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00     0 0 0
1956 P&R 6 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00     0 0 0
1957 P&R 5 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 $0.00     0 0 0
1958 P&R 4 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 $0.00     0 0 0
Season Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 9th Money Points Rank 13th 17th 25th
1959 P&R 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 $0.00     0 0 0
1960 P&R 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 $0.00     0 0 0
Total
(Rank)
  29
(408th)
17
(27th)
5 6 1 0 0 0 $0.00     0 0 0
 
 
 
 
 
Overall
Total
(Rank)
  29 17
(46th)
5 6 1 0 0 0 $0.00 0.0   0 0 0
 
Red denotes ranked 1st
 
Victory List
 
Victory Date Assoc Location Partner Seed Winnings
1 8/23/1948 P&R Will Rogers State Beach Manny Saenz    
2 1949 P&R Will Rogers State Beach Manny Saenz    
3 1950 P&R Santa Barbara Manny Saenz    
4 1951 P&R Santa Monica Manny Saenz    
5 1952 P&R Santa Barbara Manny Saenz    
6 1955 P&R Laguna Beach Gene Selznick    
7 1955 P&R San Diego Gene Selznick    
8 8/28/1955 P&R Will Rogers State Beach Gene Selznick    
9 1956 P&R Laguna Beach Gene Selznick    
10 1956 P&R San Diego Gene Selznick    
Victory Date Assoc Location Partner Seed Winnings
11 1956 P&R Sorrento Beach Gene Selznick    
12 8/12/1956 P&R Will Rogers State Beach Gene Selznick    
13 8/26/1956 P&R Santa Monica Gene Selznick    
14 7/7/1957 P&R Santa Barbara Gene Selznick 2  
15 8/4/1957 P&R Laguna Beach Gene Selznick 1  
16 8/11/1957 P&R Will Rogers State Beach Gene Selznick 1  
17 9/2/1957 P&R Sorrento Beach Gene Selznick    
 
Partner Summary
 
Parks and Recreation
Partner Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 9th Money Points 13th 17th 25th
Gene Selznick 14 12 2 0 0 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
Manny Saenz 8 5 2 1 0 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
Dave Kaplan 6 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
Bob Holland 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
Total 29 17 5 6 1 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
 
Overall
Partner Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 9th Money Points 13th 17th 25th
Gene Selznick 14 12 2 0 0 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
Manny Saenz 8 5 2 1 0 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
Dave Kaplan 6 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
Bob Holland 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
 
Total 29 17 5 6 1 0 0 0 $0 0.0 0 0 0
 
 
Location Summary
 
United States
Location Assoc Played 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 9th Money Points 13th 17th 25th
California: Corona del Mar P&R 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
California: Laguna Beach P&R 4 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
California: San Diego P&R 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
California: Santa Barbara P&R 7 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
California: Santa Monica P&R 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
California: Sorrento Beach P&R 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
California: Will Rogers State Beach P&R 10 5 2 2 1 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
Total 29 17 5 6 1 0 0 0 $0   0 0 0
 
Total 29 17 5 6 1 0 0 0 $0 0.0 0 0 0
 
 

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