COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (June 19, 2017) – Dane Selznick, who has transitioned from being among the top beach volleyball players into one of the top beach coaches in the world, has been elected to the USA Volleyball Board of Directors as the Beach Development director. His Board term will expire on June 30, 2020.
“It’s an honor to be selected to the USAV Board of Directors and be given the opportunity to help with the guidance of USAV beach development of our future juniors, collegiate & Olympic athletes for years to come,” Selznick said. “The USA has always set the bar for excellence in beach volleyball and the rest of the world has caught up. It’s time to set that standard again and I believe we have the athletes to do it.”
Selznick, who was the 1980 world champion of beach volleyball, holds 15 professional tour titles and was a finalist 42 times. He has earned 78 top four finishes with 12 different partners. Selznick, who was inducted into the California Beach Volleyball Association Hall of Fame in 2004, was voted among the top 10 defensive players of all time by Volleyball Magazine as his career spanned from 1974 to 1994.
After his playing days, Selznick made the move into coaching and has guided three U.S. teams into the Olympic Games. He served as the coach for Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May as they won gold at the 2004 Olympic Games. Following the 2004 Olympics, he was named USA Volleyball’s Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the 2005 USOC Coach of the Year Award. Selznick also coached Kevin Wong and Rob Heidger to a fifth-place finish at the 2000 Olympic Games, four years after helping Linda Hanley and Barbra Fontana place fourth at the 1996 Olympics. He is the only three-time USA Olympic beach volleyball coach.
Selznick has also been part of the beach coaching staffs for the Russian National Beach Team (2009-10), the Norwegian National Team (1999) and the Australian National Team (1998). He trained over 600 domestic and international professionals from 27 countries from 1993 to 2008.
Selznick currently operates the Santa Monica Beach Volleyball Club, which was crowned the 2014 BVCA national champions. He also runs the Westside Warriors Volleyball Club, a girls’ indoor volleyball club. Selznick serves as the Palisades Charter High School boys’ and girls’ volleyball head coach. Selznick is a member of the California Beach Volleyball Association board of directors.