Friday, May 21, 2021
Coach Holzmann was my first football coach. He was also my summer league baseball coach. I was not the most talented player on either team. However, he found a role for that 5'6" 115 pound football player who was coachable and a hard worker, and that 135 pound sophomore who was willing to - and had a unique skill to - serve as the "pinch bunter" on the American Legion baseball team.
Like most late teen/early 20's young men from Jersey, my summers were filled with sun and sand, however mine were a little different than most. Mine were spent on the baseball field, with Holz. My junior and senior summers we played in 2 leagues with the same team - probably close to 120 games over that time, including weekends of back-to-back triple headers. It was A LOT of baseball, and it was awesome. We won a bunch, but what made it so special was the people that I spent it with - especially Holz.
When Coach moved to Pennsylvania - and the commute was too much for him to make it back to Montville - I was honored to continue the Shamrock tradition he had started and maintained for 25 years. He was one of the first people who believed in me as a coach. Years later, I enjoyed popping into his classroom when I was recruiting at Randolph HS as a college football coach. But I may not have become a coach myself if it wasn't for coaches like him who provided me a great experience in high school.
Glenn Holzmann was a fierce competitor, a walking baseball rulebook, a great strategist, a detailed statistician and a baseball purest. He cared for, and often times went above and beyond for, his players. His legacy will live on through the many people he influenced as a teacher and coach.
Thanks #10
Love,
#55 Scott Sperone
