Photo by Steven Moss
Congratulations to Glenn Blatz who was inducted into the Oakland Sports Hall of Fame at the 2011 Baseball/Softball Parade. Jim Folkerts, the chair of the Sports Association of Oakland presented Glenn with the plaque,which will be hung in the Danny D’Elia building. Below is the speech delivered by Caron McCormick, the 2010 SAO chair, from the 2010 Roller Hockey Rink Dedication, when Glenn received the nomination.
It is my honor tonight to announce the 2010 Hall of Fame Nominee:
His passion and knowledge for Hockey and his passion and knowledge for connecting with people are the main reasons for this nomination. In 1992, along with Vince Letiza, John Bertoff, Robin Ricca, Rich Brand, John and Tom Lewinsky, and of course Kim Marchese, the Roller Hockey program was founded and the original wooden rink built. He went on to coach Roller Hockey for 9 years and is a true Oaklander through and through.
Over the past week I have received many emails detailing the ways in which he touched the lives of so many Oakland families. He coached with patience, knowing how to reach each individual child. He recruited almost every boy who lived on Oneida Avenue to play hockey and he became a life long friend to those he shared his passion. One of his famous lines while coaching was “Get him out of there, he’s killing me” Immediately he would let the player know what he was doing right or wrong and send him right back in with this knowledge fresh in his mind.
We will be awarding the Hall of Fame plaque at the 2011 Opening Day Baseball Parade, but tonight please put your hands together for a well deserved round of applause for the 2010 Hall of Fame Nominee – GLENN BLATZ!!!
A few memories from the people whose lives Glenn Blatz touched:
I have been in town for 15 years. My oldest son Kyle Gillespie had Glen Blatz as a roller hockey coach from the time he learned how to skate! Raising 3 boys in Oakland I have had the privilege of having many different coaches and Glen Blatz was definitely the most amazing coach we have ever experienced! Coaching is not easy but it came very natural to Glen and I believe it is because he had the patience of a saint when it came to our children! A good coach knows each child individually and how that child needs to be handled! I remember when the kids were playing he took my son held on to him and said very sternly “YOU ARE NOT GOING TO GET HURT”! it was just what Kyle needed to hear to go out there and play to the best of his ability and I’m sure Glen remembers this also!! It was one of my highlights!! Here is to a great coach and friend for life!
Darlene Gillespie
I remember Glenn and his family from growing up in Oakland. It was a very pleasant surprise to run into the Blatz’s when our boys were all at the beginning of their hockey careers. I always described DJ as being born with skates on and he was one of those kids that ate, slept and breathed hockey. As much as he loved it, he did have a hard time receiving criticism after a game. The only person that he has ever been able to ask, talk to and receive constructive criticism from (besides his father) is Glenn, he listened to whatever he was told and knew that it came with the intention of making him a better player. DJ played Oakland roller hockey when we moved back to Oakland in 2002. It was always nice for us to be able to carpool with the Blatz’s and know that if Glenn was there with the boys, we didn’t have to worry if we couldn’t be there. He made great friends with Glenn and Lisa’s son Hunter and they have played hockey together on roller blades or ice skates for the past 9 years. DJ and Hunter were also teammates with the Blatz’s older son Sean who was a year ahead of them. DJ and Hunter and Sean were all 4 year varsity hockey players and captains of the Indian Hill varsity ice hockey team in their senior year and I feel that Glenn deserves a lot of the credit for helping them be the players they are today. The boys have all graduated high school, but they continue to be good friends, hanging out together at the Blatz’s and DJ and Sean go to the same college, County College of Morris. Glenn deserves to be honored for the hard work he has put into the Oakland roller hockey program and we are lucky to have had our kids be coached by him, even though he is a Ranger fan, haha (inside joke).
DJ and the whole Campbell family
I was with Glenn through it all from the beginning and assisted on the bench. He moved across the street from me many years ago and we were talking about our kids playing roller hockey and the next thing I knew we were on roller hockey teams as well as ice hockey. Our kids played together on travel teams through their high school years and enjoyed many glorious moments together. There are too many moments to talk about but one stands out. Me and Glenn left the wives home and took our 4 kids in his camper on a trip to Florida and to make a long story short we drove back through the night non-stop because we wanted to make it back in time for a roller hockey game ( 17 hrs straight and I did most of the driving). We got home with I think 1 1/2 hrs to spare and got the kids ready and went out and destroyed the other team. Make sure to mention his famous line on the bench to me: Get him out of there he is killing me. He would always say this and I would pull the player back on to the bench where he would tell the player what he was doing good or bad immediately and I would then send that player right back into the game so that everything was fresh in the in the players head. He was and is the best.
One other moment was a game we had against a team that should have killed us. They were a lot bigger and our kids appeared scared and he pulled them aside and asked what are we girls? He toughened them up and we actually beat the team. It was memorable.
James Ramirez
My name is Priscilla Tabbacchino and my son Anthony was on a few of Glenn’s roller hockey teams in 1999-2000. The following is an account of how my son got started with hockey: Glenn was looking for players for his roller hockey team and my son ,being friendly with his sons, decided to play on their team. Glenn was assigning positions for each player based on what their abilities were. Anthony told him he couldn’t skate and Glenn responded with “Good, you’re in the goal!” Well, eleven years have passed and my son is still a goaltender. My family and I have a lot of great memories of Anthony playing “ice hockey” and we owe it all to Glenn and roller hockey. He’s a great guy and coach and I believe ,due to that insightful and wise choice he made for my son all those years ago, he owes me about $25,000.00.LOL Congratulations to him on the dedication, it’s well deserved.
Priscilla Tabbacchino and family
We bought a house on Oneida Avenue 18 years ago. The Blatz’s moved in one house down from us a couple of years later and our lives have never been the same. He loves the game of hockey and he inspired the boys on our block. My son, Greg, had shown an interest in hockey so I bought him skates and took him to Dietl’s in Westwood several times and he would never even let go of my hand. Glenn took a group of the boys up to Sportorama and he was flying after one session. They would be out in the middle of the street playing all day long reluctantly moving out of the way to let the cars pass. It started with Roller Hockey with Glenn as the coach and me as the manager, then the Warriors, the Garden State Wolves, the Saints and 4 years of Indian Hills Varsity Hockey…senior year there were two captains, my son Greg and Sean Blatz. Oneida Avenue produced 6 varsity hockey players, 4 four year varsity players, three Captains and one Alternate Captain….Thanks to Glenn….
Steve Moss
I know Glen Blatz through roller hockey and ice hockey and he was/is always willing to give his time and hockey knowledge to the kids of Oakland. His love for the game is what got him into to coaching and he has been a positive influence to many young men in the community
Jeremiah Larkin
Below is a video created by Steven Moss from Glenn’s nomination and including great clips from his coaching career: