Mailbag: Former Sailor ‘digs’ Coach Glenn

I pull up the Daily Pilot at work on occasion from my new home in New Orleans to check in on Newport. It helps me to feel connected to friends and family in my hometown. Today it was such a treasure to read the article, “From the Sport Desk: Special night for Glenn” (April 4).

I knew that there was a party planned to honor Coach Dan Glenn this past weekend. I very much wanted to be there to celebrate with him and all of the people whose lives he has touched. Unfortunately, distance and circumstances kept me away. Fortunately, my parents, Andy and Betsy, were able to be there to represent the Schutz clan. My brother Matt, sister Andrea and I all played for Dan and were touched by his passion and drive to coach and mentor student athletes.

I have so many memories of the years that I spent with Dan and Newport Harbor volleyball: surfing trips to San Onofre; hiking trips of Catalina; horseback riding trips to San Diego; and a little bit of volleyball thrown in there somewhere.

In the end, Dan has given me the best set of friends I could ever imagine and a sense of belonging to a community of amazing individuals. I can’t imagine who I would be if I hadn’t had the opportunity to be mentored by Maureen McLaren; to compete with Misty May; to be coached by Tom Pestolesi and Eddie Rapp; or to become best friends with Sara Fairborn and the Heckers.

Dan is at the center of all of the individuals who have made up Newport Harbor volleyball for the past 25 years. He has touched each one of us and helped to shape our lives in one way or another. He has brought us together as a community that revolves around shared goals of personal growth and competition.

The quote that I remember Coach Glenn giving to me as a player was by Eleanor Roosevelt: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” I have thought of this quote often in my life when I have been faced with personal adversity. It always reminds me that Coach Glenn is somewhere cheering me on from the sidelines.

Melissa Schutz

New Orleans

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Thanks for the sports coverage

The Daily Pilot ran a nice update on Joe Eberhard the other day in your Sports section (“Ex-CdM star commits,” March 31). I’m Joe’s dad, and I just wanted to thank you and your staff for your coverage and updates for players even two to three years out of high school, as in Joe’s case. He was a late scholarship add at UC Irvine in 2008, got hurt and wasn’t healing so they pulled his scholarship.

His response was, “Well, I’ll go junior college for two years and then go someplace better.” No bitterness or animosity for UCI or Coach Pat Douglass at the time. He had a great run at Irvine Valley College. Jerry Hernandez runs a great program. In fact, three CdM players (Sean Donovan ‘09, Ramon Mejia ‘10, and Joe ‘08) were all key players this past year. A 49-13 record is a tribute to the team play that they instill at IVC and the players they recruit.

Craig Eberhard

Irvine