Gary Award

Gary Goltz figured there were only two ways to get into the USJA Hall of Fame. "I guess I'm too old to get competitor of the year status," Goltz said. "You either fight or you teach."

Teaching helped Goltz's Claremont judo club become the biggest in the USJA. That ultimately earned him the USJA's 2003 award for Coach of the Year and the automatic Hall of Fame recognition that goes with the trophy. He received the honor during the club's annual winter tournament on last Saturday.

The Goltz Judo Club, which trains at the Alexander Hughes Community Center in Claremont, is listed as the largest of 750 clubs in the country on the USJA's website. As of Dec. 15, 2003, the club had 174 members, 16 more than the Mayo Quanchi Judo Club in Warwick, R.I. According to Goltz, the typical judo club has 20-25 members.

The Goltz Judo Club started in 1987, 22 years after Goltz took up the sport in his hometown of Pittsburgh, where he founded the Pitt Judo Club at his alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh in 1971. The club had four top-five finishers and one champion at the 2003 Judo Masters and National Championships held in Las Vegas.

Goltz's group has also survived the inevitable departure of members to start their own clubs. John Moe, one of his students, left in 2001 to start Discover Judo Judo in Rancho Cucamonga. Goltz said he welcomes the influx of new judo clubs in the area. "I'd like to see the development of more judo clubs in the Inland Empire and Southern California and around the country," Goltz said.

Gary Goltz, a judo teacher in Claremont, recently was named United States Judo Association 2003 Coach of the Year. He was officially honored yesterday during a judo tournament at the Alexander Hughes Center in Claremont. Goltz, a medical sales consultant, began his judo career in 1965 while growing up in Pittsburgh, PA. In 1987, Goltz started teaching judo at Chaffey Community College. He moved the class to the City of Claremont Human Services Department in 1990. Today, Goltz Judo Club is the largest club in the United States Judo Association.

Gary Goltz, founder of Goltz Judo Club, which is affiliated with the City of Claremont Human Services Department, recently received "2003 Coach of the Year" honors from the United States Judo Association. Mr. Goltz started his judo dojo (practice hall) in 1987, and it is now the largest judo club in the United States Judo Association.

Besides teaching judo at the Alexander Hughes Community Center, Mr. Goltz is as a healthcare industry sales strategy consultant and is a former owner of a home infusion therapy pharmacy business. Mr. Goltz will be officially honored today during a judo tournament taking place at the community center from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The public is welcome to attend. The Alexander Hughes Community Center is located at 1700 N. Danbury Rd. in Claremont.

Gary Goltz named as 2003 Coach of Year, inducted into U.S. Judo Hall of Fame