AL HOLTMAN

Before Al Holtman picked up a racket, he held a paddle. At fifteen he was the 18-and-under United States Table Tennis Champion and a finalist in the National Junior Table Tennis Championships. The transition was seamless. 

He was the first national star produced by legendary St. Louis coach Bill Price. He won three consecutive Missouri State High School singles titles. In 1954 he won the National Junior Indoor Championship and was ranked fifth in the country. He was a semifinalist at the National Juniors that same year. 

At the University of Illinois he played number one, captained one of the top teams in the Big Ten, and helped the team compile 26 consecutive winning meets. 

Holtman went on to become a Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Miami. He and his wife Carole continued to spread the love, passing the game on to their children and grandchildren. 

(2001)