[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 165 (Friday, November 6, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2749]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM LEROY HOLDEN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, November 6, 2009

  Mr. CLYBURN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
trailblazing high school coach, athletics director and a great 
humanitarian. William Leroy Holden is being honored on November 14, 
2009, for his tremendous 38-year career at North Mecklenburg High 
School in Huntersville, North Carolina. I want to commend him on his 
contributions to athletics and the students he coached and mentored 
over the years.
  Leroy Holden first came to North Mecklenburg High School in 1971. He 
had spent 2 years at East Mecklenburg High School, but left to take a 
job in insurance to better support his growing family. However, his 
love of coaching drew him back, and he chose to take a pay cut to 
follow his heart and took a position at North Mecklenburg High School.
  Over the next 28 years, he would serve as head coach of the baseball, 
softball and tennis teams. He also served as an assistant football and 
track coach. But where Coach Holden really made his mark was as the 
men's basketball coach from 1974-1999, compiling an impressive record 
of 464 wins and 267 losses. His teams made it to the playoffs 12 times 
during his career. In the 1986-87 season, the Viking men's basketball 
team went undefeated, winning 30 games before losing in the state 
championship.
  His success at North Mecklenburg High School led to invitations to 
coach other young people. He served as an instructor at the 
International Basketball Clinic in London, England in 1993, coached the 
West All-Stars Coach in 1986, and the East-West All-Star Game in North 
Carolina. He served as a coach at the NBPA High School Basketball Camp 
at Princeton University from 1995-1999; and as a basketball camp 
instructor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill from 1983-
1999.
  His success on the basketball court and in other athletic arenas made 
Leroy Holden the perfect choice to lead athletics at North Mecklenburg 
High School. In 1985, Coach Holden was promoted to athletics director 
at the school to which he had dedicated his career. He still maintained 
his coaching duties until 1999 in addition to overseeing all athletics 
at the growing high school.
  Leroy Holden went to college on a football scholarship and earned a 
bachelor's degree in 1967 from Western Carolina in Cullowhee, North 
Carolina. He pursued an advanced degree at the University of North 
Carolina at Charlotte, earning a masters in education in 1978. 
Immediately upon earning that degree, he earned a masters in physical 
education from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Coach 
Holden also became a certified athletic administrator through the State 
Coaches Conferences in Greensboro, North Carolina in 2000.
  Coach Holden is an active member of the Sportsman Club of Charlotte, 
where he has served as the president, program vice president, secretary 
and treasurer. In 1999, the organization named him the Sportsman of the 
Year. He is also the past president of the ME-CA Conference. He has 
served on both the Sectional Basketball Committee and as director of 
the Sectional Basketball Tournament. Coach Holden has also been a 
member of the Charlotte Sports Commission since 1998. He is the 
recipient of numerous awards including the 2008 Lifetime Achievement 
Award from the North Carolina Athletic Directors' Association, the 2001 
Charlotte Observer Athletic Director of the Year, and the Conference 
Basketball Coach of the Year seven times between 1977 and 1994.
  There is one of Coach Holden's accomplishments that will not appear 
in the record books, yet I believe it deserves recognition. Coach 
Holden came to North Mecklenburg High School shortly after the school 
had fully integrated. He truly was colorblind in his approach to 
athletics and had great success with his African-American athletes. He 
was the first coach at the school to secure college scholarships for 
black athletes, as he always believed that every talented student 
deserved the opportunity he had to go to school on an athletic 
scholarship. He worked hard toward that goal enabling many students to 
go to college that otherwise could not have afforded it. During his 
extensive career, he secured approximately 200 college scholarships for 
minority athletes and several of those students went on to become 
professionals. Many others followed in his footsteps and went on to 
become high school and college coaches. That is a tremendous record for 
any high school coach, and it says a lot about the kind of man Coach 
Holden is.
  Coach Holden is married to the former Ginny Severs of Charlotte. They 
were high school sweethearts and have just celebrated 44 years of 
marriage. The couple has three children and three grandchildren. His 
passion for athletics and for inspiring young people has enriched the 
lives of countless student athletes.
  Madam Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me in applauding 
the tremendous career of Coach William Leroy Holden of North 
Mecklenburg High School. His dedication to his profession and his 
students is unparalleled.

                          ____________________