Published: May 01, 2008 11:23 am         

Rice, Waltz new Fort Hill coaches

CUMBERLAND - Glenn Rice and Amber Waltz are the new boys and girls head basketball coaches, respectively, at Fort Hill High School, according to Principal Steve Lewis, who informed the coaches of their appointments on Wednesday.

Rice is a former boys assistant and girls head coach at Fort Hill, while Waltz, a graduate of Fort Hill, has been the girls soccer coach at the school for five years. Rice is the administrative assistant at Washington Middle School, while Waltz teaches physical education at Fort Hill.

Rice succeeds Todd Eirich, who resigned April 1 as the boys coach, and as the girls coach, Waltz succeeds Jennifer Miller, who coached at Fort Hill the past two seasons.

"Glenn coached with us before, assisting (former Fort Hill head coach) Dave Hobel with some very good teams. He has a lot of experience with the boys, but he brings head coaching experience as well, having put some great girls teams on the floor for us.

"He wanted to test the waters in administration but wanted to coach again if we ever had an opening. So this worked out well for him and it worked out well for us. Since I became the principal at Fort Hill in 1994, I've been fortunate to have great coaches. I expect the same out of Glenn and I'm sure we'll get it."

Concerning Waltz, Lewis said, "Amber has been our girls soccer coach and has really done well with it. She's put some good teams out there as well.

"She was a basketball player at Fort Hill, and an assistant at Beall and at Fort Hill. I'm fortunate because Amber knows Fort Hill and knows what is expected. We've had long talks about what we both expect out of the girls program and she knows what it's going to take to get there.

"I'm fortunate to have a head coach in the building who is committed to building the program."

Rice graduated from Hyndman High School in 1990 and put up over 1,000 career points for the Hornets and Coach John Keller. He graduated from Frostburg State University in 1994, having played baseball for the Bobcats for one season.

Rice has 12 years coaching experience, having been an assistant to Hobel for three years, helping two Sentinels teams reach the Maryland state tournament in College Park.

In 2001-2002, he took over as the girls head coach for four seasons, his teams putting together a record of 51-39.

Rice has also coached junior varsity baseball at Fort Hill, as well as middle school basketball at Hyndman and James Wood in Winchester, Va.

"I'm very thankful that Mr. Lewis believed in me," said Rice. "I'm also thankful to Dave Hobel, who took me on his staff without even knowing me. Kyle Martz, a member of his coaching staff, introduced us.

"I have seven years experience coaching at Fort Hill, so I understand the tradition. It's a privilege for me to be there. I've been part of a couple of final-four teams and I hope to bring the same expectations to the job. We want to get back to the state tournament and ultimately win a state championship.

"I have a lot of hard work ahead of me. I look forward to getting my staff together and coaching at Fort Hill."

A 1997 graduate of Fort Hill, Waltz was a three-sport standout for the Sentinels during her four years at the school. She played varsity volleyball for three years, varsity basketball for four years and varsity softball the first two years the school fielded a program.

Her senior basketball season for Coach Buck Smith, she was named first-team Maryland Class 2A All-State after being second team as a junior. Her senior season she was the Cumberland area's second-leading scorer, scoring 25.3 points a game, finishing her career with 1,314 points. She was also first-team All-City and All-WMIL.

Waltz is a 2001 graduate of Frostburg State University where she played volleyball all four years and softball for three years before suffering a knee injury.

She has taught physical education at Fort Hill since 2002. She served as an assistant basketball coach for Rice at Fort Hill and also for Slug Armstrong at Beall.

"I'm very excited about this opportunity," Waltz said. "I see a lot of potential in the girls, and I'm looking forward to building a program at Fort Hill.

"Obviously, I have been part of Fort Hill and its winning tradition, and I would like to bring that back to the girls basketball program. Coaching at my alma mater is something I've always wanted to do."

The Fort Hill boys had a record of 23-3 last season, winning the Appalachian Mountain Athletic Conference title with an undefeated record, as well as the West Region and Area championships. The Fort Hill girls were 5-17 last season.

Contact Mike Burke at mburke@times-news.com.