UNews - Spencer Holt

Holt still manning the point

trevor.kenney — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:57:18 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge alumnus Spencer Holt (BMgt '00) has an undergraduate degree, a master's degree, is currently pursuing a PhD and his career is flipping burgers. You might think all that education has gone to waste – hardly.

It's just the latest avenue that Holt is pursuing, as the point man for a team franchising Five Guys Burgers and Fries, a wildly successful restaurant chain that boasts 550 American locations and now one Canadian store in Medicine Hat.

"The group I'm with bought the rights to Alberta, B.C. and parts of Ontario," says Holt. "We just opened in Medicine Hat, and it's gone very well. Our goal is to do about 130 stores across the country, so for me it's a great opportunity because I'm in charge of the infrastructure of hiring people, training and so on. It blends very well into my educational background."

Holt is best known in these parts for his years manning the point guard spot on the Horns men's basketball team. A wizard with the ball, he was a high school star at Lethbridge Collegiate Institute before playing a season at Lethbridge College and then moving on to the U of L. Along with Magrath product Danny Balderson, the duo formed a local nucleus around which the program was constructed.

"A big part of that was the fact that Danny and I had been friends for many years," says Holt. "When we were both on our missions for the church, we talked quite a bit about playing together and at the U of L. We both had opportunities to go other places, but I think we had a vision of playing together in Lethbridge and winning a lot of games."

They did just that, culminating with the 1999-2000 season when the Horns spent much of the campaign as the top-rated team in the country, won the Canada West regular season title and advanced to the national semifinal game.

"That was such a fun season," says Holt. "I think we went 18-2, we won every tournament we entered, and more importantly, the guys on that team had been together for three or four years so, as a group, we all got along and really had a passion to work hard and win together."

He cherishes the fact that the team had such a strong southern Alberta flavour and remembers a unique bond the program had with the community.

"When you look back at old pictures of the stands, you see everyone you grew up with, and that's what was so cool about it, you knew who was in the crowd and that was part of the fun," says Holt. "That old gym only held a couple thousand people but it seemed like every night it was full and that really helps as a player, you feed off that energy and it gives you a lot of confidence."

The 1999-2000 team will be honoured at the Feb. 13 regular season finale at the 1st Choice Savings Centre gym. Holt likes the fact that the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ is reaching out to its alumni.

"It's a great honour that they're choosing to recognize this team," he says. "For me, moving back to Canada now, it's perfect timing. I've talked to some former players about how we need to be more involved with U of L basketball and whatever we can do to help bring it back to its southern Alberta roots."

Now living in Calgary, Holt has made the most of his U of L education. A finance major, he has worked in the banking industry (Bank of Montreal), the oil and gas sector and for pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (sales representative and then district manager for the State of Nevada). Now he is embarking on a massive project with Five Guys but using the personal approach he learned in Lethbridge.

"What I'm passionate about is training people, developing a culture and helping people get better, and this is a great opportunity," says Holt. "How do you do this on a large scale? You start with one store and replicate it 130 times. In the end, we'll have a company where people love to work and love who they work for."

GET THE FACTS

• Holt and his wife Brittany have four children, including Isaac (8), Anne (6), Ty (3) and 18-month old Josh.

• Holt was named an All-Canadian in his final season at the U of L.

• Plans call for Holt and his group to open a Five Guys restaurant in Lethbridge in April.

• He lauds the U of L for bringing in Dave Adams as head coach and Ryan Hall as athletics manager. Adams was an assistant with the 1999-2000 team and Hall a senior guard and shutdown defender. "The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ reaching out to former players is great, and this is a great example of starting this tradition of involving people from the past to make the future better."

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ values draw Hall back to his roots

trevor.kenney — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:31:29 +0000

Much has changed at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge since Ryan Hall (BA '00) ran the basketball court with the likes of Spencer Holt and Danny Balderson.

The concrete dungeon they called a home court is gone, replaced by the 1st Choice Savings Centre for Sport and Wellness. The small, liberal arts school once known primarily for producing teachers has grown into a comprehensive university that initiates cutting-edge research from every corner of campus.

What has stayed the same is what drew Hall back to assume the position of Pronghorn athletics manager.

"You see the changes in the facilities and how the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ has grown up in so many areas, but the values have stayed the same," says Hall, now a father of four. "It's amazing how many people I recognize from when I was an undergraduate here and who have stayed on as staff because it is such a great atmosphere."

A Claresholm, Alta., native, Hall spent the past four years in Greely, Colorado, earning a master's degree in sports management and working on his PhD. Fully expecting to remain in the United States, the U of L opportunity was too good to let pass.

"Lethbridge was really the only place in Canada where we'd come back to," he says.

Hall didn't initially pursue a career in sports management; rather he worked four years in Calgary as a rehabilitation therapist. His goal, however, was always to gravitate back to sport. It was a path he discovered through a course taught by then U of L professor Dr. Gary Bowie.

"It opened something up that I had never realized. I didn't know programs such as sport management existed," Hall says. "Health care was a good experience, I learned a lot and there were some good transferable skills, but it wasn't anything I was really passionate about and wanted to do for the rest of my life."

While completing his master's at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Northern Colorado (what he calls the other UNC), Hall cut his sport management teeth in a NCAA Division 1 environment. Despite the fact UNC is a new player at the Div. 1 level, it still presented Hall the opportunity to see big-time post-secondary athletics and the difference between the American and Canadian models is startling.

"It's big business down there, almost to an extreme. I think they somewhat lose sight of the student part of the student-athlete. I think they try but with the business approach they take, it's all about generating revenues," says Hall.
"We do a better job of prioritizing the fact our athletes are students, first and foremost."

Still, he recognizes that Canadian athletics can learn from its southern neighbours, especially when it comes to engaging supporters and creating passion for their teams, whether it is the student body, alumni or community as a whole.

"I hope at some point we can get a little more of that, and often times it comes from the people who live in the community. The community gets on board and supports the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ as both fans and donors," he says.
"I also hope to create an atmosphere where we have our alumni excited about athletics and see them wearing it on their sleeves a little bit more."

He experienced that atmosphere, having played on the 2000 Pronghorns men's basketball team that hosted the Canada West final against ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta. They were the last really significant men's games played on campus and the series energized the entire area.

"In the end, you still have to be competitive and build momentum with winning teams, and I think that will come," says Hall.

GET THE FACTS

• Prior to coming to the U of L to study kinesiology and play basketball, Hall spent two years playing baseball at Cochise College in Arizona.

• He met his wife Terra (Dudley) while at the U of L. She played basketball for Lethbridge College. They have four children, Tevin (11), Abbie (9), Emily (6) and Brynna (23 months), with a fifth on the way.

• Hall describes ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Northern Colorado and the town of Greely as a parallel to the
U of L and Lethbridge. "The school focused on business, nursing and education, with about 10,000 students in an agricultural community of 85,000."

UNews - Spencer Holt

Holt still manning the point

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��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ values draw Hall back to his roots

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��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ values draw Hall back to his roots