On Wednesday, April 15, the Emmaus High School boys volleyball team will honor the coach who founded the program back in 1974.

Rich Weiss, the program’s coach for its first six years, was recently diagnosed with ALS. The event, named Spike Out ALS, will honor Weiss’ career and contributions to the East Penn School District while also raising money for ALS research and support programs. Emmaus will host Liberty that evening at 6 p.m.

“He built the team, now we build the hope,” is the motto for night.

Rich Weiss touched countless lives in four decades of teaching and coaching.

His teaching career began in 1972 as a ninth-grade math teacher at Emmaus High School. When Eyer Junior High School opened and ninth grade moved there in 1974, Weiss moved in and remained a teacher at the school until retiring from teaching 32 years later.

He spent most of his years teaching eighth graders, but during his career he taught everything from seventh grade general math to ninth grade Honors Algebra 2. “The whole spectrum,” Weiss said.

He became the first Emmaus varsity girls tennis coach very early in his career and was asked to become the first boys volleyball coach when the program began in 1974.

Despite the fact that he had only played “picnic volleyball,” Weiss said, he decided to take the job. He went to the Allentown YMCA to learn the game and founded a program that he built into one of the best in the Lehigh Valley.

His ties to the program go even deeper, as Weiss’ son Eric was part of the 1992 EHS team that finished as runner-up in the state.

And on this year’s team Weiss’ grandson Sander Houtz is a senior for the defending District 11 champ Hornets.

Weiss also spent 26 years as the head coach for the Allen High School girls tennis team and did stints as a junior high wrestling coach at Eyer and assistant volleyball coach at Muhlenberg College.

His battle with ALS began last year when he was having trouble with his right arm and hand. He was diagnosed on July 29 and is battling symptoms like shortness of breath and weight loss. He is thankful his legs have not yet been effected.

He is looking forward to seeing longtime friends and colleagues at the Spike Out ALS event and hopes it can make an impact in the battle against the disease which still has no cure.

“I would like people to donate,” Weiss said. “That would be so important because with ALS, there’s no solution right now. If we can get more research done that would be so good.”

Fundraisers at the event will include basket raffles, a 50-50 drawing and T-shirt sales, to name a few. People can also donate by going to the Spike Out for Rich page at the ALS United Midatlantic web site at secure.alsmidatlantic/goto/spikeoutforrich.