Thursday, 4/24/97 Focus on training, not winning, made champs
Head coach’s philosophy maintained team’s climb up rankings
By Rachel Kelley Daily Bruin Contributor The high expectations
the UCLA women’s gymnastics team set for itself this season were
not rooted in a coaching philosophy centered around winning. Head
coach Valorie Kondos dropped that mentality four years ago, and
subsequently developed her own approach which emphasizes the
training process rather than focusing on the outcome. "I came in as
head coach trying to act like the coach who had won national
championships in the past," Kondos said. "I talked about winning a
lot, and finally I realized that you are only going to be
successful by being true to yourself. For me making it work meant
developing my own philosophies." Three years ago UCLA finished
fifth at nationals. Two years ago the team placed fourth. Last year
they were runners-up and this year they won. Each year UCLA has
climbed the national ranks, the team’s chance of attracting top
recruits has increased – recruits that will fit in with UCLA’s team
concept. "As a team gets better, you don’t just have to take what
you can get," senior gymnast Anne Dixon said. "You can be selective
according to personalities." The Bruins consider team unity to be
one of the primary factors for a successful collegiate competition.
"With team chemistry comes desire and a need to do gymnastics for
each other," junior Stella Umeh said. "When you are a part of a
team, you are a part of a family," junior Carmen Tausend said.
Throughout the season, the gymnasts feel they get a chance to bond
as they each contribute to a collective training effort. They are
making sacrifices for the team. "When you are on the bike, you are
doing aerobics for 12 other girls," Tausend said. Among various
factors which distinguished this team from previous ones,
confidence guided this year’s national championship team to the
top. "We’ve always had a lot of dedication and hard team work,"
Tausend said. "But after finishing second at nationals last year,
we knew we could do it. We knew we had the ability to win." The
confidence level the Bruins developed stems from the program’s
basic principles of consistent training and hard work. According to
Kondos, this philosophy can be applied to all competitive sports.
"If you go out and train consistently every day and you work to the
best of your ability, you have won," Kondos said. "Another opponent
may walk away with the trophy but it doesn’t mean that you have
lost. "By ridding yourself of all the superstitions, you can get to
the core of what a champion is all about. (UCLA gymnasts) are
national champions because they believed in the process, not
because they got lucky Friday night."