Newspaper Page Text
8
WEDNESDAY, NoVSMBKa 17, 8010 1 THE RsD A BIACK
Gym Dogs prepare as underdogs
By ROBBIE OTTLEY
Tm Rid $ Black
Commitment. Discipline.
Enthusiasm. Leadership.
Words such as these line
the walls of the lounge in
the Suzanne Yoculan
Gymnastics Center, where
Georgia’s gymnasts are
practicing for their second
year since the eponymous
coach's retirement.
The 2011 season will also
be the second under coach
Jay Clark, and the second
since the departure of
Olympian Courtney
Kupets. However, the
upcoming season has one
glaring difference from the
last in the spring, the
Bulldogs wont be defend
ing a national champion
ship for the first time since
2006.
“It's kinds that nasty
feeling from last year, know
ing we didn't do as well as
we could, that pushes you,”
senior Cassidy McComb
said. "Being in a different
Coming to Campus for the second time:
• The Grand Hall In Ifete 11, sth floor
• Entertainment and food provided
• Chance to win door prizes!
• No need to drive all over Athens • save time and see all of
your off campus options at oncel
• Over 50 Exhibitors to visit: UGA Housing, Apartments,
Property Managers, Campus Services
, • /..gy
11' lll /*! I
1111111 | I ] \ A
■ W* I ? ! ’
i/ sj i
U I ] TANARUS" repp?
ERfl -M&SL S I r A I
*’*".{ ’ '/’* V * '•/'S 5 '/f i t" 1 "■ " CARnIXIe MOUSE
-~77 m m Z~ m ~~7ZZ~“'I if BHMHHMI
mm WWBRWWK- 1
fnwmmwmnx: illlllllillllillP l t yROPgKTIES PLnlks
position, that we haven't
been in years past, could
be a good thing."
When a fan base
becomes accustomed to an
unprecedented run of
prominence, much like the
Gym Dogs' live consecu
tive national champion
ships, it can be difficult to
call a season a success
when it results in anything
less than a championship.
A particularly glaring
mark on last season came
when the Bulldogs ended a
26-season streak of qualify
ing for NCAA champion
ships. But Clark pointed
out that Georgia, which
tied for second in the
Columbia regional, was a
tiebreaker loss away from
returning to the national
championship, and finished
ranked fifth in the nation.
“I don’t ever Want to put
a negative spin on what
they did last year;" Clark
said. "Everything they
heard came from a predis
position of doubt. The pri
mary talk last year was
about the transition and
not what the potential of
that team was.”
The year was challeng
ing for Clark for a variety of
reasons, but possibly most
significant was stepping
into a position of leader
ship after serving as an
assistant coach under
Yoculan for 1? seasons.
Though Clark led his team
differently than Yoculan
did, he felt the familiarity
of his time with the pro
gram meant he responded
to setbacks much as
Yoculan would have. The
second-year head coach
still believes he had a lot to
leam about being a coach
when he began his tenure,
though.
"You can’t really leam
until you have to go
through it," Clark said.
“When things don’t go well,
you feel like you’ve let your
fan base down or you’ve let
your kids down and you
wanna immediately reex
JMBTS
amine things. While it’s an
admirable trait, it’s proba
bly not a healthy way to
react to adversity."
Asa part of his reexami
nation this offseason, Clark
read books by John Wooden
and Pete Carroll, particu
larly taking to heart their
suggestion that the pro
gram’s core values need to
be better defined.
"The thing that I really
got out of it was it’s impor
tant to define what your
philosophy really is," Clark
said. "In some ways we
probably plagiarized some
of those ideas."
Clark and the other
coaches always knew that
the team emphasised lead
ership, but the coaches
began to discuss exactly
what that leadership
meant. The focus on defin
ing their philosophy now
plays a major part of the
team’s Monday meetings,
even sometimes taking
away from their practice
time in the gym.
| J” ~—
L . ■JHSglii’f' M jg
to. B ■ 9K4
CHARUtS-RYAN BAMKR ITnßutßuci
A Sophomore Kofi Breazoa! (loft) and aanior
Cassidy McComb (rl|bt) look to rebound from
last yoorti disappointing Gym Dogs soaaon.
"It’s one thing to throw
a word out to your team
and expect them to under
stand how to implement,"
Clark said. "It’s important
to take time away from our
physical trainings some
times and really try to get
them to understand these
concepts and be Invested
in it."
Already, Clark says, he's
seen the team’s new focus
pay off. Junior Gina Nuccio
may have been battling an
Injury, but she’s still been
in the gym supporting the
team during practice, even
if she can’t Join them dur
ing routines. McComb has
been showing a level of
leadership and excitement
greater than she has in
past years.
Another change comes
in the level of difficulty of
the various routines the
Bulldogs expect to perform
in the spring.
In gymnastics, each rou
tine is scored on two com
ponents: the difficulty
score and the execution
score. While Clark expects
that much of Georgia’s
competition will perform
relatively conventional rou
tines, he hopes to push his
gymnasts to perform as
hard as they reasonably
can. In doing so, he’s con
tinuing a Bulldog tradition
of breaking the mold for
college gymnastic routines.
“Particularly at the col
legiate level, [the sport]
can get very static.... There
are teams that we compete
against year in and year
out... that are very conser
vative,” he said. “If we can
do it, we’re gonna do it.
And if we win, we win big, if
we lose, it’ll be usually by
our own doing.”
However, this year, the
Bulldogs won’t be fully
expressing that philosophy,
as they plan to perform
routines with less difficulty
than previous years. The
routines the Bulldogs will
be performing still have the
opportunity to score a per
fect 10, but the Bulldogs
have a greater desire to
avoid injury in the upcom
ing season than in years
past.
“It would be foolish to
try to push that envelope
in a year when depth could
be an issue," Clark said.
Clark’s girls agree with
their coach.
“If you can do higher dif
ficulty, then do it, but if you
can’t do it, then there’s no
point,” junior Kat Ding
said.
Georgia will face what
Clark calls an “incredibly
tough” schedule this year,
with home meets against
SEC rivals Auburn, Florida,
and Alabama, and non
conference competition
against schools such as
Utah and Michigan. But
Clark said the Bulldogs will
overcome these challenges.
“This team has a grit
about them that I think
could serve us well,” Clark
said. “The key for us is
gonna be, can we execute
when we have to, and hope
that we get some breaks
along the way.”
His gymnasts share
Clark’s optimism, and look
forward to competing as
underdogs, many for the
first time in their Georgia
careers.
Unlike last year, Georgia
will not open the season
with a No. 1 ranking, but
the Bulldogs expect being
deemed long shots will
allow them to focus their
energy on anew goal.
"People may not be
expecting much from us,”
McComb said. “We’re
gonna let our gymnastics
do what we plan on doing
and just surprise every
one.”
The Bulldogs have reex
amined their values, their
routines and their sched
ule.
But the program’s over
all philosophy, a proven
success under Yoculan,
remains the same.
“We’re not gonna knee
Jerk and try to do anything
radically different,” Clark
said. “There was nothing
philosophically different
last year than there had
been the previous 17 years
that I was here.”
And according to Ding,
the values of Oeorgia gym
nastics remain the same.
“Oeorgia gymnastics has
an air of success, and the
least we wanna do Is be
able to uphold It,” Ding
said. “Oeorgia gymnastics
Is all about heart.”