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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.”