Welcome to uclabruins.com's moderated chat room. On Wednesday at 1:00 pm PT, UCLA gymnastics head coach Valorie Kondos Field will visit the chat room to talk about the Bruins' season thus far. Valorie Kondos Field is in her 13th year as head coach of the UCLA Gymnastics Team. During that time, she has led her teams to three national championships (1997, 2000 and 2001), six Pac-10 championships and nine regional championships. Her success has not gone unrecognized. She has earned National Coach of the Year honors four times in the last six years, and she is a two-time Pac-10 Coach of the Year. This season, Kondos Field's Bruins have posted the nation's top two team scores and broke the longest home winning streak in NCAA history when they defeated Utah in Salt Lake City on January 10. Feel free to drop her some questions now and we'll save them for her arrival. |
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| Moderator: Sorry for the technical difficulties. We should be getting started shortly. | ||
| Coach Field: Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining me today. I am ready for your questions. | ||
| Alexa Christy (Pasadena): Why haven't we seen Doni Thompson or Kristen Maloney compete so far this season? When are they expected to be back? | ||
| Coach Field: Hopefully Doni will be back on bars this season. She has had never-ending wrist, hand, elbow and ankle issues for the past few years. Kristen's leg is still healing. We are hopeful that she will be strong enough to compete next season, in 2004. It is vital that she fully heal before resuming gymnastics. It will surely be a momentous occasion for every gymnastics fan the day Kristen competes again. | ||
| Brian Taylor: When will Jamie be able to compete again? And also how did she hurt her ankle, because I'm ready for her to compete again. I just love her! | ||
| Coach Field: Dantzscher will be back on one or two events this Friday at Stanford and hopefully return in the all-around this Sunday. She twisted and punched off of her "good" ankle training her middle pass on floor (the multiple flipping tumbling pass). I can't wait until she's back competing. Not only is she magnificent to watch, but she drives me nuts on the competition floor when she's competing, constantly telling me she's ready to come in if we need her. | ||
| Chris (Brampton, Ontario): Is Kate Richardson still planning to try for the Canadian world team later this year, and will you be inolved in her training leading up to worlds? | ||
| Coach Field: Yes, Kate is in training now for World's. She trains her elite skills almost every day. It has helped that she put the finishing touches on her double layout on floor, and is competing it now. She is also planning on learning some bar skills. It helps that Jamie Dantzscher is also training to get back on the U.S. team. If her body holds up she should be successful. The two of them train one college routine and then elite skills every day. | ||
| Lisa (Los Angeles): Wow! What's behind Jeanette Antolin's drive this year? She's been unstoppable this season! | ||
| Coach Field: I'm glad you've noticed. Jeanette went through a major life change last year. She basically learned that life is about choice, and the choices we make will dictate the lives that we lead. She decided to make different choices in her life. She is extremely tough-minded when she decides to do something. You can see it in her eyes right before she gets ready to compete. Her determination is unshakable. | ||
| Clete (Los Angeles): Miss Val-It seems that your parents are really into the meets. One question, who is the short guy who gets them going? Is he a teacher or does he have a daughter on the team? What is his story? I'll give him credit, he sure gets them fired up. | ||
| Coach Field: Ha ha ... The "short guy" who gets our fans fired up is Scott Tedmon, Christie Tedmon's father. He is a UCLA alum and was here in the Wooden era. HE should actually be on our pre-meet video saying "100% Bruin!" | ||
| Rhonda (Woodland Hills): It says a lot about a team and its coach when the team has to go on the road without the coach yet responds by ending the longest home winning streak in NCAA history. How did it feel sending the team to Utah without you and seeing how well they did? | ||
| Coach Field: I was thrilled with how well our team and coaching staff did. I am a great believer in preparation and was excited to see that we had done a good job preparing our team for the competition season. It also has a lot to do with our upperclassmen and the leadership they provide. | ||
| April (Los Angeles): Who do you feel is your biggest competition? | ||
| Coach Field: Ourselves | ||
| Maggie (Los Angeles): You have the most creative and entertaining floor exercises. How do you come up with them? | ||
| Coach Field: Thank you for the compliment. I first find music that touches my soul and that will help me see pictures of movement. I am also a big proponent of "less is better". Too much movement tends to produce an unclear picture. I could talk for hours about this! I think it comes down to What is good choreography? Whatever you personally like. | ||
| Jackie (Ann Arbor, MI): How do you feel about the rest of your season after falling to OSU? Do you still feel that your team is the best team in the nation? | ||
| Coach Field: Absolutely, I feel our team is the most talented team in the nation. However, like any other season, we have to hit our routines to win. | ||
| Adam, Plymouth WI: I don't notice a pattern in what gymnasts compete at each meet. I was wondering how you decide who competes when and what, and how soon do the girls find out? | ||
| Coach Field: As far as deciding who competes when, we want to put up our top line-up at all of our home meets because that is what the crowd pays to see. We also need to get at least four good away scores to help us achieve a high regional qualifying score. After that, I feel we need to compete our "back-up" competitors as much as possible to give them as much experience as possible, in case they need to come in for us during the championship part of our season. And, I like to give every athlete on our team a chance to compete because that is why they train - to compete. The thought that supercedes all of this is keeping our team healthy. Right now, we have quite a few ankle and achilles issues. We need to make sure we aren't sacrificing an athlete simply for a score. | ||
| Alison (Washington, DC): Who is the best pure athlete you've ever coached? | ||
| Coach Field: Jamie Dantzscher | ||
| Will (Irvine): Which gymnast's performance has given you the most satisfaction this year? | ||
| Coach Field: I'm thrilled to see that Kate Richardson is living up to her potential. She is a dream - a beautiful athlete, Straight-A student. I would also add Jamie Williams' balance beam performance at Fullerton. She is a tremendous example that slow yet consistent work does pay off. She had just learned a three-flipping series on beam, was rather petrified of it, yet kept working hard at it, and absolutely nailed it in Fullerton. I'm also excited for Malia Jones. She made the decision to fully enjoy her senior year. | ||
| Tiffany (Temple City): What do you think has kept your team mentally so strong? | ||
| Coach Field: A strong work ethic, strong team leadership, a no-nonsense attitude that permeates every aspect of our student-athlete's lives. We have learned to have a lot of fun at working really hard. | ||
| Kelli: Do you feel that your team is being overscored at all because they are UCLA and have Olympians? I've read meet notes with routines that seem (emphasis on seem) to deserve .3-.4 in deductions and get 9.875s. Thanks for answering my question. | ||
| Coach Field: In my discussions with the judges, they are at times utilizing the 0.3 artistic impression rule in awarding routines that have exceptional artistic quality. The rule includes elegance and expression of personal style, entertainment value, and originality of choreography in elements and combinations. In my opinion, it's nice that the judges are using a rule that is written for them to reward such routines. | ||
| Scott (Irvine): Is Jeanette Antolin planning on putting the piked full-in back into her floor routine? It looked good in warm-ups at Fullerton, even though she missed it in the meet. | ||
| Coach Field: For now, we are not planning on putting the piked full-in back into her routine. We really need to keep Jeanette healthy, as she will be playing a big part in our charge for the NCAA title. She still trains it. | ||
| Dana (Corona): How do you keep your team motivated when life is not going to plan? Sometimes we get too many things on our plate and something has to give. How do you and your team find the "healthy" balance??I really love going to watch all your meets!!! | ||
| Coach Field: Thank you for the compliment. Balance is the key word. We often discuss the real meaning of the word integrity. It basically means being honest with yourself, making tough choices, and being able to be fully engaged in whatever you're doing. When you're in class, pay attention. When you're in the gym, focus on your training. When you're relaxing, veg out! When you're out having fun, enjoy it. It's a wonderful daily circle of life that feeds off of and into each experience. Kind of deep - but once understood and applied, extremely fulfilling. If you give your full and honest attention to the different areas of your life, it helps put life's challenges in perspective. | ||
| Rhonda (Woodland Hills): Lots of us "out here" really enjoyed Kondos' Korner on UclaBruins.com last year and looked forward to each new posting. Are you going to do that again some time? | ||
| Coach Field: Actually, it has been posted on the web since the beginning of the season. The name has changed to "Between the Bars". | ||
| M.P. Soles (Los Angeles): Should the scoring system for college gymnastics be changed and emphasize more difficult routines? I thought the Bruins had the strongest, most graceful team last year but were not rewarded for the difficulty and complexity of their routines. | ||
| Coach Field: Thank you for the compliment. I feel that the "exciting" scores collegiate gymnasts receive for hit routines is great for the world of gymnastics. People get excited to see a 10 and love to moan and groan when they see one judge's score come up a 10 then the other is a 9.95. The young gymnasts that are in the crowd feed off of the excitement, and it hopefully carries over to their own training, helping to keep local clubs alive and healthy. I do think we need a slightly different scoring system for our championship competitions. The judges need to be able to differentiate the "good" from the "great" from the "exceptional". | ||
| Coach Field: Thank you all for your questions. I have to run out to practice. I hope to be chatting with you again in the near future. | ||
| Moderator: We apologize again for the technical difficulties that occurred during the live chat. We plan to do another chat with Coach Field soon, so if you were unable to post questions today, you will have another opportunity to do so. Check back with UCLABruins.com for future chat announcements. | ||
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Welcome to uclabruins.com's moderated chat room. On Wednesday at 1:00 pm PT, UCLA gymnastics head coach Valorie Kondos Field will visit the chat room to talk about the Bruins' season thus far. Valori
