University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA Gymnastics Chat Wrap
March 21, 2003 | Bruin Athletics
On Wednesday, Mar. 26, UCLA gymnastics head coach Valorie Kondos Field, as well as gymnasts Onnie Willis, Jamie Dantzscher and Kate Richardson, visited the chat room to talk about the Bruin gymnastics team as it approaches the Pac-10 Championships. 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. The Bruins this year are ranked No. 1 in the nation and are hoping to win their 11th Pac-10 title. Willis, a senior from Tacoma, WA, is a 12-time All-American and two-time Scholastic All-American. In 2001, she became the first UCLA gymnast ever to win the NCAA all-around title. She is also the defending Pac-10 all-around champion and uneven bars co-champion. Willis is ranked in the Top 25 nationally in all four events and the all-around. Dantzscher, a junior from San Dimas, CA, is the defending NCAA all-around, vault and floor exercise champion, as well as last year's Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year. This year, she has earned perfect 10s on nine occasions, a year after setting a national record by scoring seven consecutive perfect 10s on the floor exercise. Dantzscher was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team. Richardson, a freshman from Coquitlam, BC, has made a huge impression in her rookie campaign. She ranks No. 1 in the nation on beam and No. 2 in the all-around. Richardson has competed all-around in 11 of 12 meets and has earned three perfect 10s - two on beam and one on floor. She was a member of the 2000 Canadian Olympic team and was the 2002 Commonwealth Games all-around and beam champion.
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| Moderator: Thank you for joining us. We will get started shortly. | ||
| Moderator: Coach Field is ready to answer questions now. | ||
| Elaina (Pasadena): How many Bruins, current or past, are now expecting to attempt to make their respective nation's teams for the 2003 World Championships? Who? | ||
| Coach Field: Both Jamie and Kate are still training elite skills, but we will be making that decision after the NCAA Championships. | ||
| Laura (Chicago): Miss Val, your compositions are so stunning...have you ever considered choreographing for gymnasts on the National Team? | ||
| Coach Field: Yes, although I have yet to be asked. | ||
| April (Los Angeles): Miss Val, what is your favorite floor routine this season? | ||
| Coach Field: Truthfully, I don't have a favorite. I enjoy the diversity in all of them. It would be difficult to compare one style versus another. | ||
| Moderator: Jamie Dantzscher has now joined us and is available for questions. | ||
| Johnny San Dimas CA: Jamie, when are you coming home, dude, the dog misses you like crazy. Oh, yeah, is Kate Richardson currently available??? | ||
| Jamie Dantzscher: I'll be home as soon as I can, when I get time off. And you need to wait at least five years for Kate! | ||
| Moderator: Kate Richardson has also joined us now. | ||
| Denise (Los Angeles): Kate, how stressful is it to be away from home, having school work, and doing gymnastics? | ||
| Kate Richardson: I haven't been homesick at all. I've been having too much fun here, so that's ok. Handling school and gym took some adjusting at first, but since we train less hours and coaches make accomodations to whatever we need, it's not too stressful at all, especially right now since we're on spring break. | ||
| Sarah (San Francisco, CA): Jamie, it seems you've only gotten better since the 2000 Olympics. I've heard rumors that you're planning to compete at the 2004 Olympic Trials. Is that true, and if so, what is the next Elite-level even at which you plan to compete? | ||
| Jamie Dantzscher: I've had thoughts of coming back. It would depend on how my body is feeling. | ||
| Jennifer (LA): Jamie- I heard at the beginning of the season you were planning on a super cool UB combo including a full twisting Pak. Since, I haven't heard any thing about it. Have you competed this combo, and exactly what skills does it include? | ||
| Jamie Dantzscher: I haven't competed it, and since I'm not training for Worlds I haven't been training it either. But, the combo was going to be a Shaposhnikova/Pak/toe-on Shasposhnikova/full-twisting Pak. | ||
| Moderator: Onnie Willis has now joined us. | ||
| Long Beach: Onnie thank you for a great four years. We will miss you. What do you plan to do after you graduate? | ||
| Onnie Willis: Getting married! And then I'll be here for another year for school. And then I'm going to go to graduate school for school psychology. | ||
| Brian (Lompoc, CA): Hello Ladies, How excited are y'all to be hosting the PAC-10 tournament? It's always nice to win at home, but it must be extra special knowing that Coach Wooden will be the one handing UCLA all the awards trophies at the end of the night. =]! | ||
| Kate Richardson: It's exciting. It's always fun to have home-crowd advantage, with all the family and friends able to see us. It's an honor to have Coach Wooden there. | ||
| Jessica (Huntington Beach): How do you feel about those black backless leotards from last year? They look fabulous but uncomfortable..... | ||
| Onnie Willis: They're actually really comfortable, and we like competing in them. | ||
| Brandon (Minneapolis): Jamie - you have what is probably the best Gienger in the world today - I am curious as to why it is no longer in your routine? Thanks! | ||
| Jamie Dantzscher: I didn't really need it to get a 10.0 start value, and I ended up getting deductions from the pirouette out of it. So we decided to take it out. | ||
| Pokey: Kate what did you think of Canada at the Pacific Challenge and do you feel torn between wanting to help UCLA & Canada? | ||
| Kate Richardson: I thought they looked good. It was really fun to be able to see them all again. Yes, seeing them does make me want to help out the team more, but I have to make the decision that's in my best interests. | ||
| Becky (Valley Village): Coach Kondos Field, Onnie, Jamie and Kate, 1st off I want to commend you all on an amazing season. 2nd, how did you (all 4) get involved with gymnastics and at what age? Thank you very much. | ||
| Onnie Willis: My grandpa put me in gymnastics when I was four. | ||
| Jamie Dantzscher: I saw it on TV when I was 3, and my uncle used to teach me back-handpsrings on the cushions. I begged my parents to put me in, and finally they did when I was 7. | ||
| Kate Richardson: I was in ballet when I was 3, and I hated it, so I switched. My friend was in gymnastics, and she brought me to a bring-a-friend class, and I liked it. | ||
| Kacie Conway (Atlanta, GA): Hi Jamie! I know you have a large family, and I was wondering if they are able to attend a lot of your meets. | ||
| Jamie Dantzscher: My parents and my little sisters go to all of my home meets unless my sisters have a meet on the same weekend. My parents also travel to some of the away meets. | ||
| Kai, Newport Beach, CA: Jamie - will you be competing on Saturday for the Pac - 10 title? Because I understand you had an ankle injury? And do you have a boyfriend?? | ||
| Jamie Dantzscher: My ankle is not getting worse, so I'll be competing at Pac-10s, regionals and nationals. No, I don't have a boyfriend. | ||
| Brett Hernandez (Los Angeles): Kate, was the middle neck-crawling section of your FX inspired by Olga Strazheva's famous FX to the "Rite of Spring"? | ||
| Kate Richardson: That was in my last floor routine as an elite, and my choreographer got that from watching that floor routine. | ||
| Julie (Torrance): What is the one factor that's the hardest about competing away meets? Is it the equipment? I notice some teams have a real problem doing well when they're not at home | ||
| Jamie Dantzscher: The equipment isn't usually too bad. I don't think the adjustment is hard at all. The energy is different because you don't have everybody behind you. | ||
| Kate Richardson: Travelling also takes a little bit out of you sometimes. | ||
| Jen from San Diego: Hi all! Kate, I love your floor routine and music. Who chose your (and the rest of the team's) music for floor? Thanks and good luck next weekend!! | ||
| Kate Richardson: Thank you. Miss Val chooses our music. I love performing the routine she has made for me. | ||
| Kacie Conway (Atlanta, GA): Hi Jamie! Is it hard to fit in your classes and studying with all of your training and traveling for competitions? Also, what are you majoring in? | ||
| Jamie Dantzscher: It's not bad fitting in classes and training. It's pretty managable. You just find a set schedule and stick to it. My major is psychology. | ||
| Pokey: Onnie did you ever think about trying out for the USA Olympic team? | ||
| Onnie Willis: I did until I was 12 or 13, then I opted for a different route. | ||
| Kristin (Ottsville, PA): I am a huge fan of UCLA Gymnastics. Is there an address in which I can send fan mail to you all individually, and/or an address that I can write you to get a photo of your team? | ||
| Coach Field: You can send mail to the team or to members of the team c/o UCLA Athletic Department, P.O. Box 24044, Los Angeles, CA 90024. | ||
| Dominic - Cleveland, Ohio: Ms. Kondos Field- Your choreography and coaching style has been a tremendous inspiration to me. What dancer has been the most inspiring to you, and which modern technique is your most favorite. | ||
| Coach Field: I love Mark Morris' work, although I feel I have been heavily influenced from my first choreographic days by George Balanchine. My favorite all time dancer is probably Natalia Makarova. | ||
| Rhonda (Woodland Hills): Miss Val: I've no doubt the team will be more than ready for the Pac-10 Championship (Go Bruins!) on Saturday no matter what, but how are we doing with respect to the recent illnesses and injuries? | ||
| Coach Field: Illnesses keep hitting - Jamie D. and I just came down with the flu today. Kate's flu bug is still lingering. Injuries are a bit better, but not great. And "YES" - we will be pumped up to compete on Saturday! We LOVE this meet. | ||
| Casey (Orlando,FL): Jamie: I love your new floor routine!!! What is the name of your music? Miss Val: Generally speaking, how long does it take your gymnasts to learn a new floor routine? | ||
| Coach Field: Jamie's floor music is called No Warning - I have no idea where I got it. I'm sent a lot of music to listen to throughout the year. It generally takes 2 to 3 hours to choreograph a floor routine. Then I spend the next 4 to 5 months tweaking it. I actually just tweaked some choreography in Yvonne's today, with three meets to go. | ||
| James Fesalbon, Seattle, WA: Do you think the NCAA will adopt Elite Scoring like the men? I would think it would encourage the gymnasts to learn to skills. | ||
| Coach Field: The NCAA will probably never adopt elite scoring. It is difficult enough as it is to field a strong team for 13 meets in 4 months. | ||
| Madeline (Charlestown): Miss Val, what do you look for when you are recruiting an athlete? | ||
| Coach Field: The first things I look for in recruits are competitiveness and clean gymnastics. | ||
| Moderator: We have time for just a few more questions for Coach Field. | ||
| Dre in Jersey: UCLA's always had pretty good fan support. What's up on with the whole 10.0 club thing this year? I know Jamie, that your parents have always been very involved but whose idea was it to tailgate before meets? | ||
| Coach Field: Miss Val here - our Bruin 10.0 club is awesome. Last year we all questioned why fans didn't tailgate at events at Pauley like they do at the Rose Bowl. So ... we started the Bruin 10.0 tailgates. They are a great time! Be sure to stop by this Saturday. | ||
| Jackie (Ann Arbor, MI): Can you give us an update on Alyssa Beckerman's condition? What is her status for next season? | ||
| Coach Field: Alyssa is doing great. Her surgery went better than expected. She will be able to resume training in 4-6 weeks. | ||
| BruinBro (Woodland Hills): What's up with the straight hair sis? Seriously, is it harder to get big scores in dual meets, quad meets or larger number of teams? Bro | ||
| Coach Field: Hi Steven. The straight hair is for a bit of variety. Like it Bro? | ||
| Moderator: That is all the time we have today for questions. Thank you for joining us in the chat. We hope you can join us in Pauley Pavilion for Saturday's Pac-10 Championship meet. | ||
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