UCLA Gymnastics: Building Another Championship Season
October 06, 2010 | Gymnastics
Oct. 6, 2010
By Lauren Seligman
Enthusiasm, the second cornerstone in Coach Wooden's pyramid, is a quality we must embody to be successful in all areas of life. Coach Wooden makes three main points when defining the importance of enthusiasm:
1. We are more productive when we like what we are doing.
2. Leaders need to be enthusiastic if they want those under them to succeed.
3. Enthusiasm can stimulate others. For example, it can give confidence.
In life, it is important that we are enthusiastic in both the activities we want and don't want to do. For example, enthusiasm is equally necessary when we are writing a research paper as when we are on the sidelines of a UCLA football game.
Head Coach Valorie Kondos Field, better known as Miss Val, personifies enthusiasm. I caught up with her earlier this week for a brief Q&A about her recent induction to the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame and the importance of enthusiasm in UCLA Gymnastics:
Q: What does it feel like to have been inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame alongside so many UCLA Greats?
A: I can't really describe it. It definitely has not hit me. Without question, UCLA Athletics is the most illustrious athletic family in the history of all sports. I was a Ballet dancer. I was never a competitive athlete and now I've been inducted into the UCLA Hall of Fame--the Athletic Hall of Fame. It's just something that I really can't grasp.
Q: How did you find out you were an inductee and what was you initial reaction?
A: I found out two days after we got home from the National Championships. I was standing at the table in my kitchen, going through a stack of mail, and I opened a letter from the Chancellor. It said "Congratulations," so I thought he was congratulating us on our Championship win. I skimmed it and put it aside with my other mail and then I realized it said something else. I read it again and it said, "Congratulations, you are being inducted into the 2010 Class of the UCLA Hall of Fame." I literally started shaking and sat down because I've never really thought of myself as a coach. I think of myself more as a mentor, teacher and CEO of a program, and when people say, "Hey, Coach", it still makes me chuckle inside. I literally sat down and said to myself, " guess you really are a coach."
Q: This past weekend the induction banquet took place. Has the honor finally sunk in?
A: Yes, the banquet was really nice because there were a lot of gymnasts, both current and past. The past gymnasts that flew across the country to come back totally overwhelmed me because of how much it meant to them to be here. Also, my family; I've got a large Greek family, and they came from all over the country to be here for that one night. It was nice that other people, especially my family who aren't in athletics, grasped the magnitude of what it means to be a part of the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.
Q: Coach Wooden's definition of enthusiasm includes a statement about the necessity of leaders to be enthusiastic. How important is enthusiasm in your coaching?
A: Enthusiasm is extremely important. Even if I'm upset with a student-athlete, I need to be enthusiastic with the words that I choose and with my belief in what I'm saying to them, whether it's positive or constructive criticism. You need to say it with passion and enthusiasm so that they understand how important it is. In coaching, parenting and teaching, you want to do away with any fluff and extra verbiage because we all kind of end up tuning out after a while. If you can tell someone that you believe they are ready to move a skill they've been working on from the low beam to the high beam and you say it lackadaisically, they're not going to have much belief in you. Consequently, they're going to doubt themselves. If as a coach, you say that same thing with enthusiasm, it will translate to them in a way that they will have a much better opportunity for success.
Q: Your enthusiasm makes you stand apart from other NCAA gymnastics coaches on the competition floor. How important is this, especially for your athletes?
A: To be enthusiastic on the competition floor is extremely important. It keeps the vibe and the energy in a balanced place. I always remind myself that we are entertainment. Athletics is entertainment. You don't have athletics without the fans, and if you're not enthusiastic as a coach about your team, how do you expect anyone else to be?
Q: How do you maintain your enthusiasm season after season?
A: Every year is new. Regardless of how many people on your roster change, the dynamic and the chemistry are new every year.
Q: What are some of the ways that the girls on your team display their enthusiasm both inside and outside the gym?
A: I think on the whole, the student-athletes that are on our team have an appreciation for everything they do in life. I think they really enjoy their academic career as much as their athletic career, and they have a very healthy social life. We talk a lot about how the choices that you make dictate the life you lead and that those choices are everything from how you choose to wake up in the morning to how you say "good morning" to people. Every single thing you think is going to have a direct impact on your life negatively or positively, and it's a choice of what kind of a life you want to live. I think that's a pretty complex philosophy to understand fully, but we talk about it enough that most of them get it and apply it to their everyday life.
Q: UC Berkeley just announced it was dropping both women's and men's gymnastics from their Athletics Department. Last fall, you were fighting for Cal State Fullerton Gymnastics. Can you discuss your thoughts on the future of collegiate gymnastics in California?
A: It's very disappointing what Berkeley did. Obviously none of us knows what goes on in someone else's house, but it is common knowledge that they have not had a balanced budget in their athletic department for years. I am very proud of our athletic department and our leader, Dan Guerrero. We are, I believe, only one of 15 universities in the country that were in the black last year.
Q: There's a lot of excitement about the UCLA freshman class this year. What can we be looking forward to come January?
A: We are all looking forward to a lot of great talent and competitiveness within our own team. The freshmen each bring a different style of enthusiasm to their gymnastics and their performances. They're all beautiful gymnasts, but they are very, very different from each other, and I think that's what will make it really fun.
