Weekly diary by Valorie Kondos Field, head coach for UCLA's women's gymnastics team.
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April 26, 2004
It was a dream come true to watch our team perform at a national championship the way they performed on April 15 and 16. It doesn't happen often that an entire team is in "the zone" at the same time - where they hit 24 for 24 of the best routines they are capable of hitting. It is an amazing feeling to watch them perform so exquisitely one routine after another in the final meet of the year, at the National Championships. And it is 100 times sweeter that it all happened at HOME in our palace, Pauley Pavilion.
We as a team always talk about the "Magic of Pauley". It's not that we feel it's going to help us be better than what we are. It's more of an appreciation of the great athletes that played / competed in Pauley over the years. Pauley has been the home for Basketball, Volleyball, and Gymnastics Championships. It was the home for the 1984 Olympic Games, where three of our Bruin men joined their Olympic team in winning the team gold medal. It is where Mary Lou Retton won her Olympic Gold. It has enjoyed UCLA national championship victories in volleyball and with our UCLA men's gymnastics team in 1984. Its floor aptly honors our dear friend and mentor, Coach Wooden, and his beloved wife Nell. And now, it carries the air of a brilliant national gymnastics championship win by our UCLA women gymnasts.
I am at the same time giddy and humbled to be the head coach of our women's gymnastics team that solidified its place in the annals of Pauley Pavilion. Congratulations to our team and staff for plowing through a rather difficult season; for keeping open minds and driven hearts when we encountered yet another bump in the road; and for trusting in philosophies that have enabled us to achieve and maintain such immense athletic, academic, and personal standards.