Chris Waller Named UCLA Gymnastics Head Coach
May 08, 2019 | Gymnastics
Longtime UCLA Associate Head Coach Chris Waller has been named the new head coach of the UCLA Gymnastics team, Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero announced today. Waller succeeds retiring head coach Valorie Kondos Field.
"Chris Waller has been an integral member of the UCLA Gymnastics coaching staff for the past 17 seasons, helping to build the culture of the program to where it is today, and playing a major role in the team's success," said Guerrero. "As a Bruin All-American, NCAA Champion, U.S. Olympian and Olympic coach, Chris has a strong pedigree and is recognized as one of the top technical coaches in America. He is incredibly deserving of the opportunity to lead UCLA Gymnastics into the future as our head coach."
"It was my great honor to have worked alongside Miss Val for 17 years, and to take the helm of this storied program is a dream come true," Waller said. "The lessons that she has taught our student-athletes over her tenure I have also learned. I am incredibly fortunate to have my first team as head coach be one that is filled with unquestionable leadership and talent. I have been a part of this Bruin Family since 1987 as a freshman on the NCAA Championship team and have been on this campus for the better part of 30 years. My blood runs Bruin blue, and I cannot wait to continue this journey."
Waller has spent the last 17 years on the UCLA Gymnastics coaching staff and has helped guide UCLA to four NCAA Championships (2003, 2004, 2010, 2018). In his first season on staff in 2003, the Bruins swept through the postseason, winning Pac-10, NCAA Regional and NCAA Championships. Also that year, he was the acting head coach when UCLA snapped the longest home-court winning streak in NCAA history for any sport, handing Utah its first home loss in 23 years. In 2004, he helped coach the Bruins to a repeat championship, winning in record-setting fashion. Waller was voted by his peers the National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2004 and the West Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2018.
Along with his collegiate coaching success, Waller has had tremendous success as a club coach, coaching UCLA alumna Mohini Bhardwaj to a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in 2004. Bhardwaj was team captain of the squad that won a silver medal, and she also qualified for the floor exercise finals, placing sixth. Additionally, Waller coached two other Bruins to elite success, helping guide Vanessa Zamarripa to a U.S. National Team spot after her junior season at UCLA, and coaching current freshman Margzetta Frazier as she competed under UCLA at the 2018 U.S. Championships.
"I believe Chris embodies exactly what it means to be a Bruin: family, integrity, developing internal motivation, teaching and coaching the entire person, not just as an athlete," said Bhardwaj. "He is a true leader in the most positive and motivating manner. Chris truly cares about the path and journey in life while focusing on enjoying and learning from the experience. I cannot think of anyone better suited than Chris Waller for UCLA's women's gymnastics head coaching position."
One of the United States' all-time gymnastics greats, Waller was a member of the National Team from 1989-97 and captured the U.S. all-around crown in 1991 and the pommel horse titles from 1991-93. He was an all-around finalist at the 1992 Olympic Games and took fifth place on the pommel horse, just one-tenth of a point away from the gold medal. In addition, Waller placed in the Top 6 on the pommel horse at the 1993 World Championships and won three medals at the 1990 Goodwill Games and team gold at the 1995 Pan American Games. He was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2003.
At UCLA, Waller earned four All-America honors and helped the Bruins capture the NCAA team title in 1987. He also won individual titles on the pommel horse in 1989 and the high bar in 1990. Every year from 1989-93, Waller won either a U.S. or NCAA national title.
Waller, who graduated from UCLA in 1991, had 15 years of prior coaching experience before joining the UCLA staff and was selected the 2002 Southern California Level 7 Male Coach of the Year. He also served as a member of the USA Gymnastics Executive Committee and the 2000 Olympic team selection committee and chaired the Athlete's Council.
Waller and his wife Cindy, both UCLA graduates, are co-owners of Waller's GymJam Academy in Santa Clarita. Their oldest daughter Alex is a UCLA graduate and was a two-time Scholastic All-American and member of the Bruin team for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Their youngest daughter Lilia was a UCLA gymnastics team member in 2018, actively rehabbing an injury before injury retiring in 2019.
"Having known Chris since he was an 18-year-old student-athlete here, it has been so exciting to see him grow into the man and the phenomenal coach that he is today," said Kondos Field. "Chris was born to coach, and I can honestly say that so much of our program's success since he's been on this staff has been due to his contributions. He is a true student of the sport of gymnastics and has embraced the psychological side of coaching as much as he has the technical side. I am confident that Chris will sustain the culture and excellence of the program, and I am excited to see the next chapter of UCLA Gymnastics under his guidance."
Players Mentioned
