Preseason chat with UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos Field

Under the leadership of Valorie Kondos Field, the UCLA gymnastics team has become one of the top programs in the NCAA and the school of choice for many high-caliber elite gymnasts and Olympians. Formerly a professional ballet dancer, Valorie brings a unique and refreshing approach to the artistic component of the sport. Her team is best known for their innovative routines and elegant style. Since becoming the head coach in 1991,Val has coached UCLA to six NCAA National titles and 18 regional titles. Val is currently preparing for her 23rd season as the head coach of the UCLA gymnastics team and has high hopes for this season. We had the opportunity to talk to Valorie about her current team and some of their goals for this season.

Can you talk about your incoming freshmen and how you think each girl can contribute to the team this year? 

All of our freshmen are remarkable "people", extremely gracious and appreciative of the opportunity to be a UCLA Bruin. In fact, the only "issue" we're having with them is to get them to realize they can make mistakes without feeling like they're letting all of us down. 

Alex Waller ~ Beautiful beam and bar worker. She's resembling a colt starting to walk at times because her legs are so long. She's just now starting to really become the athlete she's capable of. I feel she put a lot of pressure on herself being Chris and Cindy's daughter. I've had to talk with her about the fact that she is on our team because of all of the work SHE has done and not because of her pedigree. Her greatest influence so far has been in our team meetings. She is extremely intuitive and insightful, especially for a freshman. 

Jessy MacArthur ~ Unfortunately, Jessy suffered a stress fracture in her navicular bone last year, so she's just now getting back. Jessy will contribute mostly on bars and vault. Jessy is extremely no-nonsense. Everyone on the team enjoys her in and out of the gym because she is consistently strong minded and doesn't get into the "girl issues" that can crop up in a team.

Angi Cipra ~ Angi will be a huge contributor for us on vault, beam, floor and possibly as an all arounder. She does big beautiful gymnastics and is a dynamic performer. We will be easing her into the line up because she's one of the freshmen that can get down on herself pretty quickly when she makes a mistake.

Mikaela Gerber ~ Mikaela is about 60% back to what she's capable of. She had shoulder surgery last year and due to the transitions that her gym went through, she really didn't train much last year. She's proven to be a strong competitor and I think she'll be a good back up to come in on bars, beam, and floor.

Hallie Mossett ~ Hallie didn't train fully the last two years because she had a severe hip surgery and ACL surgery after that. We are taking it slowly with her, having to retrain the mechanics of even how she walks, so that she learns to fire her right glute. She's been slowly adding skills and oh my... SHE IS GORGEOUS! I think she'll compete beam, bars, and watered down floor routines for us at the beginning of the season. And will hopefully be a strong all arounder by mid season.

Jenny Pinches~ She is WONDERFUL! She's struggling a bit to get her gymnastics back because she didn't do any gymnastics all last year because she thought she was done. ... until I contacted her in February. She brings unbridled joy for all she does. She is extremely bright and competitive and is literally a breath of fresh air to coach. We hope she'll be in our line up on vault, bars, and floor. She fractured her baby toe last week so that's set her back a bit, but she should be in our line up the 2nd or 3rd meet.

Jordyn Wieber ~ Even though Jo isn't competing for us, she's a huge part of our team. She trains at 6:45am every day before our team trains and then she takes over team manager duties... moving mats, chalking bars, and simply being a strong, competitive, fun addition to our team. Whenever someone on campus thanks her for being a part of our team, she lights up and says "Oh my gosh... I'll do ANYTHING for MY team!" I keep telling her the greatest gift she will give her young fans is for them to see her-a gold medal Olympian; moving mats, and chalking bars... doing manager duties with enthusiastic fun.

You had a few girls sitting out last season due to injury, can you give us an update on their current status?

Sam Peszek is doing great. She is back on all events and is in the best physical shape of her life. Her achilles has been a little inflamed recently which prohibits her from punching well. She's not at risk of re-injuring that ligament, it's the inflammation that can create havoc.

Mattie Larson is physically fully back. She is working hard through the mental anxiety she has had for the last 4 years now on vault and floor. She will be in [the lineup] on beam and bars and be as beautiful as ever. I'm hoping that with the consistent work she's putting into her mental game, she'll be the beautiful all arounder we all know she can be next year. The mind is a powerful muscle, which can unfortunately work as powerfully positively or more often times... negatively.

Peng Peng Lee ~Unfortunately, Peng had to have her ACL reconstructed again. The silver lining is that the doctor said that the rest of her knee is pristine, so she should make a full recovery. Hopefully, NEXT YEAR we'll all get to enjoy Peng Peng Lee at her most magnificent!

Can you talk a little more about Jordyn Wieber and her role in the team? Do you think she can impact the team in any way?

Jordyn's impact comes from her just being her. Every single thing she does in her life, she does with 100% attention and intention. Not once has she complained about having to train at 6:45 in the morning. She is getting a 3.7 [GPA] at UCLA as a freshman. That's extremely remarkable. And the side of Jordyn that I never saw was how much fun she is. When there is any type of competition between our Blue vs Gold teams-she is ON FIRE! She is truly an example of living life to ones full ability, while being extremely appreciative and grateful. Short example: Jordyn was talking with her teaching assistant about taking her midterm a few days early because she was going to Japan to do a game show with other Olympians for 3 days. The T.A. said "Wow that sounds great, would you like to go to the Olympics some day?" Jordyn just smiled and said, "As a matter of fact, I went last year." ... that was it. I keep telling her I'd wear that gold medal around my neck every day if I'd earned it!

Since you are known for your stunning choreography, can you walk us through the process of choreographing a floor routine?

Ahhhh... well.... music, I choose the music and ask the girls if they like it. Most of the time they trust me to pick what I think will look good on them. I really don't think that I orchestrate "stunning choreography". I think our routines stand out because I see the floor as a 40X40 stage and as soon as they step inside those lines, they're on stage with 10 spot lights on them. I work endlessly at getting them to "focus" their eyes and connect with the audience vs the judges. I see floor routines as dance performances with tumbling thrown in periodically. 

Out of all the routines you've choreographed, which one is your favorite?

I've been asked this question many times. There really are too many to choose one. When I watch any of Kim Hamilton's routines I get goose bumps because of her performance quality. Hallie Mossett has that same movement quality! In order to answer this question, I might venture to say that Anna Li's last routine was a great example of a "complete floor routine." It had many different types of movement, it told a story, and Anna emoted the feelings equated with the movements beautifully. I get goose bumps every time I watch it.

What are some short term and long term goals for the team this season? 

[At the] beginning of the season we want to compete with confidence and not worry about scores. The only strategies we have in our sport are skill selections and competitive line up order. During Championship meets we work through every option with these strategies we have to gain every quarter of a tenth possible. For our first few meets this year we aren't going to focus on that, instead we will strategize with our skill selections, competitors and line up orders to be able to compete cleanly and confidently. For example, Angi can outscore a lot of her teammates if she hits, but we're going to ease her into the line-ups so she doesn't feel overwhelmed. Look for a different competitive line-up order the first meet to see if we can accomplish this. For Championship season- we want to go undefeated. 

What do you look for in your future recruits? 

We always look for great gymnastics and they have to be good students in order to get into UCLA and do well. I like to look for fierce competitiveness. beautiful lines, and student-athletes who are enthusiastic about life. However, with recruiting getting earlier and earlier it's really difficult to see the potential in such young athletes. 

Last year Vanessa Zamarripa mentioned the possibility of returning to elite gymnastics, do you know if that is still in the plans for her? 

I don't think Zami will compete elite. She is killing it in the stunt world. She got her SAG card and her first job. 

What is your one hope for the future of gymnastics?

I would like to see ALL gymnastics get much more creative with the code so that intricate dance and gymnastics skills are as valued as big skills. In college we now receive a tenth back if the athlete does a tumbling pass with a C skill that is connected to a dance skill and then another A flip. It opens the "playbook" and encourages creative choices besides only rewarding the most powerful tumblers. I feel strongly that the FIG should no longer call elite gymnastics - "Artistic Gymnastics". Even in college, artistry is nice and people like to talk about it, but there isn't an avenue for the judges to really reward it or even use it to separate similar routines. I say we bring back R.O.V.... risk, originality, and virtuosity.

What has been the most memorable experience for you so far as a coach?

My most memorable moments are when one of our girls comes to me-whether during their time at UCLA or after, and they tell me of something I taught them that really reasonated with them about living a better quality of life. Gymnastically, the first thing that popped into my mind was the first time Maloney competed all around after having had such a horrific time with the rod in her leg, and the infection that ensued. I don't think people know that the infection ate away 80% of her shin bone. Her return to big time gymnastics was so inspiring! 

Thank you Christy Linder for providing the beautiful photos for this interview. Everyone please follow her on twitter! (Here)