Interview: Jay Clark

Only six teams have won an NCAA Championships in the history of collegiate gymnastics. Since Jay Clark's arrival in 2012, the LSU Tigers have been inching closer and closer to adding their name to that list. Prior to LSU, Clark served as the assistant coach/associate head coach at the University of Georgia for 20 seasons. After their legendary coach Suzanne Yoculan announced her retirement following the 2009 season, Clark stepped in as the head coach and remained there for four seasons. Now in his fourth season at LSU, Clark is helping the Tigers do big things, including breaking numerous school records. In 2011, Clark was voted as the #9 recruiter in all of women's college sports. This season LSU brought in the top ranked freshman class in the country with big names such as Lexie Priessman, Sarah Finnegan, and McKenna Kelley.

In our interview, Jay talks about how his coaching career began, his thoughts on this season so far and he shares his opinion on the trend of early recruiting.

PC: Emily Brauner

How did your coaching career begin?

My coaching career started in an unconventional way. With the exception of having taken gymnastics classes when I was younger, my background was in every other sport and not extensive in Gymnastics. I had always wanted to be involved in UGA athletics since I was a youngster. My parents and entire family are UGA Grads, as am I, so while I was an undergrad I became good friends with several of the gymnasts: Heather Stepp, Sandy Rowlette, Jen Carbone and others. Through that friendship and sort of hanging around the gym, I began to help with equipment, camps, etc... 

Doug McAvinn tore his bicep tendon, and Suzanne needed a guy to help with spotting duties and such in the gym. Thus began my unlikely career, and in the fall of 1990 I was officially on the payroll at UGA as a greenhorn coach.

Doug took me under his wing and taught me a great deal about techniques and spotting in the gym. We watched hours upon hours of VHS tape where he would break skills down for me. I was eager to learn as much as possible, so I also began to work other people’s camps. I worked at Alabama’s camp as well as coaching at a local gym. Then I met Stormy Eaton who had a camp in Arizona called Super Camp. Suzanne had let me recruit by this time, and I thought a great way to go get Kim Arnold would be to have Stormy let me work his camp for free! He told me that "If I could find it, then I could work it". Well, I found it on my own dime, and that started another mentoring relationship that was hugely influential on me. In the process we also were able to sign Kim, which is one of my most memorable and exciting recruiting moments ever. Kids from that gym had always gone to Utah, so it was big to be able to go get her.

Suzanne began to give me more and more autonomy and responsibility even though my experience didn't really warrant it. For those many opportunities to grow, I will always be grateful to her. She saw my enthusiasm and allowed me to mature and make mistakes.

So from there it just continued to grow and grow. At one point I owned a private gym. We had kids make JO National Teams and go into college and continue their careers. That gym was successful primarily because of my wife Julie and my business partner Grant Coulter. They made that place go and we had about 9 awesome years together in that.

All the while I was continuing my career at UGA and loving every minute of coaching at my alma mater. Of course, we went on to win so many championships both Nationally and at the conference level, and it was an amazing time full of memories that I will never forget.

As they say, all good things come to an end and my career there was no different. That is a subject we could go on for hours about, but suffice to say it was one of the most painful periods of my life in many ways…which led me to LSU, and the absolute joy that I have found in being here with D-D and Bob and everyone here. This place is incredible, the people are incredible, and we are doing fantastic things here in Baton Rouge. Attendance has been as high at 13,000-plus and is averaging around 10,000. New facilities, great recruits and relationships here have rehabbed my confidence and enthusiasm for what it's all about.

PC: LSU Gymnastics

You are known for being a top recruiter in college sports. (Voted #9 in ESPN Magazine in 2011) What do you look for when recruiting athletes?

Well obviously in recruiting you are looking for the best talent available, but that doesn't always mean they are a fit. I also want to try and ascertain personality traits, work ethic, values from a standpoint of how they relate to their parents, coaches and teammates. Also, does their gymnastics complement areas where we are already strong and improve us where we may be weak? I like a team that has variety of skills, experience level and personality. Culture matters immensely, and we try to make that clear to recruits up front.

How would you describe your coaching style?

My coaching style is fun loving, consistency and efficiency oriented, easy going so long as the production is high. I like to tell the girls I am a mirror reflection of what you give. I like to know each gymnast on a personal level so that I can extend to them exactly what they need. I also believe in what one of my mentors taught me. "You can't respect someone you don't know." You can respect the position, but not the person. For that reason I think they also need to know us as human beings and not just coaches barking out orders. If they, as 18-22 year old young women, are to respect us, then we need to take the time to know each other and the how’s and why’s of each other. That’s very important to me. 

What are your thoughts on the trend of early recruiting and commitments? 

On the early recruiting, I despise it! It is no good for all parties concerned, and I have written and proposed legislation on it for 4 years now only to have it tabled. Our coaches association is in agreement that all unofficial visits (i.e. on or off campus contact) should not begin until September of the 11th grade year. However, until the NCAA changes it, the genie is out of the bottle, and we all have to play the game we are presented with. This is a subject you could do an entire blog on, and I could provide you a litany of reasons that it needs to change.

What are your thoughts on the yurchenko full being devalued? 

I agree with the changes on vault. I think what we saw from Bugs last week is a great example of why. That DTY would have never been seen if not for the rule change. Our sport is progressive by nature, and we had become stagnant on that event to a compulsory level. I think it was the right decision and hopefully will encourage variety as well as difficulty.

What are some of the highlights of your coaching career so far? 

I have had so many highlights in my career and am thankful for each one of them and the people involved. If I had to pick one, I would pick two! The 2005 National Championship was amazing because of the way it happened. It was a freshman-dependent team that went through real growing pains with four losses in a row and barely making nationals as the 12 seed. But those kids were special and were invested in one another. They actually are very similar to this team here at LSU this year!

The second would be last year, and we sold out the PMAC here at LSU. 13,179 people attended our meet versus Minnesota a week after 12,000+ had attended our home meet victory against Florida. It is so fun to see this happen here at LSU after seeing it happen at UGA 20 years ago. It's an exciting time to be at LSU!!

LSU had an amazing new training facility built, do you think that makes a difference in training?

We actually just got into the facility last month. We are just now making the adjustments to the new equipment, but the facility is fantastic. Facilities don't win championships by themselves, but they don't hurt! This is beyond a doubt the most spectacular facility in the nation. We are very fortunate and grateful, and every recruit in the world should come check it out just to see if LSU might be a possibility. It’s unbelievable!

PC: LSU Gymnastics

What are your thoughts on how the team is doing so far this season?

This season has been exactly as we thought it might: Amazing performance coupled with a few hiccups. We have 5 freshmen, upperclassmen in new roles, and have had some untimely injuries to start the season. However, I have rarely been more excited about a team over the last 26 years. If culture and love for one another won championships alone...we are already there, but we also have an enormous amount of talent and variety on this team that is rivaled by few. I think we are on the cusp of breaking out over the next few weeks and seeing things explode in a positive way. We love coaching this team!

LSU has improved tremendously over the last few years, do you think this year will finally be LSU's year to win a National Championship?

You are correct when you describe the growth here at LSU over the last several years. We have seen growth in our performance, our media exposure, our crowds, our overall footprint, and buzz about this program has increased exponentially! A lot of people have worked hard and gotten on board with our vision for this program. D-D is an iconic figure here in Baton Rouge, and I am enjoying seeing all her years of work come to fruition! She deserves it, and this program deserves it. As for winning a championship this year…I can tell you this: There are so many things that must fall into place for that to happen. It is something that we work for but cannot force, so I don't make predictions. I believe we have more than enough talent to do it. I believe in the culture of this team immensely. I believe in their heart and their desire, and I believe we are doing the right things so far. Will we win this year? Who knows? Why not us? But I know this! We are going to win one here at LSU at some point. That is what we are about, and that is what we want our recruits to desire when they come here. It's a special place full of special people all pulling in the same direction! When you have that great things are going to happen!

Interview: Greg Marsden

When it comes to college gymnastics, Greg Marsden is royalty. From its inception in the mid 70's until his retirement after the 2015 season, Greg coached the University of Utah Gymnastics team to a long list of accomplishments. For 40 years he lead the Red Rocks to success on the competition floor and in the stands. The Utes won 10 National Championships under his leadership and have the highest attendance record in all of women's collegiate sports. In 2009 they set a new average attendance record of 13,861 fans per meet. Their meet against Michigan last season had a record breaking 16,019 fans in the stands! They are also the only team to qualify to every single National Championships that has been held and they've never placed lower than 10th. After his 40th season of coaching, Greg announced his retirement, passing the torch to Tom Farden and his wife, Megan. Although he has retired from coaching, Greg is still very much involved with the sport. A few months after retiring he was hired as an analyst for Pac-12 Networks and can be heard commentating at several meets this season. Greg is also on Twitter sharing all his ideas and plenty of knowledge. (You can follow him by clicking here.) We recently caught up with Greg to reflect back on his coaching career, hear his thoughts on this season so far and hear his opinions on early recruiting and team success.

How did your coaching career begin? 
I was a diver at a small college in Arkansas and took a gymnastics class, because I thought it would help my diving. I wound up competing a little bit of low-level AAU gymnastics. After teaching high school for a year, I came to Utah to work on a graduate degree in Psychology of Sport, with the intention of teaching. As part of my graduate assistantship, I was teaching winter camping, lifesaving, handball and a gymnastics class. Title IX was requiring Universities to start varsity women's sports teams. I was asked if I would help start a gymnastics team. I was paid $1,500 and my budget included 5 in-state tuition waivers and $4,500. We put a notice in the student newspaper and held tryouts. Somehow, that first year, we qualified to Championships and finished 10th. I fell in love with coaching and the rest, as they say, is history.

Note in The Daily Utah Chronicle, fall of 1975

What would you consider to be some of the highlights of your coaching career? 

This is going to sound cornball but my entire career seems like a highlight reel. I've had too many great memories to single any out. 

Can you talk about making the decision to retire? Was it a difficult decision to make? 

No. I knew it was time to pass the torch on to a new generation of talented young coaches. I loved coaching, from day one, to the very last day of my career but somehow I just knew it was time for me to move on to new challenges. 

How are you enjoying life on the other side as a commentator and fan? I know the gymnastics world really loves reading your opinions on Twitter! 

I really had no ambition to be on TV but when the Pac-12 Networks called and said they thought I could bring a unique perspective, I agreed to give it a try. I'm not convinced I'll be any good at it but if not, I'll be happy to step away. The Pac-12 Networks actually encouraged me to get a Twitter account. I'm glad to hear that someone enjoys my thoughts. I'm excited about the number of programs that are working to improve their attendance and the number of live television broadcasts. I strongly believe that the future of NCAA Gymnastics is tied to attendance and television viewership. 

Utah has always been known for having a huge crowd at home meets. What can other teams do to get people interested and fill up those stands? 

First, create a fast moving, informative and entertaining meet format. If you get people to come and the format is not good, they will never be back. Then, it's hard work and more hard work. Get out into the community with your team to meet people, tell your story and get them to your meets. If they have a good experience, they will spread the word. Utah has been going to Elementary schools and professional organizations for more than 30 years and it continues to be the most important thing they do in order to develop new fans. Building an audience has to be a priority of the head coach. You cannot leave that to others, because they will never have the same passion for gymnastics or for your program that you do. If you look at the programs that are successful with their attendance, it's ALWAYS a priority of the head coach.

Having been the coach of a very successful team, what do you think are the key components for success? 

Well, that depends on your definition of success. I always thought of success as doing the best we could with the personnel we had, while developing strong, confident, independent young women. If we could do that, I considered the year to be a success. Sometimes that also translated in to success on the score sheet. For what it's worth, to me, it's always been about the process, rather than the outcome. If you have talent and the process is well thought out, implemented consistently, with discipline and enthusiasm, the outcome will take care of itself. With that approach, many teams have a chance for success and many young women will go to have successful lives, in part, as a result of their experience with gymnastics. 

What are some changes you would like to see made in NCAA gymnastics? 

• Add the directional and out of bounds lines to the vault landing area.
• Count all scores, with no exhibition routines.
• Whenever possible compete with two teams, but NEVER with more than four, including at NCAA Regional meets and NCAA Championships.
• Either do away with individual awards and become a "team sport" or bring back event finals.

What are your thoughts on the trend of early recruiting and commitments? 

One of the reasons I felt it was time to retire is that I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with where recruiting is going. To be a 65 year-old man talking to 12 or 13 year-old girls about recruiting, just seemed creepy. And the math just wasn't working out anymore, when it's going to be three or four years before they are even on campus and then have four years on the team...unless I was going to coach to 100! It's ridiculous that girls that young are making that type of commitment before they're really old enough to make an informed decision. It's forcing coaches to be disingenuous when they make commitments that they may or may not be able to keep. There are simply too many variables for this to be good for either side. But now that the genie is out of the bottle, it's hard to put it back, as both sides feel pressure to get this done. 

The only thing that I can see that MAY work, would be to allow NO INTERACTION between college coaches and recruits and their families until a certain time, such as their junior year of high school. That means, no correspondence, no phone calls, no unofficial visits, no incidental contact at clubs or meets and no working through the club coach to recruit somebody prior to their junior year. Whenever recruiting begins, the NCAA should allow universities to pay for official visits, so that families are no longer asked to pay for the gymnasts to visit campuses. In fact, they should also allow universities to pay for a parent to accompany the gymnast in order to cut down on some of the shenanigans that goes on during official visits.   

Who do you think will be the dark horses this season? 

I think LSU or Michigan have a chance to become the seventh school to win a NCAA Championship and I think Boise State may have a chance to make it to NCAA Championships. 

What are your overall thoughts on the NCAA season so far? What teams are you most impressed with? 

I am impressed that more teams are becoming competitive. How about George Washington! On a given night, many teams have a chance to upset higher ranked teams and we are already seeing that happen. Florida and Oklahoma seem to be the teams to beat but the season is young and there are a number of teams that may be capable of doing that. It's going to be a fun season of NCAA gymnastics and I look forward to watching it develop. 

Moving Forward | An interview with Hollie Dykes

If you were a gymnastics fan during the 2005-2008 Olympic quad then you probably have heard of Hollie Dykes. With her beauty, grace and perfect technique, Dykes was instantly a fan favorite and lauded as the next star for Australian Gymnastics. She was a true talent- the kind of gymnast you could watch all day long. Hollie broke out onto the international senior elite scene in 2006 when she won gold on floor at the Commonwealth Games as well as the gold medal with the Australian team. In addition to her two golds, Hollie won a silver on beam and a bronze in the all-around. As a member of the Pacific Alliance team she helped the Australians to a second place finish behind the United States as well as finishing third all-around. Hollie's world class beam work earned her a 16.0 in the team competition- the first time a score that high was awarded on beam under the open ended scoring system. Later that year, Hollie competed at the World Championships where the Australian team placed seventh. Individually she placed seventh all-around and was one of very few athletes to make it through the competition without a fall. Unfortunately mistakes kept Hollie out of the beam finals where she easily would have been a medal threat. Notably her score from the all-around final would have been good enough to win her the gold had she made event finals! After such a dominate year in 2006, things slowed down for Hollie in 2007 as she faced injuries. Dykes was a member of the 2007 Australian World's team which would be her final competition. The gymnastics world was shocked when Hollie announced her retirement from the sport in January of 2008, just months before the Olympic Games in Beijing. Although her career ended so soon, Hollie will forever be remembered for her beautiful gymnastics and poise. 

We were fortunate enough to chat with Hollie about her gymnastics career and see what she is up to today! 

How did you get started in gymnastics?
I started gymnastics at the age of 4 1/2. My mum took me just for a bit of fun being that I was so young.

Who were some of your idols or inspirations growing up?
I didn't have one that young- I was really just having fun, but as I got older, around my teenage years, my inspiration was my dad. He was a motocross rider and competed at a high level so I always looked up to him. My idols growing up were Lleyton Hewitt, Lilia Podkopayeva, and Michael Klim.

At what age did you realize you had the potential to go far in gymnastics?
I got moved into the elite stream at around age 6. My coaches saw my talent and moved me up quite quickly. I realized around age 7 when I got talent scouted by Ju-Ping Tian at the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) when my club, Gold Coast Gymnastics Club attended a competition there.

With the 2000 Olympics being held in Australia, you and a few other girls got to perform an exhibition routine in the Olympic arena. What was that like?
It was such an amazing experience. I still remember training so hard and practicing that routine in sync with the other girls to get it perfect. It was one of the best experiences and so inspiring to be able to meet gymnasts competing in the 2000 Olympics. I remember how excited we were to get their autographs on our t-shirts, we were in awe! Also, whenever I hear Vanessa Amorosi's song "Shine" it brings it all back to me as this was the opening song to the ceremony. It is the best feeling.



You were always known for your grace and beautiful lines, did you ever have any dance training? 
No, I didn't have any formal training. Most of my gymnastics training was from the Chinese and I found they spent more time with us doing basics and quality control, Ju-Ping Tian was a major part of my quality basics and clean lines. We did do ballet everyday from around 8 years old which definitely gave us a strong foundation.

What would you consider the highlight of your gymnastics career? 
The highlight of my career is hard to pinpoint to one thing. The 2006 Pacific Alliance in Hawaii was such a highlight. I was at my peak and I medaled on the podium with Chellsie [Memmel] and Nastia [Liukin]. I had also scored the first 16.0 on beam ever in the new code which I will never forget. The 2006 Commonwealth Games was something I will never forget and gave me extra experience and confidence for my career. Lastly, the 2007 Worlds in Denmark, finishing 7th all-around was definitely a highlight. All of these experiences had their ups and downs, but they are what I remember the most and I'm most proud of.



What was your favorite part about gymnastics? 
My favorite part was pushing myself and working with my coaches to reach a goal, training hard then showing what you can do in a competition. The traveling part was awesome too, I never got sick of it!

What was your least favorite part about gymnastics? 
My least favorite part was probably being held back by injuries and not being able to push your body to where you wanted to be. Also, the sacrifice you have to make in order to be successful, nothing else matters in gymnastics. It was quite challenging through the teenage years with body changes, injuries, hormones, etc.

Your retirement came as as surprise to many. Can you talk about what went into making that decision? 
Yes it did come as a shock to many. I think it had been leading up to that point. I had been injured for quite some time and the coaching structure had changed dramatically. I was not happy and I was taking my attitude to the gym with me. I also struggled communicating my feelings which made it that much harder. Everything had built up and I had had enough. I was also starting to focus less and was bringing fear to my training which isn't safe. I lost my ambition and was put in a place where I did not want to continue. All in all, it was a build up of frustration from injuries, fitness levels, coaching staff and changes.

Was it hard to move on? 
It was one of the hardest times in my life and to be honest, I have only just found peace and "normality" in the last few years. I struggled adjusting to everyday life- not having a specific goal and training everyday to reach that goal. Finding a path in life, changes in my body, learning how to eat well and properly, and letting go of the only thing you know...it is such a difficult time for elite athletes. It took me a long time to accept myself and not regret retiring when I did. I kept saying I should have done this or I should have done that, but I realized that I retired for a reason, I was at the lowest point mentally and could not continue, so I did what I thought was best at the time. It is easy to say now that I should have done this or I should have done that, but I was a different person then and I hadn't matured enough to take control of the situation. If I hadn't of went through of all that, I wouldn't be who I am today and I love who I am today and what I have experienced. I am very blessed and grateful.

Do you stay involved with gymnastics at all today? 
Not anymore. I did coach for a while and absolutely loved every minute of it! I did however need to move on and was struggling to do that properly in the gym. I still watch videos here and there and love seeing what everyone is up to. Maybe one day I will return to coaching!

What are your thoughts on the current state of Australian gymnastics? 
To be honest, I don't actually follow it enough to comment. However, I think Australian Gymnastics has the potential to rise further and further with the up and coming development programs. It's also amazing to see the veterans continuing with their passion. It has definitely changed a lot since I was training in terms of age and the benefit of being that little bit older. I think maturity is a huge part of succeeding in the sport, which is why I think we have seen more success from the more experienced girls. Also, being that little bit older helps as you know exactly what you want. You push your body because you want it! I must say I love following Larrissa [Miller], she is an inspiration to so many. I hope Australian Gymnastics can continue to rise.

What is the best piece of advice you've been given? 
The best piece of advice I was given would have to of been: compete the way you train and take one step at a time. Enjoy everything you do and once that stops then it's time to find a new passion.

Looking back now, what advice would you have given your younger self? 
The advice I would have given to my younger self would be live in the moment, not the past, not the present, but now. Don't worry what people think about you, just do what makes you happy, you will still be loved and accepted. We all make mistakes and that's what makes you stronger! Life is about challenges and learning about yourself, not pleasing people all the time. Lastly, rather than aiming to be perfect, aim to be better than yesterday!

What have you been up to lately? 
I am very happy and grateful for the life I have and I'm so lucky to have such amazing people in my life. I wouldn't be in the place I am now if it wasn't for my fabulous fiance, we recently got engaged and had a beautiful son last year who we are absolutely in love with. My fiance is with [Australian Government Department of Defence] so we are currently posted interstate and moving again in June. I am not currently working, however, I am looking to go back in July. I have not decided what my next career move will be, whether or not I will go back into Real Estate or pursue a new career, I will wait to see what happens and follow my passion. I am enjoying my time at home with my son and making the most of it while I can!