Gymnasts Struggle On Without Coach

In the spring of 1969, gymnast Brian Eisenberg was quoted as saying, "You can have the best equipment in the world but it will just rot without a coach."

Last week gymnast Ken Mendez '82 said, "We improved a lot over the year and went into the Ivies [Ivy League Championships] feeling great. But when we got there we saw how much the other teams had improved because they had coaches."

And when the Harvard Gymnastics Club finished sixth in varsity competition at the New England Regional Gymnastics Championship two weeks ago, no one other than a few relatives and friends was there to applaud the club's best performance in its latest incarnation.

Not much changes at Harvard.

The club now, as then, is made up of a small core of dedicated gymnasts who practice up to three hours a day, five days a week in cramped quarters in Hemenway gym.

Because it has no coach and little money, the club runs on the efforts of all of its members, and the club's informal training manual reminds the gymnasts to "take care of yourself--this is a small team, and you are important."

But the real "tiger in the tank" that keeps the club active is Todd Morrison '81, club president, who began in 1977 to rebuild the team, which had been defunct for three years. Ron Kayten, director of the recreational gymnastics program, said yesterday. Floyd Wilson, director of intramurals and club sports, yesterday praised Morrison's "tremendous energy and drive" which has enabled him to build a team.

The club is, in fact, a curious combination of a club and a team. Although they lack varsity status--and, therefore, a coach--the gymnasts compete regularly in varsity competition with other Ivy League schools and in general meets.

Many varsity teams refuse to compete against "just a club," Wilson said, adding that the athletic department's tight budget will prevent a significant change in the near future.

The hybrid club/team suffers as much from inadequate facilities as from the absence of a coach. An exhibition fund-raiser the gymnasts gave for the Harvard Club of New York last spring earned them more than $3000, most of which they spent quickly on new equipment.

But that hasn't solved the problem of cramped quarters. Wilson said that the club's equipment takes up too much space in the gym. As it stands now, the club has no room to spread out a full-floor mat and so must practice floor exercises on narrow strips of matting.

Ironically, the club has recently scored best on the floor and reached a peak when freshman Paul Mehlman placed second in the event at the New England Championships two weeks ago.

Despite its disadvantages, club status does afford gymnasts freedom and an informal atmosphere, Morrison said. "We would like to have the coach, the gym and the freedom all together, but we know that that's unrealistic," he added.

Co-ed membership is another benefit of the club status, and even though the men are in the majority, attention is paid to the women as well. The New England Regional Championship is a men's competition.

College-level gymnastics for women has other frustrations. "At this age level the men tend to be better than the women," Mendez said, adding. "Women star at 12, 13, 14. Then the men become stronger." Cathy Young '84, one of two female freshmen in the club, added. "Many women start in clubs at age eight and then move on to schools with varsity programs. At Harvard many come from the less intense world of high school, and here they just have club-level training."

Training responsibilities have to be shared among the team members, and the best in each event aids the others as best he can. In a pinch, Morrison has taken over all of the coaching duties as well as keeping up his organizational role.

But Morrison is graduating this spring, and the fate of Harvard gymnastics will rest with the other members of the club. As Kayten said yesterday, Morrison "is a unique person because he was willing to spend the time to run the club. Now he's going--so we don't know what will happen."