BERKELEY, Calif. – Cal men’s gymnastics head coach Brett McClure is entering his second season at the helm after a solid season in 2014. With the gymnastics season kicking things off on Saturday at Haas Pavilion when the No. 8 Bears host the No. 4 Stanford Cardinal, CalBears.com sat down with McClure for this edition of Coaches Corner.
CalBears.com: What is the most rewarding part of being a collegiate coach?
Brett McClure: “Just to be able to help these young men with their academics and their athletic career is awesome to witness during this time period because this is when they are growing the most. They are the strongest they will ever be during this period of time and they are just learning so much about themselves, both inside and outside of the gym. They are learning about who they are, what they want to do, what their career is going to be and it is just extremely gratifying to know that you have a very large impact on hopefully the direction of their life and what they are going to do.”
CB: What are some of the unique benefits to coaching at a strong academic institution like Cal?
BM: “One of the more unique benefits is that there is such a strong alumni base that has this network of resources available to any newcomers that come in and are maybe starting a similar career-path. There are 104 years of history of Cal men’s gymnastics and there are so many successful people out there in the real world that are still actively participating in the program in some shape or form. You’ve got doctors, lawyers, start-up gurus, CEO’s and really anyone you could think of, coming into the gym on a regular basis. Not a lot of institutions can say that, and this is a very unique place. It is very prestigious and those who have come from Cal have a very large impact on our society, which is pretty awesome.”
CB: There are five new faces on the roster for 2015, what types of things can we expect from them?
BM: “It’s very exciting. We have a very young team with no seniors, no fifth years and a lot of juniors. A lot of our experience is coming from that group, as well as the sophomores. The freshmen really have no idea what to expect, so it’s kind of exciting to see them get an opportunity to compete at the college level. It is going to be a little bit of a struggle and a challenge at times, but that is just part of the process. Usually some teams have those seniors to kind of lean on a little bit, to walk the younger guys through the first couple of meets. But here, you don’t really have that, so you have to learn on your own. In some sense, that’s going to make them stronger by facing the challenges head on. We as a team realize that there are going to be some mistakes along the way, but as long as we keep that perspective of learning and growing, the future is looking really bright for this team.”
CB: Is there anyone in particular who has stood out thus far?
BM: “Out of the five freshmen, we have a couple guys that are contributing in the all-around, a couple that are contributing in four events, and one guy competing in one or two events, so it is a well-balanced class, I believe. Yordan Aleksandrov, a local guy, just competed at the World Championships in Nanning, China for the second time, which was awesome. He has a lot more experience than the rest of the class, but the same amount to learn when it comes to collegiate gymnastics as the others.”
CB: You touched on the juniors being a key component to the composition of the team, specifically there is a trio that showed extremely well last year. What can fans look for from the junior class in 2015?
BM: “It’s going to be an exciting year. One of those three, Ryan Patterson, competed at the World Championships as well in Nanning for South Africa. He had the best showing that South Africa has ever had at a World Championship by any individual, so that was incredible. Kyle (Zemeir) and Kevin (Wolting) are both looking very strong in the all-around as well, so if we get all of those guys at 100%, which is hard to do nowadays in this sport, it’s going to awesome to see. They do a great job feeding off of each other’s energy and build momentum off of hits. We should expect some pretty exciting performances from that group throughout the year.”
CB: You used to be an assistant at Stanford, so this meet to open the season is extra exciting for you. What does opening your year with a rival mean to you, especially one that you have history with?
BM: “It’s really tough because you know you have had a hand in both programs. The rivalry itself might be a little more watered down for me personally, but it is very real amongst some of the alumni and fans on both sides. I don’t think about it that way. I go out there and we try to focus on ourselves, which is all we can control. We will look at our hits and misses and do what we can do to help each other get through and we will see what happens at the end of the day. That said, it is still very exciting, it is always great to see the Blue and Gold against the red on the same floor. It’s got to be more exciting for the fans because they know what this rivalry is all about. As far as on the competition floor, we are strictly focused on ourselves.”
