Lindenwood Lions : Fast Facts with Daniela Fumagalli

Property of Lions Gymnastics

Gym: Aerial Athletics in San Antonio, TX

Coaches:  Ryan Snider, Heather Schnelzer & Lauren Schwartzman 

Intended Major: Pre-med or Biology 

Event She'll Contribute Most on: Bars 

Most Difficult Skills she's Competing:  Giant Full-Tkachev 

4 words her coaches would use to describe her:  "Enthusiastic, Hard-Working, Caring, Motivating" 

Proudest Moment in Gymnastics: Earning 4th place All Around at 2011 Texas States with a 38.05 AA Score. 

Why Lindenwood?: "Gretchen seemed like not only an awesome coach, but an amazing person as well. I feel as though she can help me get to where I want to be in this sport. Also, being the first class in the first gymnastics program is so exciting; I can't wait to establish new traditions and hopefully a legacy!"

What she hopes to accomplish while at Lindenwood: "I want to reach my full potential on every event, and I want to leave Lindenwood knowing that I worked as hard as I could to be the best I could be. I hope to contribute team spirit and leadership qualities, I hope to be a good teammate, and a reliable competitor."

What Gretchen says: "Dani is a very hardworking and driven person. I hope she can bring leadership to the team in that area." 

Fun Fact: "I speak spanish fluently, my mother is from mexico, and we lived there for four years when we were younger."




Here's Daniela in action in December of 2010:

Do you have a story to share?

Property of the Hall Family

Lindenwood head coach, Gretchen Goerlitz bases her training with the philosophy that her athletes are young women first and gymnasts second. In an effort to convey that attitude more on my blog, I wanted to start a new feature involving human interest stories.

If you're a gymnast, coach, parent or even a fan, and have a story to tell that in anyway involves gymnastics, I'd love to hear it, and possibly post it with or without your name attached.

The good, the bad; the ugly, the inspiring; all of it, goes along gymnastics. It's relevant to the gymnastics world.

The closest thing that I can give you to an example blog is a post by Pua Hall that I facilitated posting on IGF a few years ago after she and her family expressed the desire to tell her story with health challenges. You can read a copy of the post on her official website.

It can be anything: nothing's too big or too small. If you have a story to tell, please, share it.

You can use the Contact Me page, or try to initiate contact on Twitter.

Lindenwood Lions - Meet Head Coach Gretchen Goerlitz

With a soft Rhonda Faehn-esque look, a fun attitude and an unrivaled passion for gymnastics, Lindenwood head coach Gretchen Goerlitz is exactly who you'd picture when imagining a college coach. Despite her youth, Gretchen's take on coaching seems very much like what you see with some of the nation's top college coaches.

Gretchen Goerlitz competed on the club scene as a level 10 gymnast for 7 years with Oshkosh gymnastics and while she considered going elite, her parents wanted to "keep her a well rounded person" and so she stayed a JO gymnast. After graduating high school, Gretchen competed for Utah State for a year before transferring to the University of Denver, most famously the home of Olympian Jessica Lopez. She earned her degree in Cognitive Neuroscience.

"Coming from club, no way would I have wanted to coach," Goerlitz said. "It really was my experience at Denver that lead me into wanting to see if maybe this was something I wanted to do."

Inspired by her University of Denver coaches she went on to work as a graduate assistant and co-choreographer at Texas Women's and earned her Masters in Exercise Physiology before becoming the head coach at Centenary College.

In her first year at Centenary, the administration informed Gretchen that the gymnastics program would be cut the following year. Shocked, she developed a portfolio fighting to maintain the program and eventually won the hearts and minds of the athletic directors. After a turbulent two years, she made the move to develop Lindenwood's new program.

As I spoke with Gretchen about her aspirations for Lindenwood, her demeanor changed. You could see the passion in her eyes about these girls, about the program.
"I want to see what they're out doing in the world after this ... I want to watch them soar."
She went on to tell me about her coaching philosophy.
"What my philosophy is as a coach is to care about them as people before athletes," she told me. She didn't seem to refer to her athletes as "gymnasts" but as people and "girls". She spoke about their futures, their health and their goals.

She also, of course, seemed passionate about about the program's future as well.
"In the first 3 years I want to win USAG Collegiate Nationals and in the First 5 Years I want to be the first Division II team to qualify to NCAA Regionals."

"There's no ceiling. Anything that we do is going to be the first here."

6 Gifts I'd Like to Give this Season

 

I'd like to give a class with a legitimate dance instructor on turns to the US National Team. We can exclude Vega, Maroney, Wieber and maybe a few of the juniors, but many of these girls SERIOUSLY need to clean up their turns! 

I'd like to give Vanessa Ferrari a long sleeved leo. Any long sleeved leo, as long as she promises to wear it in the AA/Event Finals of her next international competition. I don't know if she's more comfortable in short sleeves, but it drives me crazy! 

I'd like to give Lindenwood Head Coach Gretchen Goerlitz the perfect addition to her 2012 recruiting class. She's still looking for 2-4 recruits that she can add to her lineup. Could it be you? Fill out the recruiting questionnaire!  

This gift is courtesy of Jessica (@bportgym1). She had the idea to give Katelyn Ohashi a book on Chinese Ethics, hopefully coercing her onto the Olympic Team! :) 

I'd like to give Marta Karolyi 15 Plane Tickets to anywhere outside of the US to use before July 1st. Hopefully she can send some people to international assignments!  

Many of you gave your opinion about what to give Komova! (There are actually too many to mention, but nearly all of these are from you all!) I decided to give her a bathroom cabinet... complete with advil for her "sore loser", caffeine pills, hair conditioner, and for good measure, although it wouldn't be in a bathroom cabinet, an ice cream sundae! 

What gifts would you like to give this season?

(Photos property of AP, Getty Images, Couch Gymnast, GK, USAG)

5 Eclectic Thoughts for a Chilly Saturday Afternoon

So I had some random things that I wanted to share today. Here are the 5 eclectic thoughts thoughts that I had on this chilly Saturday afternoon!

1. I spent yesterday afternoon with Gretchen Goerlitz, head coach at Lindenwood University. It really is going to be a phenomenal program which she has some magnificent plans for. I'll be covering many aspects of their program after the first of the year and will continue coverage at least through the end of their first season.

I've got to say, this is history! The gymnastics community should celebrate the fact that for the first time in 10 years, a new gymnastics program is emerging into the NCAA.

I'd love if you'd follow their Twitter & Facebook pages, so you can be part of the history that is being made! Write about it, Talk about it, Tweet about it, Blog about it! Let's celebrate the fact that there's another gymnastics program to enjoy!

2. I'm glad people liked the Test Event Video! (Yes, it was mine!) For the record, I adore Brandie Jay and all of the jokes in this video were all meant in good fun! :) I apologize if anyone was offended.

3. If you're not watching Ginnaste, you really should be. It's like Make it or Break it, but it's less awful, no one's pregnant and the show actually documents the lives of Italian National Team Members.

4. From tomorrow until January 1st, I'll be doing holiday blogs every day. Although "the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear", I decided that blogging would be a better option. Keep your eyes out for these special blogs. All of the weekly blogs ("Day in the Life", "Fresh Face Friday" etc) will resume January 2nd.

5. You all are fabulous. I can't believe we've been live for under 2 months and the blog almost is up to 100,000 hits. Keep sending your ideas, suggestions and comments to me. Nearly all of the planned content (not news) has been influenced by your ideas. Keep on sending them, because I really couldn't do it without you. I would love to hear literally any ideas that you have.

The Lindenwood Lions - About the Program

A few months ago, I was pleased to find out that a new NCAA Eligible Gymnastics team would be launched near my hometown of St. Louis, MO. Lindenwood University, a private liberal arts college based in "Judeo-Christian Values", will begin its new gymnastics program in the 2012-2013 school year.

Get a Grip will be following the Lady Lions through their inaugural year, beginning now, working to learn more about the program, its coaches and its recruits all the way through the conclusion their 2013 season, and possibly even beyond!

I recently spoke with the head coach of the Lindenwood Lions, Gretchen Goerlitz, who competed for Utah State & University of Denver, was later a graduate coaching assistant at Texas Women's University and went on to coach Centenary College's Division III Team.

(Property of Gretchen Goerlitz)

Coming from Centenary, how did you make the decision to move to Lindenwood to build a program from the bottom up? 
"When I heard there was a university adding the sport of gymnastics I was immediately fascinated and excited.  I became enthralled with the idea of being able to be a part of making history for the sport of gymnastics. Growing the sport is something that I am completely passionate about; to be able to increase the opportunities for young women and give them a positive experience to help prepare each student-athlete for the battles of life is an incredible gift that inspires me.  The actual decision to leave Centenary and pursue the journey at Lindenwood University was one of faith.  I believe that all my past experiences have prepared me for this next challenge – and because of that , this is where I am supposed to be and what I am supposed to be doing.  I have faith that I am prepared for it and that I am the right leader for the job."

How does a coach begin to recruit gymnasts to a program without any history what so ever? 

"Just like anything, you begin with the end in mind and take it one step at a time to reach your end goals!  After the school announced the addition of the program there was a trickle of interest and I began from there, from answering all the emails and phone calls that I received and it has continued to gain momentum from there!  When it’s time to make a decision of what girls are the perfect fit for this program, I look at the end goal of where I want this program to be in five years and get my answer from that.  As a whole, I think the more we can promote the addition of a gymnastics program at a university the better off our sport is going to be.  I hope this will be a springboard for other schools to add gymnastics. I am looking at this as a building process as something that will benefit the entire sport of gymnastics and those involved in it.  Going into club gyms is great exposure and once recruits come onto campus they really feel and understand the excitement and uniqueness of Lindenwood University and the opportunity that there is here.  After an offer is made, it really comes down to the type of person that I am recruiting for them to make a decision.  I look for girls that are inspired by challenges and who thrive in an environment where hard work and great team chemistry is the norm.  I pay close attention to the character of each girl. I try to fit them all together like puzzle pieces to ensure we have a phenomenal environment where we can have fun, grow together, and push each other on a daily basis."

What should draw gymnasts looking for a school to Lindenwood both academically and athletically? 

"Lindenwood University offers a first class education of a small private school with the amenities of a larger university.  Our class sizes do not exceed 35 students, with the average ratio being 17:1 yet we have 27 NCAA sports, excellent facilities, and 84 programs of study that are offered at the undergraduate level.  What’s different about us is that we are in a building phase rather than a maintenance phase.  Many schools are scaling back on programs and resources and we are actually on the other end of the spectrum.   There is an excitement here with all the growth and there is an expectation for greatness.  We are in an ideal location – 10 miles from an international airport, in a safe community yet close to a big city – there is always something going on and definitely something for everyone, and we reside in the middle of the country making team travel convenient!  The athletic department as a whole is on a mission for greatness and the gymnastics program is going to be a great addition to that quest for success.  Being a spectator sport located in the St. Louis metro area I believe we will have fantastic fans and support.  I expect the team to grow into a close knit family unit. We get to be the history makers; it’s going to be quite the ride!"

Lindenwood is still looking for 2 recruits for its first season, so if you're looking to become involved in college gymnastics and you think that Lindenwood could be a good fit for you, fill out their recruiting questionnaire!

Next stop on this feature, we'll be talking to many of the recruits on Lindenwood's Squad, as well as showing you the inside of their gymnastics facility.