MGoBlue.com Summer Sessions: Head Coach Kurt Golder
7/26/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
July 26, 2011
Each weekday in the month of July, MGoBlue.com will feature an interview with a U-M head coach. Tuesday's (July 26) first interview with the gymnastics coaches is with men's coach Kurt Golder, who talks about the importance of summer training, a strong recruiting class, and a quick overhaul of the practice facility prior to camp.
What makes the summer in men's gymnastics so unique?
We are the kind of sport that if you want to be on top, you have to train throughout the summer. We run voluntary practice Monday through Friday, and we usually average three-quarters of the team on campus at a given time. If they aren't training here, they're training back at home. And if they aren't doing that, they probably aren't in the lineup next year.
Why are the summer months so important to the development of the team?
We're a sport that's improving all the time. Some sports you come in and reach your peak when you're one of the best kids in America, and you just maintain that level throughout college. But in our sport, we develop new skills as we go along all the time, and so in the summer, that is your opportunity to improve and make a move on your competition. You can come in at one level, and if you don't train that summer, and everyone else does, you're getting passed by.
What do you see as the team's biggest strength heading into next season?
Certainly having Sam Mikulak returning as the NCAA all-around champion is huge. He'll be a sophomore this season. We've also secured four of the top five high school kids in the nation. I'm really looking forward to next year, and the next couple of years.
What was your first summer job? And where?
Well, I worked summer jobs way back in high school, but collegiately, it was when I was coaching at Ann Arbor Huron. I worked a summer camp up in Traverse City. It's been gymnastics all summer pretty much all my life.
Do you or did you have any special travel plans this summer?
My daughter is a junior in high school and she was enrolled in a summer program at Cornell. I went to pick her up.
Since your season ended, tell us one unique thing you have done?
We hosted the Region V camp two weeks ago, and four days before we were hosting, we found out we had water in three of the four pits in the gym. There was the chance of mildew and kids getting sick, so we scrambled to get the foam out of the pits. If you looked on Friday at our gym, you'd think there's no way these guys are going to host a camp on Sunday, but we made it happen. We pulled a lot of strings and called in some favors, but we got the gym torn apart and put back together, and it looked perfect.
Past MGoBlue.com Summer Sessions
• Head Ice Hockey Coach Red Berenson (July 25)
• Head Women's Tennis Coach Ronni Bernstein (July 22)
• Head Field Hockey Coach Marcia Pankratz (July 22)
• Head Women's Basketball Coach Kevin Borseth (July 21)
• Head Men's Lacrosse Coach John Paul (July 20)
• Head Wrestling Coach Joe McFarland (July 19)
• Head Women's Track & Field Coach James Henry (July 19)
• Head Women's Golf Coach Cheryl Stacy (July 18)
• Head Rowing Coach Mark Rothstein (July 15)
• Head Women's Swimming Coach Jim Richardson (July 14)
• Head Volleyball Coach Mark Rosen (July 13)
• Head Men's Soccer Coach Steve Burns (July 12)
• Head Women's Cross Country Coach Mike McGuire (July 11)
• Head Men's Cross Country Coach Alex Gibby (July 11)
• Head Women's Soccer Coach Greg Ryan (July 8)
• Head Men's Tennis Coach Bruce Berque (July 7)
• Head Men's Track & Field Coach Fred LaPlante (July 6)
• Head Water Polo Coach Matt Anderson (July 5)
• Head Men's Swimming & Diving Coach Mike Bottom (July 1)
