By Craig Morgan, special to TheSunDevils.com
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Beka Conrad has set a goal to compete on the balance beam at the NCAA Regionals in April in Seattle, despite a nagging shoulder injury that limits her training.
"For me, it's definitely mind over matter," the Sun Devil senior gymnast said.
First-year head coach Jay Santos loves Conrad's conviction, but he also loves another role that Conrad has embraced whole-heartedly this season alongside junior Nichelle Christopherson: team leader for the 14 freshmen or sophomores that populate ASU's 16-gymnast roster.
"I've been talking with our sports psychologist about it and I guess my role is to be the mama bear or mama goose, taking them under my wings," Conrad said, laughing. "It's actually not a challenge at all. I think it's so much fun. I like being in that role with people looking up to me and looking for comfort or guidance."
Sun Devil gymnastics will open a new chapter when it competes in its first meet of the season against Iowa State on Jan. 6 in Ames, Iowa. The opening competition comes after nearly four months of practice to absorb the different philosophies and methods of a new coaching staff, build camaraderie and instill a confidence base in a host of student-athletes with little or no collegiate competition experience.
"We've got lots of talent on the team and kids that can do the job," Santos said. "With the [eight] freshmen, they're just going to face that learning curve and see how quickly they can adjust and adapt to new situations and being in much bigger competitive environments than they're used to from the club level -- going against these big-time teams in the Pac-12 and nationally."
With gymnastics allowed more preseason practice time than other NCAA sports, Santos believes he has a pretty good handle on his team's abilities. He has also had help implementing new techniques and practice habits from associate head coach and wife Jessica Santos, assistant coach Stephen Buckner, who spent five years on the coaching staff of national power Alabama, and volunteer assistant coach Maggie Ethier.
"We're a sport that's so much about repetition," he said. "There is no offense or defense. We're not scheming against other teams, trying to take away their best player. For us, it's just about the performance.
"I don't know how much more ready we're going to get until we're competing and we can see what they're about in that environment."
Santos admitted there will always be tweaks in technique when a new coaching staff comes in, but even his freshmen have absorbed a great deal of instruction at the club levels so he is hesitant to institute complete overhauls.
"The name of the game is to get technique and performance as strong as possible. With everybody in the gym, we're taking the skill they already have and morphing it into how we like to see it and then maybe cleaning it up that little bit more," he said. " Every once in a while, you have to scrap a skill but for most of the kids it's about striving to make those changes over time and make little improvements."
Santos and Conrad know the 2017 Sun Devils will be a work in progress, but all the changes have them energized.
"The thing I would stress to my teammates is knowing their own strengths," Conrad said. "Sometimes they forget that they are all here for a reason and every one of them brings a different aspect to the team. Some bring strength, some bring confidence, some bring competency in a skill or event and some bring power. Every girl is a puzzle piece and without them all we can't complete the puzzle."
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Beka Conrad has set a goal to compete on the balance beam at the NCAA Regionals in April in Seattle, despite a nagging shoulder injury that limits her training.
"For me, it's definitely mind over matter," the Sun Devil senior gymnast said.
First-year head coach Jay Santos loves Conrad's conviction, but he also loves another role that Conrad has embraced whole-heartedly this season alongside junior Nichelle Christopherson: team leader for the 14 freshmen or sophomores that populate ASU's 16-gymnast roster.
"I've been talking with our sports psychologist about it and I guess my role is to be the mama bear or mama goose, taking them under my wings," Conrad said, laughing. "It's actually not a challenge at all. I think it's so much fun. I like being in that role with people looking up to me and looking for comfort or guidance."
Sun Devil gymnastics will open a new chapter when it competes in its first meet of the season against Iowa State on Jan. 6 in Ames, Iowa. The opening competition comes after nearly four months of practice to absorb the different philosophies and methods of a new coaching staff, build camaraderie and instill a confidence base in a host of student-athletes with little or no collegiate competition experience.
"We've got lots of talent on the team and kids that can do the job," Santos said. "With the [eight] freshmen, they're just going to face that learning curve and see how quickly they can adjust and adapt to new situations and being in much bigger competitive environments than they're used to from the club level -- going against these big-time teams in the Pac-12 and nationally."
With gymnastics allowed more preseason practice time than other NCAA sports, Santos believes he has a pretty good handle on his team's abilities. He has also had help implementing new techniques and practice habits from associate head coach and wife Jessica Santos, assistant coach Stephen Buckner, who spent five years on the coaching staff of national power Alabama, and volunteer assistant coach Maggie Ethier.
"We're a sport that's so much about repetition," he said. "There is no offense or defense. We're not scheming against other teams, trying to take away their best player. For us, it's just about the performance.
"I don't know how much more ready we're going to get until we're competing and we can see what they're about in that environment."
Santos admitted there will always be tweaks in technique when a new coaching staff comes in, but even his freshmen have absorbed a great deal of instruction at the club levels so he is hesitant to institute complete overhauls.
"The name of the game is to get technique and performance as strong as possible. With everybody in the gym, we're taking the skill they already have and morphing it into how we like to see it and then maybe cleaning it up that little bit more," he said. " Every once in a while, you have to scrap a skill but for most of the kids it's about striving to make those changes over time and make little improvements."
Santos and Conrad know the 2017 Sun Devils will be a work in progress, but all the changes have them energized.
"The thing I would stress to my teammates is knowing their own strengths," Conrad said. "Sometimes they forget that they are all here for a reason and every one of them brings a different aspect to the team. Some bring strength, some bring confidence, some bring competency in a skill or event and some bring power. Every girl is a puzzle piece and without them all we can't complete the puzzle."