New UCLA coach Janelle McDonald has gone back to basics, emphasizing fundamentals and fun as she helps rebuild the elite Bruins program.
New UCLA gymnastics coach Janelle McDonald sat down for an exclusive interview with the Los Angeles Times. Here’s what she said about her new job.“Whenever you’re struggling on anything, in life or in sport,” McDonald said, “you want to go back to the basics.”
With Olympians and All-Americans, UCLA’s talent was never in question. It was just a matter of which team would show up during each competition. Scores started at a season-opening 194.85, the worst team total since 2015, and built toward an encouraging 197.65 in a tight rivalry meet against Utah on Feb. 4. Two weeks later, the team stumbled to a 195.475 against Arizona before recovering with a 198.05, the best score since 2019, two weeks later.
The demands on McDonald are never-ending. Her mind is always racing, although it’s rarely about technical gymnastics skills anymore. Planning moments together outside of the gym has been intentional by both the coaches and the gymnasts. The cracks in UCLA’s famously joyful culture exposed last year after controversy surrounding how the previous coaching staff handledCampbell and roommate Katie McNamara hosted a team lunch the day before UCLA’s preseason exhibition meet, the first in a new tradition for home meets.
“I hope they will see how connected the team is,” McDonald said of what she wanted fans to see from the Bruins, “and I hope that they start to see the gymnastics that they’ve always grown to love from UCLA.”The legacy of UCLA gymnastics and the standard of championships within the athletic department demand success. Since women’s gymnastics joined the NCAA in 1982, UCLA had missed the national meet as a team only three times before the current lull.
“I want to just entertain as many people as I can and I want to be the most memorable,” Frazier said. “I really don’t care about winning.”
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