A lot of friends have been tagging me in videos of UCLA Senior, Katelyn Ohashi’s floor routine over the last two weeks. I love that they are doing that, not because I hadn’t seen the routine (I’d posted it the day after she debuted it at their first meet on 4th Jan), but because it meant that my friends are getting excited about gymnastics.
I’ve been a long time fan of UCLA Gymnastics. When I was a youth worker, a few young people asked me about this hoodie that I often wore while working at the youth drop-in nights. There’s a story behind it that really only Miss Val (Head Coach of UCLA) knows.
In the USA collegiate sports is watched as much as football is in the UK, young people can earn scholarships to compete for university teams while earning their degree. Given the cost of university education in the USA, you can see why people do it. And for female gymnasts who often have to retire by the time they are as young as 20, it is a chance to find joy in the sport again. And that has certainly been Katelyn’s story.
The UCLA Head Coach was never a gymnast herself. She was a professional ballet dancer, and found her way into the sport playing the piano at a gymnastics club so young gymnasts could practise their floor routines. She then began helping choreograph their routines. And then found herself as an assistant coach at UCLA and worked her way up. Miss Val’s routines have always been iconic, and there are many well known routines remembered by UCLA fans.
So of course, just in case you’ve been hiding under a rock this week, I wanted you to see Katelyn’s routine. But I also want to give you the chance to see some of my favourite UCLA routines…
Angi Cipra’s ‘iPhone’ routine
Sophina DeJesus’ HipHop routine
Sadiqua Bynum performing an Onnie Willis legacy routine*
*Legacy routines are when a gymnast performs a routine originally created for and performed by an UCLA Gymnastics alum. They won’t be performed exactly the same, as there’ll always be small changes made to make the routine fit the style of the gymnast competing it.
Sydney Sawa’s ‘alien battle’ routine
Gracie Kramer’s Harley Quinn routine
…ok. There’s just so many great UCLA floor routines, that really only scratches the surface. Anyway, I hope you enjoy if you watch them!