Along with building a solid foundation of strength, flexibility, balance and self discipline, gymnastics can also serve as an excellent springboard to college. 

College entrance can be challenging. Having the support of an experienced and a well connected coach can make the difference. 

Azarian US Gymnastics Training Center is proud to have highly experienced coaches, one of whom is well connected with top colleges and the US Gymnastics Governing Bodies. Tim Klempnauer has served as president of the USA Men's Gymnastics Coaching Association and served on the USA Gymnastics Board of Directors and the USA Junior Olympic program committee.

Under his guidance and with his industry contacts, athletes who have trained at Azarian Gymnastics have been given the excellent visibility and have been offered scholarships to the top colleges across the country.

PERSONAL STORIES

Sean Reilly
Ohio State University Men's Gymnastics Team

I have been competing in gymnastics since I was 7 years old.  Now I'm 20 and am on The Ohio State Men's Gymnastics Team! 

Coach Eduard Azarian has been my coach for 13 years.  One of my favorite memories of Coach Eduard was when he asked me to be a coach for AUSGTC's recreational program.  I was the first guy on the team to be asked personally by Coach Eduard to become a coach.  I coached recreational gymnastics for 3 1/2; years, sometimes filling in for the girls' coaches where I demonstrated some mean beam moves!  I feel that coaching is a great way to have fun, especially because the kids would laugh at my otherwise very silly jokes.  Coaching has also taught me important skills in motivation, parent management, poise under pressure, positive reinforcement, and the willingness to allow my inner goofy child self to come out and entertain the kids.

Gymnastics isn't always a serious business.  One of the funniest things that happened to me as a gymnast was when my shorts flew off while I was tumbling on the floor routine because I hadn't thought to tie the drawstrings. Of course the gym was crowded with kids and parents at the time, but at least I stuck the landing!

Gymnastics has taught me to respect my body; to respect my coaches, to respect the other gymnasts, and to respect my parents and the parents of the kids I coach.  A competitive gymnast learns very quickly how to juggle school, homework, time with friends, and time for hobbies while training up to 20 hours a week.  These time management skills are key elements to successful academics and mature decision-making, which every student, especially a college student, needs!

In addition to being a great boys’ team coach, Coach Tim Klempnauer draws on his experience with USA Gymnastics and was instrumental in teaching the older team gymnasts and me the college recruiting process, and the timeline for sending out letters and DVDs.  He is very happy to talk about what moves to focus on and which events would be best to highlight to add to certain teams’ strengths and weaknesses. His expertise and college coach contacts is invaluable.

Thank you, Coach Eduard and Coach Tim!  See you this summer!

Sean Reilly

Jimmy Kerry
University of California Berkeley Men's Gymnastics Team

I am a fourth year student and competitive gymnast on the men’s team at CAL. I have earned the All American Award at NCAA Championships twice in my career on the parallel bars.  Being a member of this Men’s Gymnastics team here at CAL has meant more to me than I could ever have imagined while I was in club gymnastics.
 
Club gymnastics started for me when I was 3 years old. My parents were always telling me to keep my feet on the ground, because whereever we were I was always climbing or hanging on something. My sister Dani started taking gymnastics when she was in first grade and I started just as soon as I was old enough to join a class.
 
I joined the boy’s team when I was 6 and loved doing gymnastics (once I was there). Sometimes I struggled with my mom about going and I would fall asleep in the car and would not want to go inside. I remember one time when I was refusing to go in and my frustrated mother went inside to talk to coach Eduard about me quitting. Well, Eduard wouldn’t have it, he came out to the car swopped me up and carried me into the gym and proceeded to tell of his stories about being a champion gymnast and working with a team, and winning gold medals and having his national anthem play. Eduard invested himself in me and it never failed - once I got started out on the floor I always felt great.
 
18 years later, here I am at CAL experiencing the best time of my life, competing with a great men’s gymnastics team, representing this awesome school.
 
Thank you Eduard,
 
Go Bears!