Valorie Kondos Field '87

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Valorie Kondos Field '87 is not your typical gymnastics coach. Trained in ballet, she danced with the Sacramento Ballet, Capital City Ballet and Washington, D.C. Ballet. Her introduction to gymnastics came through playing the piano for floor exercises in Carmichael, Calif. In 1983, she was hired to be UCLA's assistant coach and choreographer. While working under head coach Jerry Tomlinson, Kondos Field helped put UCLA Gymnastics on the map, creating the team’s distinctive choreography and flair. The Bruins earned NCAA runner-up finishes in 1984 and 1989 and won six NCAA individual titles from 1987-89.

Kondos Field was appointed head coach of the Bruins in 1991 and brought in Scott Bull as her co-head coach. The duo earned West Region Co-Coach of the Year honors in 1993 and in 1994. As the sole head coach in 1995, she earned Pac-10 and West Region coaching honors and guided her team to first-place finishes at the Pac-10 and Regional Championships. Just one year later, she led the Bruins to a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships, and in 1997 she became just the fourth coach in NCAA history to win a national title.

Kondos Field's accomplishments did not go unnoticed. She was selected by her peers as the NACGC/W National Coach of the Year in 1996, 1997, 2000 and 2001. She was also named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 1995, 2000 and 2003.

Kondos Field emphasizes a team concept, but her student-athletes have also found individual success, winning 25 NCAA individual titles during her years as head coach, including 22 in the last 13 years.

Following their first NCAA championship in 1997, Kondos Field led the Bruins to two back-to-back championship seasons in 2000 and 2001, and also in 2003 and 2004. In 2010, UCLA won its sixth NCAA title with a 24-for-24 performance in the Super Six. UCLA has remained the “Leader of the Pac” under Kondos Field's tenure, winning 11 Pac-10 Conference titles, to go along with 15 NCAA regional titles.

But even with all of her successes on the court, what gives Kondos Field most satisfaction is seeing her student-athletes succeed in all facets of their lives. Academics is a big part of that equation, and Kondos Field's teams regularly place members on the Pac-10 All-Academic teams and Scholastic All-American squads and annually contend for the school's team GPA award.

With legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden as her role model and cherished friend, Kondos Field's coaching philosophy stresses balance and integrity.

She is recognized as one of the top beam and floor choreographers in the sport. Under her guidance, UCLA has formed a reputation of having the most unique and artistic routines in the nation. Kondos Field has choreographed 15 NCAA championship routines on beam and floor, including an unprecedented three consecutive on floor from Kim Hamilton from 1987-89. She also earned the Choreography of the Year Award at the 2004 Canadian National Championships for Kate Richardson's floor exercise routine.

Kondos Field has also come to be recognized for her recruiting ability. Since becoming head coach, she has attracted to UCLA some of the top talent in the U.S. and abroad, including Olympians Samantha Peszek, Mohini Bhardwaj, Kate Richardson, Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, Tasha Schwikert, Kristen Maloney, Jamie Dantzscher, Yvonne Tousek, Stella Umeh and Luisa Portocarrero; and World Championships competitors Lena Degteva, Doni Thompson, Leah Homma, Jeanette Antolin, Holly Murdock, Ashley Peckett, Marci Bernholtz, Lichelle Wong, Sydney Sawa and Mattie Larson.

More impressively, however, under Kondos Field's tutelage, many of these top recruits went on to compete at the elite level both during and after their collegiate careers. In the summer of 2010, Vanessa Zamarripa made the U.S. National Team with an eighth-place finish at her first U.S. Championships. In 2004, Kate Richardson became only the second female gymnast to compete at the Olympic Games as a collegiate athlete. She was joined in Athens by another Bruin, Mohini Bhardwaj, who captained the U.S. team to a team silver medal three years after her senior season at UCLA. Both Richardson and Bhardwaj qualified for the floor exercise finals, with Bhardwaj placing sixth and Richardson placing seventh with her Kondos Field-choreographed routine. In 1999, Kondos Field coached then-UCLA junior Heidi Moneymaker at her first USA Championships, and Moneymaker, Bhardwaj and Lena Degteva all represented UCLA at the 1999 World University Games.

Kondos Field is married to UCLA associate athletic director Bobby Field.

Below are excerpts from a 2003 interview with Valorie Kondos Field conducted by Heather Goyette ’04.

Q: You went to school here for years - why are you still here?
A: This University stands for excellence in so many areas. We enjoy the most illustrious athletic history in the world accompanied by an academic tradition that is renowned worldwide. Add to that the diversity of our campus and the mere fact that we integrate daily with people of many different backgrounds, cultures and beliefs … our daily study in appreciation of others is something that I encourage our student athletes not to take for granted. I have had opportunities to work at other institutions and choose to stay right here at the greatest academic and athletic institution the world has to offer.

Q: How did you become a coach?
A: I never envisioned myself as a coach of any sport. My background is in ballet. I thought I would take my history degree from UCLA and get into teaching or journalism. When I took over the head coaching job, I didn't really know why I had been offered the position. Our senior women's administrator at the time, Dr. Judith Holland, said that she saw leadership qualities in me, and felt that I could take this program to the next level. The first thing I did was to surround myself with great assistant coaches who knew a lot about everything I knew very little about.

Q: What, then, do you look for in a gymnast?
A: Honesty. Tenacity. Healthy competitiveness. Enthusiasm for life, not just athletics.

Q: What is your coaching philosophy?
A: Life is about choice. The choices we make in life, dictate the lives we lead. To see our athletes work so hard at gymnastics, then put their heart and soul into performance and then get a score and be told if they've won or lost is something I hope I never get used to. It really goes against my grain (although I can tend to get caught up in it during competition). At the end of the day, the reward and validation of success needs to come from within, knowing we had prepared and performed to our best ability regardless of the score.

Q: The Olympics are coming up quickly. Who do you see as the gymnasts to watch for?
A: On our team, Jamie Dantzscher, Kate Richardson, Jeanette Antolin and Yvonne Tousek have all proven themselves to be standout attractions and fun to watch as each has a very unique style. If things continue to progress as they have this fall, we will all be ecstatic with the return of Kristen Maloney to competition. She has not competed for the past two years due to injury, and yet has kept herself in great physical condition. She is not fully cleared to tumble, but the gymnastics she has been doing so far is amazing. We are all saying prayers that Kristen Maloney is able to stay healthy.

Q: The team standardized GPA of 3.4967 during the 2002-03 school year is incredibly high. How does your team balance schoolwork and gymnastics?
A: Our coaching staff and student athletes talk a lot about why we are all here. The student athletes are here for two ultimate reasons: academically, to gain knowledge and earn a degree that will help them in their life pursuits after college; experientially, to learn life lessons through the very disciplined sport of gymnastics.

Q: Are there any parts of gymnastics that you don't enjoy?
A: I just don't understand the lack of student support. UCLA students can come see some of the best gymnastics in the world right here in Pauley Pavilion for free. Our home meets are on Sundays at 2 p.m., the perfect time for a study break. As far as community support, we are thrilled to have a lot of support from the local gymnastics clubs and schools. I also know it to be true that once people come to one gymnastics meet, they are hooked and return as loyal supporters.

Q: What is the best part about your job?
A: At the end of each day, when I review the job I did, I'm happy if I was able to have a small positive affect on someone's life.