A ‘change in the tide’? Vega, Wieber reunion highlights possible gymnastics coaching trend

Georgia senior Sabrina Vega walked through the Barnhill Arena tunnel to get a sense of her bearings before Friday’s road meet at Arkansas. She began to visualize each routine, and then a reminder pinged in her head.

She needed to go see her former teammate, Jordyn Wieber, the Razorbacks’ first-year head coach. You read that correctly. A senior gymnast needed to go visit with her same-aged teammate who is now leading an SEC program.

Vega and Wieber hadn’t seen each other in a number of years. Suddenly, the old gymnast joke came — if two 24-year-olds are to be considered elders in this sport.

“Yep. I’m still doing this thing,” Vega said, who later added she sometimes wonders how she’s still chugging along at the sport. She credited her GymDog teammates for keeping her young.

“It’s wild,” Wieber quipped. “I can’t imagine trying to do all-around (which Vega has tried in her final college season). I haven’t done any gymnastics in four years.”

This reunion comes for two elite gymnasts who are now in different types of spotlight within the NCAA gymnastics landscape. Vega, who missed the cut for the 2012 Olympic Games in London and got off to a late start at Georgia, is having one final hurrah and posting dynamite-like scores with the hopes of one final run at national championships.

Wieber, a former Olympian with a soaring reputation as an elite gymnast, sits on the Razorbacks’ throne. She never competed or coached collegiately, other than a stretch of years as student manager and volunteer assistant at UCLA. Oddly enough, Vega is two months older than the leader she opposed Friday night. Their passions for the sport carry on in unusual fashion — one of the oldest college gymnasts and the youngest head coach in the sport.

“It’s awesome to see her do this, because she has always had a love and passion for gymnastics,” Vega said. “It’s great for her to be a head coach at such a young age. She’s set up to be great.”

Vega and Wieber spent a lengthy stint of time together as members of USA Gymnastics, overlapping for five years (2008-12). They’d bond while traveling together for periods of weeks or months for competition. A highlight of their elite careers came in the 2011 World Championships in Tokyo, competing in the uneven bars and balance beam lineups together.

Vega remembers the structure and serious nature of elite gymnastics, but said the team “always found a way to have fun.” She also had trouble pinpointing specific memories, and couldn’t believe 10 years have passed since then.

That made Friday’s reunion, while brief, a special moment. While Vega performed her viral-worthy floor routine, Wieber glanced over toward the arena’s jumbotron — as did a few Arkansas gymnasts — to get a glimpse of her former teammate. Wieber later reiterated her excitement for Vega and said she’s “killing it.”

“This is a first,” Wieber said. “It seems like forever ago. Now we’re back in the same arena again.”

Friday’s meet also served as a showdown of the two youngest coaches in the SEC. It may seem very unique that Wieber has been handed these responsibilities at 24, but Georgia’s situation wasn’t too different three years ago. Courtney Kupets Carter, 33, didn’t have an NCAA coaching background, but received the torch and high expectations from athletic director Greg McGarity.

Arkansas and Wieber got the upper hand in a tight meet with Georgia. The Razorbacks recorded their first home win of the season over the 10th-ranked GymDogs, 196.950-196.675.

Wieber and Kupets Carter sit in a rare tier of gymnastics coaches. Of the top-15 ranked teams, Minnesota’s Jenny Hansen and Washington’s Elise Ray-Statz are the only other coaches under the age of 40. None other than Wieber are under 30. A trend, however, could be forming.

“It’s the change in the tide,” Kupets Carter said. “A lot of coaches have been coaching for a long time, and it’s their time to retire. A new generation comes in and it’s an exciting thing to see.”

Wieber, with her program integrating its “RISE” motto, has embraced the task of rebuilding a program that went winless in SEC play last season with an average score of 195.440. Wieber has already surpassed last season’s high (196.125) four times this season. She leans on a group of mentors including former UCLA legendary coach Valerie Kondos Field and a leadership coach.

Nonetheless, there’s a confidence and lack of fear to attack Arkansas’ project.

“I think people like to talk about age a lot,” Wieber said. “I think it’s more about the perspective and experience that you have. Courtney and I bring that from our competition years. I look up to her a lot. She didn’t have a lot of coaching experience and became a successful head coach. I’m on a similar path and I admire her.”

Six meets into Wieber’s coaching tenure, an almost unthinkable scenario came. A chance to run into an old friend, and coach her opposition.

“It’s crazy,” Vega said. “We were teammates nine years ago.”

This story was originally published February 8, 2020 at 12:01 PM with the headline "A ‘change in the tide’? Vega, Wieber reunion highlights possible gymnastics coaching trend."