Being a coach is much more than just knowing how to teach a sport. A coach has to be someone their athletes can trust, someone who understands both the mental and physical aspects of the sport, and someone who will do their best to push the athletes to their full potential. Viking is lucky enough to have an incredible team of coaches who fulfill those requirements, and on this National Coaches Day we say thank you!

Read below to find out why our coaches do what they do and what coaching means to them!

Dan Arcus, Gymnastics Coach, Boys Team Leader, Floor Manager
Why did you choose to be a coach? Who or what inspires you?
Actually IT chose me! Multiple times I might add. First while in college it was a requirement to be on our collegiate team to “volunteer” coach for our feeder boys program. It happened again to me when I graduated college and my high school coach invited me to coach with him at New Trier High School. Third time was a friend who asked me to be an assistant at Niles North High School. Lastly, and the best of all, was Charlie asking me to come aboard at Viking. Being at Viking has changed my life! The relationships and bonds I build with people (kids, families, and coworkers) are what inspire me!

What has been your proudest coaching moment?
It is hard to say which is my proudest but the one that occurred most recently was having two of my former gymnasts (Katie and Adam) get married to each other and being invited to the wedding. Very full circle of life moment.

Gena Romagnoli, Gymnastics Coach, USAG Team Leader
Why did you choose to be a coach? Who or what inspires you?
I chose to become a coach to help build a gymnastics program where we can have high level gymnasts training in a healthy, happy environment. 

April Sawyer, Gymnastics Coach, Tot Leader
Why did you choose to be a coach? Who or what inspires you?
When I started taking a tumbling class in the neighbor’s basement, I LOVED it. I enjoyed gymnastics so much. I was asked to start coaching when I was around 14. During the years of competition, I would help choreograph everyone else’s routines. As time went on, I learned how important gymnastics was for the brain and the body. It became my passion and I love it even more.

What has been your proudest coaching moment?
Giving a girl with Down Syndrome an opportunity to find out what it is like to be part of a team. To work really hard, achieve goals and to place or win and be awarded for it. To help this athlete to have self confidence and to love something so much that she wants to do it all the time and dreams of going to the Olympics one day.

Olivia Frisch, Gymnastics Coach
Why did you choose to be a coach? Who or what inspires you?
I started gymnastics at a very young age and was pretty much raised at the gym. I competed until I was 16, and after I retired gymnastics still held a special place in my heart so I decided to start coaching. I had 3 main coaches when I was a gymnast: Todd, Russ, and Kathy. They were everything a coach should be and more. They are my role models and they created an environment where I felt safe to learn, grow, express and challenge myself. In my coaching, I am always trying to embody the values they instilled in me and create that same environment for my students.

Photo: My last day as a gymnast with two of my coaches: Russ and Kathy.

Alli Houck, Gymnastics/Dance Coach
Why did you choose to be a coach? Who or what inspires you?
I love working with kids, and gymnastics and dance just comes so naturally to me as far as teaching goes. I feel very strongly about protecting children and building their confidence through art and movement. My coaching philosophy is to be the coach that I needed as a young dancer. I am inspired by many of my past mentors to be the best coach I can be, but it’s really the kids that push me to bring out their full potential.

What has been your proudest coaching moment?
My proudest coaching moment is hard to pinpoint, but attending my first in house competition really opened my eyes to how fulfilling coaching can be. I am my proudest when my dancers and gymnasts are performing their skills.

Caitlin Courtney, Gymnastics Coach
Why did you choose to be a coach? Who or what inspires you?
After spending so many years of my life in the gym, I missed being in that kind of environment. I wanted to become a coach because I know the kind of positive impact they can have on athletes who are struggling to gain a skill. When I was cheerleading and taking tumbling classes, I had terrible mental blocks and a lot of anxiety that prevented me from giving my best to my team. The coaches I worked with at the time, specifically Coach Paula Parat, went so far beyond where any other coach might have extended their efforts and made me feel deserving of a spot on my team. She demonstrated everything a coach should strive to be and is someone I have a lot of respect for and have remained close with. She also introduced me to my first coaching opportunity, a volunteer gymnastics/cheerleading coach for athletes with special needs, and showed me that I could be a leader in an area that I’m passionate about. I love being a coach because I get to see kids excited about doing something that they love and share in a little part of that.

What has been your proudest coaching moment?
My proudest coaching moment was taking my Special Olympics team to compete at the Worlds Cheerleading competition in Florida and winning first place! They got to stand on stage and represent Team USA and celebrate the competition with athletes from all different countries!

Photo: Coach Caitlin and her former coach, Paula Parat.

Angie Grande, Floor Manager
Why did you choose to be a coach? Who or what inspires you?
I began coaching when I was 15 years old. I did gymnastics as a child through high school, and I  loved it! I think what the sport can teach children is so valuable – the strength, coordination, and flexibility achieved, overcoming fears, and dedicating time and effort to accomplish one skill.

What has been your proudest coaching moment?
When kids express genuine pride in themselves – either for achieving a new skill/level or for overcoming a fear. It’s wonderful to watch them in that moment.

Mendel Moskovits, Gymnastics Coach
Why did you choose to be a coach? Who or what inspires you?
To give back to the sport that has helped me grow. I want to help gymnasts like me who love gymnastics and put everything they can into improving themselves reach their full potential.

What has been your proudest coaching moment? Being a part of Viking Gymnastics from the beginning and helping it continue to grow.

Susan Fosco, Floor Manager
Why did you choose to be a coach? Who or what inspires you?
My college coach was my biggest influence. She set standards that I could only hope to match as I coached. I had an injury my senior year, but had the opportunity to work with my team as an assistant coach. It was such a Great experience to be able to coach alongside the person that truly shaped who I am today.

What has been your proudest coaching moment?
My  proudest moment was while I was coaching high school and our team qualified for state finals and, surpassing all my expectations, placed 3rd! 

Jesus Pacheco, Rising Stars Gymnastics Coach
Why did you choose to be a coach? Who or what inspires you?
I became a coach because I feel that it is my life purpose to teach, to train, to help develop human beings with strength, physically and mentally, knowing that I can leave positive experiences in their lives. My father was a coach (he was my coach at elementary) and my brother is a coach, so they helped me to discover and develop my vocation.

What has been your proudest coaching moment?
Seeing my Rising Stars students competing, nervous but relying on my words of encouragement to perform what we practiced for several weeks.

Tammy Findlay, Gymnastics Coach
Why did you choose to be a coach? Who or what inspires you?
My first coach was a positive influence on all of us! She taught us to love gymnastics! I want to do the same for others.

What has been your proudest coaching moment?
Spotting a talented 3 year old; she is now a 10 year old level 7 national tumbling silver medalist!

Yashal Yousaf, Gymnastics Coach
Why did you choose to be a coach? Who or what inspires you?
Being a coach definitely became one of my goals right when I started High school gymnastics. Since I was not a club gymnast, I struggled with learning higher level skills because I barely had the ones I needed. But with the help of my coaches I was able to turn my basic skills into tumbling I never thought I could learn. I picked things up pretty quickly, doing the actual skill became hard. Once I finally learned a skill, I felt more confident in myself and when another teammate was learning what I had already learned, I taught them the way I was taught, except I would modify it to be a bit easier for my teammate. I loved seeing my teammates learn new skills and I was happy that my corrections helped them. I have so much love for the sport that I wanted to share that love with others. I emphasize the importance of sportsmanship and self reflection, because those can also be important in the real world outside of gymnastics.

What has been your proudest coaching moment?
When gymnasts make an immediate change or correction after being told to do so, because it’s as if something clicked in their head and they have already improved if they have made an immediate correction.

Photo: My last day being on a gymnastics team and last competition. It’s a picture of my coach and I, and he always believed that I had potential even though I sometimes thought I was not a good enough gymnast. He always told me how far I had gotten and that I should be proud and that is the type of coach I want to be.

Kathy Marma, Gymnastics Coach
Why did you choose to be a coach? Who or what inspires you?
I chose to be a coach to lead the next generation of young  gymnasts and to inspire them like my coaches inspired me!

What has been your proudest coaching moment?
My proudest moments are always watching gymnasts achieve new skills.

Pam Foerch, Floor Manager
Why did you choose to be a coach? Who or what inspires you? My love and passion for the sport is what inspires me to do my job, as well as watching the achievements of Olympic athletes.

What has been your proudest coaching moment? Having athletes learn new skills.

Charlie Friedman, Owner
Why did you choose to be a coach? Who or what inspires you?
Once I was enrolled in a gymnastics class, I never wanted to be anywhere else. The gym was my happy place as a child. At 12 years old I was able to be an assistant teacher at my childhood club and no matter where life took me, I always found my way back to the gym. I love to watch my girls feel at home at Viking. Providing an environment that can be a ‘happy place’ for other’s is my biggest inspiration.

What has been your proudest coaching moment?
We worked really hard to improve Niles North’s gymnastics record. One year we were the CSL champs, Regional Champs, and one of my gymnasts made it to State Finals. This was early in my gymnastics career and I remember feeling more proud of my gymnasts accomplishments than when I had competed myself. I knew from that moment on, that I had made the right decision to pursue coaching.

National Businesswomen’s Day with our Gym Owner Charlie Friedman!

Did you always want to own a gym, or how did the idea come into play?

C: As a young gymnast I wanted to be just like my childhood coach. He was a gymnastics coach, choreographer, and eventually owned his own gym. As I got older and had to pick a major in college, ‘gymnastics coach’ wasn’t an option so I started thinking about what I could go to school to be and come out on the other end with a profession. Originally I chose biology, thinking something in the medical field, but switched over to education my senior year. I taught in the Chicago Public School system prior to Viking moving to Caldwell Avenue.

How was your experience making the transition from High School Gymnastics Coach to running your own gym?

C: It was a slow process where Viking developed and I coached at Niles North. It wasn’t until we opened up on Caldwell and I coached my final season at the high school that I realized there were just not enough hours in the day to give both my high school athletes and Viking the attention they deserved. It was not my intention for 2013 to be my final season at the high school. Truly, the feeder program (Viking) was created in an effort to make the high school team more competitive, and it was working well. However, when I had my end of season meeting with Karl Costello, the athletic director at Niles North who was also a big supporter of Viking as it’s own business, the words ‘I just don’t think I can continue to do both’ came out of me and Karl completely understood. He had watched me try to do both for a year and while I was making it work, it was clear my health would suffer if I continued to put the needed number of hours and energy in.

How did you begin the process of creating a business?

C: Being a gymnastics coach and elementary school teacher, I did not have the business experience other owners might have so there was a lot of trial and error. My father owns his own business so he was able to connect me to a few different types of lawyers and accountants that helped with the initial ‘creating a business’ tasks. Sue Fosco had mentored me through creating class schedules and connected me to other gymnastics gym owners for guidance. I asked a lot of questions to anyone with some experience that would lend some advice.

As a gym owner, you have a variety of roles that you take on. Which do you enjoy most?

C: There are too many to count. Being out in the gym whether it be coaching, watching a staff member work their magic in a class, or having conversations with families in the viewing area about how life is going are a few of my favorites.

Did you consider yourself a businesswoman before starting Viking Gymnastics?

C: Does selling friendship bracelets outside of my parents condo at 8 years old count?

Is there anyone you look up to in gymnastics, the businessworld, or otherwise?

C: So many people! For sure there are other gym owners that amaze me, but here at Viking I am surrounded by so many amazing people that have so much knowledge to share.

Did you face any difficulties entering the businessworld as a woman?

C: Not that I noticed or chose to acknowledge. 🙂

What is the most challenging part of running a business?

C: For me, the challenge is always how we can do better at whatever we are doing. I am lucky to have a patient, understanding staff who also want to do their best because just when we get some aspect of Viking under control I will come up with an idea that requires a lot of time, energy, and changes. I get really excited now when Viking staff will come up with equally challenging ideas!

What is the most rewarding part of running a business?

C: Being able to see the differences that are made on a large scale. When I taught and coached my own classes, each day was rewarding. But now, I look around the gym and through the dance studios and I see the growth and happiness on a magnified level.

What has been your favorite experience since starting Viking?

C: Watching my children grow up at Viking as their second home, with their extended family. I would have spent all my time in the gym as a child if I could, and they get to live that!