In 2011, the University of Alabama gymnastics team won it all.
The Tide took home its seventh Southeastern Conference Championship and fifth NCAA Championship to cap one of the most successful seasons in school history.
But 2011 is in the past. On Friday, the squad will begin its quest for a second consecutive NCAA Championship when it squares off against rival Georgia.
“I feel really great about this team,” said senior Ashley Priess. “We have so much potential. We have a great starting point right now, and we have a ton of room to grow.”
The Tide will be tested early. The Georgia Gym Dogs will bring one of the top teams in the nation into Coleman Coliseum on Friday night in one of the fiercest rivalries in collegiate gymnastics.
“It’s still one of [our] biggest rivals,” head coach Sarah Patterson said. “Every year that we are going to win a championship, we have to get through Georgia. And if they want to win one, they have to get through us.”
Alabama and Georgia boast two of the top programs in the country, with 15 NCAA championships between them in the last 25 years. Alabama has had Georgia’s number in recent history, however. The Tide has won its last four meetings against the Gym Dogs.
While the team will prepare like it would for any season opener, players and coaches still know that an opponent like Georgia carries just a little bit of an extra meaning.
“You do the preparation the same way,” Patterson said. “But I think there’s a little bit more bounce in their step when they’re competing against Georgia. Just like there was when our football team took on Tennessee.”
Patterson looks to Saban for inspiration following championship season
One of the challenges Patterson will face this year will be a potential complacency from her team coming off of such a successful year.
Like Patterson, there’s another coach in Tuscaloosa who knows the feeling.
After Nick Saban led the University of Alabama football team to its 13th national championship in 2009, the team suffered a letdown of sorts, losing three games that were very much within reach.
So Saban addressed the Alabama gymnastics team about a possible slump in a post-title season.
“I love reading Coach Saban’s comments and his quotes,” Patterson said. “He came over and talked to our team numerous times when we went to the championship meets the last couple of years. Last year, he came over and we talked about how the year before, after winning in Pasadena, his team was complacent.”
The key to avoiding a letdown, Patterson says, is finding a team identity, growing throughout the season, and peaking just in time for post-season play.
“I totally understand that last year we were not the most talented team, but we were the team with the most heart,” she said. “You can have a lot of talent, but you have to have all the factors come together.”
