Growing up doing both gymnastics and dance, girls’ gymnastics head coach Gretchen Novak said she felt coaching gymnastics was fitting.

“I love working with kids,” Novak said. “I work well with kids and it was just a natural transition from being an athlete into being a coach.”

According to Novak, she came to Park to coordinate the youth program while working as the assistant coach.

“I was hired to coordinate the youth program here, which I still coordinate and at that time was an assistant coach for the high school team,” she said. “It was just a transition into head coach when I graduated from college.”

Novak said her favorite thing about being a coach is the ability to share moments with her team.

“Making a difference in kids lives would be the number one thing,” Novak said. “Just sharing the excitement with a win or just even accomplishing a new skill.”

Although it may never be truly accomplished, Novak said one of her goals as a coach is to make her team feel confident in themselves.

“Something I’m always striving, which will never be necessarily accomplished, is increasing confidence, having the girls have as much confidence in themselves as I have in them,” Novak said.

According to Novak, she plans on accomplishing this by using positive reinforcement and pushing them to their limits.

Not only does Novak want her team to be confident, but she said she feels she helps the team become supportive of one another.

“Every single year the team becomes really like a family, everyone is supportive of each other and I like to feel I have a part in that,” she said.

The next gymnastics meet is at 6:00 p.m. on January 6, at Jefferson.