Vanessa Steck, at VISA Championships, had the guts to walk up and talk to some of the top American coaches: Chris Burdette, Mary Lee Tracy, and Miss Val.
It’s an extremely entertaining post:
… My favorite coach out there, hands down, was Miss Val. It took me quite awhile to get up the courage, but finally I went up to her as Zam was waiting for a turn to warm up on bars and asked her if it would be too corny to say I found her coaching style very inspirational. She laughed and said not at all, and then we had a lovely conversation. She is incredibly personable and genuinely kind. She told me she had just been talking to Chris Waller about what a big difference it is to go from NCAA to elite, especially a big event like Visas.
Valorie lights up when she talks about Zam. Before the competition, she called her a “joy to work with” and afterwards informed me that her athlete is a “jewel, a gem…she is just such a sweet, kind individual.” She smiled as she told me that Zam decided to do this in mid-May and they are just getting their feet wet, trying it out. …
That’s from Couch Gymnast magazine #6.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 