A great interview with Barb Gibson of UW-La Crosse, an NCAA Division III program:
Gibson’s Eagles have won 13 NCGA national titles, including the last two, 17 WIAC titles, including a sweep of the 2000s, and can count 26 individual national champions and 155 All-Americans. …
Gibson was determined to keep family first when she took over the La Crosse program in 1984. She essentially made year-to-year contracts with herself.
“I was a young mother, I wasn’t sure how I could continue to be a mom, a wife and a coach all together,” Gibson said. “So my approach when I first started was, I’m going to take one year at a time, see how my children are doing, how we’re enduring the long hours of an athletic career.”
Gibson said she’s had two NCAA Division I job offers – she declines to reveal the schools but said they were in the Midwest – over the years but turned them down because of the roots she and her family put down in La Crosse.
“I really think my family was always my priority,” she said. “I knew going to that next level was going to mean giving up a lot of time in the summers for recruiting. I was always trying to find that work-life balance.”
What keeps Gibson going?
“The kids,” she said. “These are very committed athletes, they’re very passionate about their sport, they’re just great students, great kids. I still love my sport, I love to teach, I love to coach.” …
read more – College gymnastics: Despite successes, UW-L’s Gibson wants more
Gymnastics Coaching.com 