Assistant gymnastics coach likes pulling pranks to keep atmosphere light

By Kevin Hampton

Gazette-Times reporter

John Carney knows when to have fun and when to get serious as a gymnastics coach.

Carney, 41, is in his first year as an assistant coach with Oregon State after a long career at the club level.

It didn't take long for the OSU gymnasts to discover his fun-loving side.

Carney makes a point of keeping the training interesting. He comes up with a variety of games to go along with the bars workouts and lightens up what can be a grind.

"He creates props," senior D'Anna Piro said. "Over Christmastime we had to draw our assignments out of stockings. Sometimes he has us roll dice to determine how many skills you have to complete.

"It's never a boring day on bars."

Carney is also known for pulling pranks from his club days. He even got OSU assistant coach Michael Chaplin. Chaplin was recruiting Jen Kesler, who was coached by Carney at Gymnastics East in the Seattle area at the time.

Carney convinced Kesler, who had committed to the Beavers, to call Chaplin and tell him that she had accidentally committed to Nebraska.

"He was driving back from another recruit's house and he pulled over by a church," Kesler said with a chuckle.

Of course, the games are a means to an end. Carney can be very intense in practice in order to get the Beavers ready for competition.

"He's a really strict coach, but it all pays off in the end," Kesler said. "It's definitely showing this season with our high ranking on bars. He knows how to push us and he brings in a lot of enthusiasm to bars. He knows how to pump us up for the meets."

Carney had to make the transition from club gymnastics to college in short order.

He had led teams and individuals to Junior Olympics titles, but the pace of the college season is much quicker.

In club, the focus is to train for that one moment at the JO national championships. At Oregon State, the gymnasts have to be on top of their game throughout the season to move up in the rankings and land a good spot in the NCAA Regionals and on to the NCAA Championships.

"The main surprise for me is what the training schedule is during the competitive season," Carney said. "In JO you have maybe two competitions a month and you have all that time in between to rest or tweak your routines. In college there's such a smaller, tighter schedule and that's a part where strategy comes in. Sometimes there's only two or three days of time, so you have to make sure that the training is well thought out and there isn't any wasted time."

He has enjoyed working with the college athletes because they are focused on the sport. They are more mature than the club gymnasts.

The club gymnasts have a jumble of reasons for being at the club.

"In club you probably get athletes that do it for different reasons, like their parents want them to or to fill a social void," Carney said.

At OSU, Carney works with so many gymnasts on bars that he's busy throughout each practice.

In addition to mixing it up with the games, Carney uses some different perspective in coaching the event.

"He coaches us on the response of the rail and how to work the rail to your advantage," Piro said. "In gymnastics, a lot of times you're coached on your body positions and the corrections you have to make. (Carney coaches) how what your body is doing effects the bars. He also definitely emphasizes body positions."

Carney has so much talent to work with that he is faced with a tough decision for every meet.

"One of the biggest challenges I face is when you're as deep as we are with bar swingers, it's hard having to narrow it down to the top six each week," he said.

Carney said he wasn't nervous about starting at OSU. He was aware that it would take some time to settle in and to gain the trust of the team.

His nerves have come before the road competitions, when his head is full of worry about whether the Beavers will get what they need in order to have a strong meet.

Nothing relieves butterflies like a prank.

When the Beavers travel on airlines, some of the team members will let the flight attendants know that it is Carney's "birthday."

Carney will be in his seat thinking about work and suddenly get serenaded with "Happy Birthday" on each flight.