This post was updated Jan. 12 at 12:17 a.m.
Behind the Bruins taking the floor at Pauley Pavilion are countless hours of intense training in the gym.
Through it all, coach Janelle McDonald has identified two attributes that help the team the most.
“Competing weekend after weekend, the thing that’s probably the most important is just adaptability and grit,” McDonald said.
McDonald emphasized grit as a significant aspect of No. 5 UCLA gymnastics’ culture heading into the 2024 campaign and ahead of the Bruins’ season opener. She added that she challenges her team with difficult practices in order to test precisely how gritty her student-athletes are.
Heading into her second season in Westwood, sophomore Selena Harris said she needed to use grit to push through the preseason.
“Preseason was really hard for me,” Harris said. “It’s just a really hard season for me to push through, just because we’re training so much, and we’re not in season. So I’m not like, ‘Oh my god, I’m training so hard to have big scores,’ because we’re not doing that right now. It’s just a grind.”
But Harris isn’t the only Bruin using grit during the preseason.
Junior Emma Malabuyo – who competed through a shoulder injury last season – is slated to return to bars, an event she competed at Meet the Bruins in December after not appearing on the apparatus in 2023.
Malabuyo said she chose not to take a year off of collegiate gymnastics to only focus on elite gymnastics and a potential Olympic berth with the Philippines because the culture of the team is beneficial to her training for both.
“There’s just no way I can train by myself and be alone again,” Malabuyo said. “I just feed off all of the love and support that I get from my teammates.”
Malabuyo shared a story from the Bruins’ recent Christmas party, in which she saw a red figure standing outside, and to her surprise, she opened the door for Santa Claus. He came bearing the long-awaited Pac-12 rings from the Bruins’ 2023 regular season conference championship.
Competition feelings
The atmosphere of Pauley Pavilion during a meet is full of energy, especially from the gymnasts cheering for each other on different events and performing their teammate’s choreography from the sidelines during floor routines. Even McDonald can frequently be seen with a beaming smile, jumping up and down in excitement as she watches each routine.
“I think that’s what’s so special about being a part of an NCAA team is that you really get to feel like a family and you get to know each other like a family,” McDonald said.
Now in her second season as head coach, McDonald said she established a team culture and has built foundations of trust between the team and her staff during her first year in charge.
McDonald said those trust-filled relationships improve communication between athletes and coaches, adding that positive chemistry reinforces the support each member of the team has for each other.
With her freshman season behind her, Harris said she has grown to understand the team aspect of collegiate gymnastics compared to the solo nature of elite, and that the support that comes from the team has helped her channel her grit.
“Our team culture is just that we’re all in it together,” Harris said. “If it’s hard, at least I’m doing it with Buyo (Malabuyo).”
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