Oregon’s acrobatic and tumbling athlete Chandler White was at lunch when she got the notification.
A Facebook post on the team’s private page said that there would be a conference call between the team and the new head coach. About 10 minutes before the call, White’s mother, Susan, called and asked her daughter if she had heard the news yet. White’s older sister Chelsea Shaw was going to be the new head coach at UO.
“They tried to keep it separate from me,” White said. “So, I pretty sure I found out the day everyone else did. Maybe 10 minutes before from my mom. My mom slipped up.”
Shaw—a former head coach at Gannon University and former All-American base for the Ducks, told the Emerald that she and White would love to work together. They thought a reunion wasn’t too far away, and they weren’t mistaken.
“I don’t know a lot of people that get to coach their family which is kind of a cool dynamic,” Shaw said. “She’s just like one of my other athletes right now, and I treat her the same. But she’s my family and it’s fun to see her grow at practice every day when before we were on opposite sides of the country.”
Shaw understands that she’s walking into a situation shadowed by the accomplishments of former head coach Felecia Mulkey. In her five seasons at Oregon, Mulkey won four National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association national championships before packing her bags and heading to Baylor University.
“It’s definitely a lot of pressure to walk into a big program that’s been very successful but it’s exciting,” Shaw said.
In her first and only year at Gannon, Shaw utilized many of the same coaching philosophies that she learned from her time competing for Mulkey at Oregon.
“The basic principles of this program still stand,” Shaw said. “It’s always been on respect, integrity and accountability. We just added our own little twist this year, and I think you might see it on the mat.”
Sophomore top Rachael Block sees the similarities between the two coaches.
“It’s a fun, new atmosphere, but it’s the same philosophies that we had this year,” Block said.
Shaw maintains that inserting a new coach into a program that’s been as consistent as the Ducks can be a bit uncomfortable for the team. Shaw decided to retain assistant coach Kelsey Rowell to keep some continuity among the team.
“I think that was huge and one of the reasons why I kept her, although she is a great coach, was to keep something consistent,” Shaw said. “Change can be scary for a lot of people, but I think change is good.”
Through the early stages of the preseason practices, Shaw has taken the team back to basics. She wants to ensure that the team is comfortable and builds relationships with each other.
“Every year we have to start out at the basics so we’re starting out with drills and with the technique,” Shaw said. “The cleanest team and the strongest team is going to win this year.”
Follow Joseph Hoyt on Twitter @JoeJHoyt