StickItMedia Exclusive: Universal Gymnastics Coach Yin Alvarez
Posted on 23 July 2009 by admin
Exclusive Interview:
The recent Japan Cup was quite a learning experience for Danell Leyva. Though it wasn’t his first international competition, it was definitely his first major one. Leyva was the youngest member on Team USA and was probably the youngest gymnast in the entire field. Pretty heady stuff for the 17 year-old from Miami, FL. He was rubbing elbows all week with past and future Olympians representing the USA, Russia, Japan, Korea, China and Germany.
In the team competition, Leyva represented his team well and was chosen along with Steve Legendre to represent Team USA in the all-around competition. Leyva placed 7th in the all-around and posted the 4th highest scores on parallel bars and high bar.
Leyva, who trains at Universal Gymnastics under his father Yin Alvarez, has another pretty big meet coming up next month. He and four of his Universal teammates are gearing up for the VISA Championships. Joining Leyva will be Edward Mesa, Max Mayr, Alex Barrera and Riley Kerr. No other club in the country is as well represented as Universal Gymnastics. For that, Yin Alvarez is proud father and proud coach.
StickItMedia recently had the pleasure of interviewing Yin Alvarez.
SiM: How would you rate Danell’s overall performance at the Japan Cup?
Alvarez: I think he performed great at the Japan Cup, taking into consideration the level of this meet. The gymnasts had much more experience and are much older than he is. He never got intimidated, especially in the squad that he competed in. In the all-around meet he was with Kohei Uchimura, Fabian Hambuechen, Guo Wei Yang and Maxim Devyatovskiy and still focused on himself without intimidation.
SiM: What was the hardest part about the whole trip?
Alvarez: The hardest part of the whole trip was adjusting the guys to the time change and jet lag. Also, the first day of competiton when Danell was doing his high-bar routine, his grip ripped and he went flying off the bar. It was completely unexpected.
SiM: Did Sho Nakamori act as the official translator for the team?
Alvarez: No. In reality it was Yoichi Tomita. He also served as my assistant coach and a spontaneous leader of the group. I particularly thank him for the learning experience that I had next to him.
SiM: What do you think were the most important things you and Danell learned from this competition?
Alvarez: I think the most important things we learned were that we need to train at a different level, focus more on the little details and while we’re training, think that every turn is a competition.
SiM: Which foreign gymnasts impressed you the most?
Alvarez: Fabian Hambuechen; he is a machine in training and in competition. He is always paying attention to everything he does and knows how to manage his body. The thing that impresses me the most is that being such a successful gymnast, he is actually a very humble and friendly person.
SiM: What particular areas is Danell working on in preparation for VISAs?
Alvarez: We are working on cleaning, mastery of his skills and sticking landings.
SiM: You have five gymnasts competing at VISAs. Is everybody good to go?
Alvarez: Yes. We have worked very hard this year. In some cases, even through the difficulties of having injuries, they have responded with courage and persistance. This year we are more prepared than ever; physically and mentally. I expect this to be one of my best years at VISA’s.
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