The Sacramento State gymnastics team has seen a lot of changes over the last 26 years and head coach Kim Hughes has seen them all.

For the upcoming 2006 season Hughes will look to overcome the loss of one of the strongest senior classes the program had seen and try to keep the team’s head above water in a new conference.

After coaching at Sac State for over two-and-a-half decades and leading the program through successful stints in Divisions I, II and III, the Hornets will begin competition in the Western Athletic Conference in 2006. Hughes has used a soft-spoken tone to take Sacramento State to five conference titles in the last six years. He considers his approach to coaching affable.

“I would call myself easy going and friendly,” Hughes said. “I try to surround myself with a lot of talented coaches. I don’t like to use fear as one of my tactics, there is enough fear in gymnastics.”

In 1999 Hughes was recognized for his leadership and received the NCAA Region 1 Coach of the Year award and again in 2002 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation’s Women’s Gymnastics Coach of the Year. The spirit of leadership and success was imbued in Hughes early on.

“I loved being a gymnast. I knew back in high school that I wanted to coach,” Hughes said. “So I want the athletes that I coach to enjoy doing gymnastics as much as I did.”

Even after 28 years of coaching at Sac State, Hughes is still learning and changing his approach every year. This coming season will be the biggest challenge for the program since stepping up to Div. I in 1991.

“We have some new people this year. It’s a challenge to find a talent and mold it. But with our roster we will have continued depth and experience from 2005,” Hughes said.

Last year the team captured its fourth conference title in the last five years, after losing the crown to rival San Jose State in 2004. The Hornets finished last season 15-8 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, but in 2006 they will be competing in the Western Athletic Conference.

The WAC is home to such perennially strong teams as No. 29 Boise State, No. 30 Utah State, San Jose State and Southern Utah. All four schools, including Sac State, received votes for CSTV Top 25 preseason coaches poll. In addition to healthy conference competition, the Hornets also face No. 9 Stanford on Jan. 15 and No. 3 UCLA, No. 13 Oregon State No. 18 Washington, and No. 20 Arkansas in the season’s opening meet on Jan. 3.

Perhaps most humbling is the regional bracket that Sac State has the misfortune of competing in. The western region is home to 19 NCAA team champions from 1982 to 2005. Most recently UCLA took home back-to-back team titles in 2003 and 2004. This year seven western region schools are ranked in the Top 25.

Besides the woes of a schedule racked with ranked opponents, Hughes spent much of the offseason hunting for new talent to filling in the gaps from last season. Since applying for assistant coach in 1977, Hughes looks for particular qualities in his gymnasts.

“They have to want to continue to take risks. Gymnastics is all about conquering fear and taking a calculated risk,” he said. “Gymnastics is unique in the level of discipline it takes. It really requires year-round training.”

Brad Alexander can be reached at [email protected]