PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Barbara Cordova is the head women's gymnastics coach at her alma mater, Division II West Chester University. In her 14 seasons at the helm of the program, the Golden Rams have consistently been one of the top squads in the region.
Cordova stopped by the KYW Newsradio original podcast "1-on-1 with Matt Leon" to talk about her life in gymnastics. She discussed how she got introduced to the sport, her career as a gymnast, what she loves about coaching and much more.
You can listen to the episode above. The following is a lightly-edited excerpt from the conversation.
Matt Leon: When did you realize you were pretty good at gymnastics? I think it's one thing to enjoy it. But it's another thing when you're maybe winning things, or you can do kids something that the other kids can't. Or as you get into high school, you start looking at colleges, and there's interest there. Do you remember kind of an "aha" moment, that, "Oh, wow, I must be pretty good at this?"
Barbara Cordova: Wow, that's a tough question. I don't know, because I feel like I always thought that I was. I was good, but not great. I always would have liked to be better than I was actually.
I did compete in college, but I did not get a scholarship, so I was a walk on. But I had a great experience in college. Sandy Fields was my coach. She's an excellent coach. She really believed in athletes that she coached and encouraged us to be the best that we could be. She encouraged me to apply for several scholarships when I was already in school, which I was able to apply for and get those scholarships.
So that was good, but I feel like, I wish I could have been better. I don't know. I think I was just a good gymnast. I was good. But there was definitely people that were better than me.
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What is the most exhilarating time as a competitor in gymnastics? Is it the moment before you start? Is it the moment when you have finished and you've nailed the vault or you've nailed the routine? Is there just the moment that cannot be duplicated, cannot be replicated anywhere outside of the competition?
Yeah, I would have to say it's that moment that you land that dismount, and you've just hit the best set that you could have done. You know, there's just nothing like that. It's just so amazing. And I would say that that is also as a coach, you know, when they hit their best set, and they land that dismount. It's just, it's really exciting. So I would say that's the best.
Obviously, gymnasts enjoy performing, right? It's a performance-based sport. And so that part of it is exciting also. But when you've accomplished what you've — all those hours, you know, routine after routine after routine and practice, and then you get that feeling of wow, I just did it. I just did the best I could do there.
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My experience is watching the Olympics, but you know, I watch something and it is just incredible. And you'll listen to the commentators, and then the judges [say] "No, it was good." Is it hard to not drive yourself nuts when you're competing, because it is such a margin of error that if you land just raw, or if you put your arms up too early - stuff that the average person is not going to notice, but you know, it's so important. Is it hard to not drive yourself nuts with all those little details, and to have to be that precise?
Yeah, I mean, gymnastics is a sport about perfection. And let's face it, none of us are perfect, right? Like, we're just not perfect. So this is something that I really have to talk to my athletes about a lot because we do strive for perfection. And as a coach, you know, we're trying to get routines that are the lowest deduction as possible.
But at the end of the day, I always let them know, 'Listen, this is not what your worth is, your worth is not in doing a perfect set, that's not where your worth is,' and trying to make sure that they know that they're more than just a gymnast. They're more than just an athlete.
And I think that's really important in all athletics, of course, but in a sport of perfection, it can be challenging because you're never going to be perfect all the time. And really, those perfect 10s most likely, there's some little thing that someone could have found as a mistake.
So just to let them know that, you know, it's okay if you make a mistake. Yes, we're striving for perfection, but we're never gonna totally achieve that, and your worth is in something more than that.
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For more "1-on-1 with Matt Leon," subscribe on the Audacy app, or wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to the full podcast with Barbara Cordova below.