Ever since she was a child Angela Grupe has been in love with the sport of gymnastics.
That love has taken her from those early gymnastics camps, to a member of three state runner- up teams, to serving as a judge, to assistant coach, and for the past 16 seasons as head coach of the Britton-Hecla gymnastics team.
Now, for all those years of dedication to her sport, Grupe was named to the South Dakota Gymnastics Hall of Fame during the state meet in Aberdeen on Saturday.
“Gymnastics is a big piece of my heart, and to be nominated by fellow coaches and voted in is really a nice honor,” said Grupe, who guided this year’s Britton-Hecla squad to a sixth place state finish. “And I get great support from the school and from my family that allows me to put in all the time required.”
It’s the willingness to put in that time and the dedication to her team and individual athletes that does not go unnoticed by fellow coaches and gymnasts.
“Ang is an amazing coach,” said assistant coach Kelsi Heer. “Every gymnast in her gym gets equal attention no matter what their ability is, and she tailors every practice to each gymnast. Her practice plans have to take hours of thought, and her heart weighs big on each of her gymnasts through their accomplishments and failures. She is tough on them, but respects them just the same, and it shows.”
Tyra (Gefroh) Penfield has two perspectives on Grupe’s contributions – both as a gymnast for six years and as an assistant coach.
“The time and dedication she puts in is over the top,” said Penfield, “and that goes along with her love of the sport. She gives it 100% no matter what she has going on.”
Grupe isn’t quite sure where her lifelong love for gymnastics began. She was always doing cartwheels in the yard and when gymnastics camps came up in elementary school, she attended. Plus, her grandma, Ramona Pitkin, had a satellite dish that allowed her to receive gymnastics competitions on her television, and she would record them for Angela to watch. After competing for Britton-Hecla and while attending college, Grupe realized she wanted to get involved with the sport again, and she became certified as a judge in 2001. After four seasons she decided to enter the coaching world and served as an assistant coach at Britton-Hecla for two years before becoming the head coach 16 years ago.
In addition to her coaching, Grupe has also given back to the sport by serving as secretary, vice-president, and president of the South Dakota Gymnastics Coaches Association and is currently in her second term as the Class A coach for the SDHSAAGymnasticsAdvisory Committee. In 2008, she was also selected to work the head table for the U.S. Olympic Trials in Philadelphia, PA.
During her years of coaching Grupe has seen some big changes in the sport, particularly the advent of year-round programs, which presents a big challenge.
“Gymnastics is such a different sport – everything that it takes to excel takes time – and when you are running a true 3½-month program you have to skip steps sometimes to get to where you need to be. It’s a challenge managing how to deal with athletes that walk through the door but you don’t have 12 months to get it done, or you have eight weeks to be season-ready.”
That when Grupe’s organization and dedication shines brightest.
“She has taken one if the few three-month programs to the state meet multiple times and kept up with the big dogs that train all year,” stressed Heer. “There isn’t anyone more deserving of this award.”
But for Grupe it’s much more than qualifying for state meets – it’s about building strong people.”
“As a gymnast on her teams and also as a coach working alongside her, she has always been an example of how hard work pays off,” noted Penfield. “She is teaching and coaching gymnastics, but she is also teaching and coaching life skills and just how to be a good person. When I was a gymnast she was always coaching us to be classy and to be a good sport and good teammate, not just to our team but to other teams as well. I was honored to be a gymnast of hers and honored to coach alongside her.”
Now things have come full circle. Her daughter, seventh grader Jaelee, was a member of the Britton-Hecla gymnastics squad this past season.
“I have the type of personality where I like to lead and teach and pull everything together,” said Grupe. “Jaelee has grown up with that and I can see it in her, she’s already a mini-coach on the team.”
Despite the fact that she has a daughter on the team, Grupe really treats all of her gymnasts as family, and she takes that responsibility seriously.
“Those six years (grades 712) are extremely developmental for the kids for the physical side but also the social and mental sides,” noted Grupe. “And there are so many emotions that go through gymnastics.
“It takes a lot of confidence and it takes a lot to put yourself out there – one person on stage at a time. But it’s also really rewarding, and gymnastics builds high-character kids. In this sport you learn to deal with disappointment one second and the next second get up on that beam and have to be over it. I just feel a big part of gymnastics is that the girls are also becoming the kind of people they should be outside the gym.”
With another state-placing season under her belt, Grupe admits it can be draining, but the sport continues to call her name.
“You can kind of get tired at the end of a season, but when you walk back into the gym in the spring, that smell and feel of the gym feels like you are home.”
