UA gymnasts Madison Cindric, Victoria Ortiz and Kennady Schneider are on their third coach in four seasons.
The Wildcats seniors were recruited by — and competed for — Bill Ryden, who coached at UA for 17 years. Tabitha Yim, a Stanford assistant coach and rising star, took over for Ryden at the end of their freshman seasons. After Yim accepted an offer to coach at her alma mater in August, John Court was named interim head coach for the 2017-18 season.
Court has been one of the few constants for Arizona, which takes on Iowa State on Friday in Ames, Iowa. Court is in his 20th season with the program. He served under Ryden and Yim, and was crucial to recruiting all the UA seniors.
Court credits Yim for his current position.
“You have to give Tabitha credit because, two years ago, she didn’t have to keep me,” Court said. “But if she hadn’t given me that opportunity to stick around, I wouldn’t be standing here.”
Court’s time as assistant coach and transition to interim head coach has brought some much-needed stability in a sport where change is rare. Many gymnasts have the same coach from early childhood through high school. And turnover among college coaches is rare: Ryden coached at Arizona for 17 years. The coach Yim replaced at Stanford, Kristen Smyth, ran the Cardinal’s women’s program for 16 seasons.
“So, in order to deal with that, we’ve had to grow very close as a team and focus on each other, more than our coaching staff,” Schneider said. “But it has been really nice to have Coach Court here, as a stability, behind us the whole time.”
Court was the one to recruit Schneider to Arizona, so the senior from Henderson, Nev., said having him stay has been helpful in dealing with the changes over the years.
“It’s been really nice to have him stay here. Especially, the transition freshman year, just knowing him and knowing he’s going to stay has been super helpful,” she said.
Court came to Arizona from the University of Vermont, where he spent five years, working his way to the head coach’s job. Court said he was looking for something more, and even though he had never traveled as far west as Arizona, made his way to Tucson.
Court said it’s very common to work as an assistant coach for three or four years before moving up or onto another program, but he never felt the need to leave Tucson.
“It’s a special place,” Court said. “And the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. It’s a great place to work.”
Before coming to Arizona, Court said he did apply for other head coach positions, but they were never right.
“It’s always about timing,” Court said. “I wanted the right head coaching job.”
The timing has, nearly two decades later, worked out. Now that he’s in charge, Court says he doesn’t want the spotlight on him.
The UA opened its season last week with a loss against Denver, but their performance (and score of 195.425) was good enough to earn the Wildcats a No. 10 national ranking.
“It’s never been about me, it’s about all of us,” Court said. “I’m just happy to serve and contribute.”
All three captains — Cindric, Schneider and Christina Berg — said they hope Court will stay as the permanent head coach. The Wildcats have improved from last year, they said.
“I do really hope they choose to keep him on,” Schneider said. “When I think of Arizona Gymnastics, I think of John Court because he’s been here since Day 1. He’s been here, not only for me, but for these girls, since Day 1. I think he deserves it.”
