Cal Gymnastics Forever

The University of California Men’s Gymnastics Program has nearly a century-long history of athletic and academic excellence. The program was established in 1912, and has produced four NCAA Championship Team Titles, 29 Event Champions, 195 All-Americans, and 11 Olympians.

The early years of Cal Gymnastics were lead by Coach “Cap” Pease, who coached the program in 1922. He also coached the early Stanford program so that there would be a rival to compete against. This era was highlighted by Glenn Berry, who served as captain of the Cal Team and was a member of the US Olympic Team in 1928 and competed in The Games in Holland. He has been inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame, as well as the Cal Hall of Fame.

In 1937 Coach Keeney brought about the development of the western conference, and UCLA and USC joined the rivalry. These years were highlighted by Tumbling Champion Ross Cunningham and Chuck Thompson to name a few.

Coach Hal Frey heralded in 25 years of Cal dominance during the ‘60s and ‘70s, which included NCAA Team Champion Titles in 1968 and 1975. This era boasted scores of individual National Champions and Olympians. As an athlete, Coach Frey himself was selected as an Honorary 1944 Olympic Team Member, although there was no actual Olympic competition that year due to WWII.

Coach Frey was also one of the founding fathers of the United States Gymnastics Federation, now the national governing body known today as U.S.A. Gymnastics. He also is credited for starting the US Junior Program, and was inducted into the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1970.

As a freshman at Cal, in 1964, Dan Millman won the World Men’s Trampoline Championship in London. He then went on to lead the Cal team to a NCAA National Championship title in 1968, Since that time, he has published fourteen books published in 29 languages, including the Way of the Peaceful Warrior (1980) which was recently released (2006) as a hollywood production starring Nick Nolte titled Peaceful Warrior.

During the 1980s, Cal had multiple All-American Honors under Sho Fukushima, but Cal’s dominance would not reach its peak until the Barry Weiner Era.

Since Barry Weiner took the head coaching position in 1991, Cal has boasted Back-to-Back NCAA Team Championship Titles in 1997 and 1998, and has had a total of 14 NCAA Event Champions, and 97 All-American finishers. This was achieved with only a fraction of NCAA allowable scholarships, due to funding deficiencies.

This year will begin a new era for Cal Gymnastics, and we will be targeting permanent financial independence with expansion of our scholarship program and the establishment of a long-term endowment. As Coach Weiner moves toward retirement after 20 years with the program, we look forward to growing with new leadership in the coming years.

California Gymnastics has continued to produce champions in the athletic world, who go on to be champions in their professional lives as leaders of their communities worldwide.