ALT EXAMPLE - USER GUIDE - UNBOUNCE - UCLA - Flipbook - Page 6
COACHING STAFF
CHRIS
WALLER
Head Coach
3rd Season, 20th Overall
UCLA ‘91
Chris Waller begins his third year as head coach and 20th year overall at UCLA. Waller
was named UCLA Gymnastics’ seventh head coach on May 8, 2019.
Waller’s first season was unprecedented, as he guided the Bruins not only through a
new coaching staff but through an unfinished season that was cut short before the
last regular season meet due to COVID-19. Before the suspension of the season,
Waller led UCLA to a 10-3 record and a No. 3 national team ranking and a No. 1 team
ranking on floor. He also guided Kyla Ross to the No. 1 ranking on uneven bars for the
fourth consecutive year and to the Honda Sport Award as the nation’s top gymnast.
In year two, Waller’s Bruin squad battled through a shortened preseason training and
the deferred enrollment of four Olympic hopefuls and finished with a 14-7 record and
an unbeaten record at home. Four Bruins captured Pac-12 individual titles - Sekai
Wright on vault, Margzetta Frazier on bars, and Pauline Tratz and Pac-12 Freshman
of the Year Chae Campbell on floor exercise.
Waller served on the UCLA Gymnastics coaching staff as an assistant or associate
head coach for 17 years, helping to guide UCLA to four NCAA Championships (2003,
2004, 2010, 2018). In his first season on staff in 2003, the Bruins swept through the
postseason, winning Pac-10, NCAA Regional and NCAA Championships. Also that
year, he was the acting head coach when UCLA snapped the longest home-court
winning streak in NCAA history for any sport, handing Utah its first home loss in 23
years. In 2004, he helped coach the Bruins to a repeat championship, winning in
record-setting fashion. Waller was voted by his peers the National Assistant Coach of
the Year in 2004 and the West Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2018.
Along with his collegiate coaching success, Waller had tremendous success as a
club coach, coaching UCLA alumna Mohini Bhardwaj to a spot on the U.S. Olympic
team in 2004. Bhardwaj was team captain of the squad that won a silver medal,
competing in the all-around during prelims and on three of four events in the team
final. She also qualified for the floor exercise finals, placing sixth. Additionally, Waller
coached two other Bruins to elite success, helping guide Vanessa Zamarripa to a U.S.
National Team spot in 2010 after her junior season at UCLA, and coaching Frazier as
she competed under UCLA at the 2018 U.S. Championships.
One of the United States’ all-time gymnastics greats, Waller was a member of the
National Team from 1989-97 and captured the U.S. all-around crown in 1991 and
pommel horse titles from 1991-93. He was an all-around finalist at the 1992 Olympic
Games in Barcelona and took fifth on the pommel horse, just one-tenth of a point away
from the gold medal. In addition, Waller placed in the Top 6 on the pommel horse at
the 1993 World Championships and won three medals at the 1990 Goodwill Games
and a team gold at the 1995 Pan American Games. He was inducted into the USA
Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2003.
At UCLA, Waller earned four All-America honors and helped the Bruins capture the
NCAA title in 1987. He also won individual titles on the pommel horse in 1989 and
the high bar in 1990. Every year from 1989-1993, Waller won either a U.S. or NCAA
national title.
Waller, who graduated from UCLA in 1991, had 15 years of prior coaching experience before joining the UCLA staff and was selected the 2002 Southern California
Level 7 Male Coach of the Year. He also served as a member of the USA Gymnastics
Executive Committee and the 2000 Olympic team selection committee and chaired
the Athlete’s Council.
Waller and his wife Cindy, both UCLA graduates, have two daughters, Alex and Lilia,
who were members of the UCLA Gymnastics team and Scholastic All-Americans.
Chris and Cindy owned and operated Waller’s GymJam Academy in Santa Clarita
for many years, and through their GymJam Foundation, they have donated tens or
thousands of dollars to charity and to Camp del Corazon, a camp for children with
heart disease. The cause is near and dear to Waller, who has undergone four heart
surgeries, his first at just 15 years old.
Career Coaching Record
Year
2020
2021
Totals
Overall
10-3
14-7
24-10
Reg. Season
10-3
11-4
21-7
Pac-12 Finish
3rd (reg. season)
3rd
Postseason Finish
N/A
3rd, Regionals
What They’re Saying …
“Chris Waller has been an integral member of the UCLA Gymnastics coaching staff, helping
to build the culture of the program to where it is today, and playing a major role in the team’s
success. As a Bruin All-American, NCAA Champion, U.S. Olympian and Olympic coach, Chris
has a strong pedigree and is recognized as one of the top technical coaches in America.
He is incredibly deserving of the opportunity to lead UCLA Gymnastics into the future as our
head coach.””
- Dan Guerrero, former UCLA Athletic Director
“I believe Chris embodies exactly what it means to be a Bruin: family, integrity, developing
internal motivation, teaching and coaching the entire person, not just as an athlete. He is a
true leader in the most positive and motivating manner. Chris truly cares about the path and
journey in life while focusing on enjoying and learning from the experience. I cannot think of
anyone better suited than Chris Waller for UCLA’s women’s gymnastics head coaching position.”
- Mohini Bhardwaj, UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame member and 2004 U.S. Olympic medalist
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