June 27, 2022 at 8:08 a.m.
Aschenbrenner tabbed as new RHS gymnastics head coach
Aschenbrenner tabbed as new RHS gymnastics head coach
RHS activities director Brian Paulson confirmed the hire to the River News this past Wednesday.
Aschenbrenner brings an extensive gymnastics background as a former competitor in the sport, as well as a current coach and WIAA-certified judge.
Paulson called Aschenbrenner, "the absolute perfect fit to grow this program."
"We know that gymnastics is where you need a specialized coach, someone that's done it," he said. "There's not a ton of gymnastics coaches out there. Fortunately enough, we've chosen a person right here in our community that has a huge background in gymnastics and I'm so excited for her to take over the program. I truly believe the program's going to grow underneath her, with her background, her organization, her love for the sports of gymnastics."
Aschenbrenner takes over for Heather Sturtevant, who stepped down following the 2021-22 season after six years as either the team's head or co-head coach.
"My main goal is to just start building the gymnastics program in Rhinelander and when the position became vacant, it was just one of those things that if we're going to build a good program in Rhinelander, we needed a good head coach," Aschenbrenner told the River News in a phone interview Thursday. "I feel I can serve that need and was excited to apply and get that position."
Aschenbrenner has served as an assistant coach for Rhinelander's middle school program each of the past two seasons, and has been involved with the YMCA of the Northwoods' gymnastics program since 2016. Paulson pointed to those connections as keys in moving the program forward.
"She has a strong connection with the YMCA here, that she's been working with. The YMCA just started a youth competition team," he said. "She has strong ties and she wants to try to tie the thing all the way in from the youth to the middle school to the high school to be able to grow this program and use all these connections in that effort."
Aschenbrenner said those connections will be key to building a program with continuity from the youth level all the way up to varsity.
"Not looking at it as just one year at a time, but looking at it as building to something greater every year," she said. "I think we're there. We have the building blocks to do that with the Y program getting up and running, and the girls we currently have in the program. I think it will just keep getting better as we go.
"Long term goals, definitely building the gymnastics program in general so you get those girls who can compete club and then go to middle school, refine their skills and, by the time they get to high school, they're veterans in the sport. They've competed and they know what they need to do, to do their best. When you get to that point, that's when you start seeing the conference meet champions and kids going to state and the team excelling."
In Aschenbrenner's cover letter and resume for the position, which were obtained by the River News, she stated that she was a former WIAA sectional champion and state qualifier at the high school level. She additionally had coaching experience at Bay Area Gymnastics from 1995-1999 and the Eau Claire YMCA from 2002-2005. She has served as a WIAA licensed judge since 2019.
Aschenbrenner said judging, in particular, has provided a different insight that she can apply as a coach.
"Being a judge, you have the opportunity to not just judge Rhinelander gymnasts, but to go all across the state and see what everyone else is doing," she said. "That's a huge advantage to be able to see some skills you haven't seen thrown before or some combinations, or just being able to get to know the coaches, talk to them and get their input. That's only going to help in helping the Rhinelander program have the best routines that the girls can do that have the basics and all the requirements needed to score the best they can."
Aschenbrenner served as city administrator for just under one year, serving from Sept. 8, 2015 until Aug. 29, 2016 when the Rhinelander City Council voted 6-2 to terminate her contract. She has served as the Director of Business and Finance at Camp Luther in Three Lakes since October 2016.
"When door shuts, you open up another one, and I think Camp Luther, I'm able to provide a great service to them," she said. "I've also had the opportunity to start coaching at the Y and judging and doing all of those things and being active in the community.
"I feel I know Rhinelander and the community well. I've been blessed to be part of the YMCA and I think that's a huge part of the community and I think that's just a natural next step."
Both Aschenbrenner and Paulson said, though the head gymnastics coach vacancy is filled, the program - from the YMCA youth to the high school level - is always in need of assistant coaches who can help teach the sport.
"We're always looking for more too," Paulson said. "If there's someone that has a gymnastics background that's interested in coaching, we'd love to reach out to them and see what they can bring to the table."
The Hodags finished tied for second in the Great Northern Conference Small Division last year, but dealt with injuries and other factors that led to perilously low numbers. The team competed with only four gymnasts in its final three meets of the season, the bare minimum required for a full team score.
"We'll try to grow the numbers. We'll try to get people back out who weren't out in the last year or two who have that background," Paulson said. "We have a great foundation at the middle school level. We have very high numbers at the middle school level. We have very successful teams at the middle school level right now. It's going to be exciting to be able to watch it grow the next couple of years."
"Right now we have some very talented, very hard-working girls in the program - both in the high school and the middle school," Aschenbrenner added. "Gymnastics is one of those sports that's really hard to just pick up in middle school. I think we're going to be able to do some good things with the girls that we have right now. They're very talented, so we can really hone in on their skills and, hopefully, give them an opportunity to exceed some of their goals."
Aschenbrenner plans to hold contact days and open gyms beginning in late July, once gymnastics apparatus is set up inside the Hodag Dome for the upcoming school year. Formal practice for the 2022-23 season is slated to begin Nov. 7.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
WEATHER SPONSORED BY
E-Editions
Latest News
E-Editions
Events
August
To Submit an Event Sign in first
Today's Events
No calendar events have been scheduled for today.
Comments:
You must login to comment.