Sept. 14, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's and women's gymnastics teams came together on Labor Day to enjoy a day of food and fun. Men's gymnastics head coach Randy Jepson hosted both teams at his home.
"We had so much fun at Coach Jepson's home for our Labor Day cookout," said women's gymnastics head coach Jeff Thompson. "It's been wonderful practicing together, performing community service together and now coming together socially as a gymnastics family. The men and women really seemed to appreciate all of the coaches efforts to bring the two teams together. We want everyone to get know each other as individuals, not just 'the new coach' or the 'girl with the cool floor music'. We want to understand who they are, where they come from and what they believe. We spent some time playing a 'Get to Know You' game, which I thought was the highlight of the day. We ate and then the guys and girls spent the rest of the afternoon playing volleyball, hillbilly golf, ping pong and enjoying the Jepson's beautiful backyard pool. It was an amazing event and we can't thank Randy and Sue Jepson enough for opening their home to us."
One of the primary goals for the programs this season is to be more inclusive and not two separate programs. The teams share a gym together and conduct workouts at the same time each day. They believe building a camaraderie between the teams will allow each group to improve and be more successful.