UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The ability to connect.
Whether you are connecting with your fellow coaches, fans in the stands or, maybe most importantly, your student-athletes, a strong ability to connect may be one of the most important factors in a successful college coaching career.
For women's gymnastics assistant coach Dallas Becerra, those connections have been key to his success both in his early days, and with the current Nittany Lions, both in and out of the gym.
When junior Kourtney Chinnery was thinking about her relationship and connection with Becerra, she immediately thought of topic they both have a passion for: music.
"When we're in the gym, we'll talk about music and stuff, because he likes to talk about certain songs," Chinnery said. "Sometimes he will say, 'I don't know what they are saying. They are mumbling,' but I will like the song and just laugh. It is one of our inside jokes."
Since Becerra has been a part of Penn State staff, he has bonded with his student-athletes beyond just musical taste. For head coach Sarah Brown, he has been a vital part in keeping the coaching dynamic at a balance since they first began coaching at Eastern Michigan together prior to Happy Valley.
"What I've been most impressed about over the last few years is his maturity and ability to connect on an emotional level with our student-athletes and really understand where they're coming from," Brown said. "He does the best that he can to make sure that they're given the best experience here. Emotionally we tend to be on different pages. We can be mad at something and the other one is able to calm it down. I think that's a good balance for the team as we move through the season. It never feels like everyone is mad at them or everyone is happy with them. There's always this balance."
Becerra originally went to college to compete in diving after a youth career in gymnastics, but once he discovered his passion for coaching gymnastics, it has never left. The little aspects of gymnastics that intrigued him from a young age is what drew him back and continued to fuel his passion.
"During my time at Missouri, I started coaching club with Sarah," Becerra said. "I fell in love with gymnastics all over again and loved coaching. So, I quit diving and got into coaching. I love picking apart and working on details, trying to constantly improve on something. I love the beauty and the artistry of it all."
That beauty and artistry has led to countless memorable moments over the years.
"It's hard because I feel like you can pull a favorite moment from almost every meet we compete in," Becerra said. "There's exciting moments in everything that we do, and every athlete has an exciting moment in their career. I think sometimes, it's just the reactions to those athletes doing well."
As the moments and experience have piled up, Becerra has adapted and grown.
"I think when I started coaching, I focused more on being technical," he said. "Like this is right, and this is how things are going to be done, giving them this one-size-fits-all solution. Now, it's everyone's different and every day is different. So, it's constantly taking a new approach and sometimes it takes longer to figure out an athlete."
For Brown, growing together alongside Becerra throughout their coaching careers has been invaluable.
"I truly believe that you're always learning, always growing," Brown said. "I think it's very easy for people to grow apart, and especially with as young as we are, we're still finding ourselves. We're still figuring out what our philosophy is, and my favorite thing about Dallas and I is that we've grown together."
Becerra's growth has led to trust from his head coach and the current trust allows him to take a lead on two areas he knows well, bars and vault.
"I've always loved bars and been drawn to bars," Becerra said. "I think that's an event where you can really separate someone's lines. You can separate athletes' lines. This year, I started coaching vault for our team. I've always loved coaching vault."
Yet no matter what event Becerra is coaching, he maintains the mantra of always performing competitively and embracing the moments, whether in the practice gym or in front of a crowd on the big stage. Becerra has led a team approach called "pressure is privilege".
"Instead of being nervous or feeling anxious about a routine or anxious about performance, he's helped us to embrace that feeling and change our anxiousness or nervousness into excitement," Chinnery said. "To be grateful that we have the opportunity and grateful to show our gifts and show what we've been practicing for all these years and practicing all through preseason."
Becerra's ability to connect with the athletes includes being able to step into their mind and understand what they're thinking without the need to verbalize it.
"The funny thing is I feel like he can literally read my mind sometimes," said Chinnery. "Sometimes, I don't have to say anything, but I'll just make a facial expression and he'll know exactly what I'm thinking. I feel that shows how much our communication has grown."
