“More pike! Very good,” coach Bob Nelligan shouted to one of his gymnasts across the floor during practice. “You worry about me doing the coaching.”
Most parents may yell at their teenage kids with a conventional request to clean their room or be home by midnight. But for Nelligan’s daughter Kelsey, the newest member of the Nelligan trinity to become part of the Terrapin gymnastics program, orders such as “pike, dismount and release” are more customary demands to hear from her father.
“I see her only as a gymnast,” Nelligan said, referring to the little amount of time he spends with his daughter outside the gym.
“I don’t see her as my daughter as much as you’d think.”
For Bob Nelligan, this season fulfills his dreams. Not because his team has gotten off to a solid start, but for the first time in his career, he is with his family each and every day he works. With the addition of his son Brett to the coaching staff two years ago and his daughter Kelsey to the team this season, Bob considers himself a very lucky man.
“For me, this is the best thing that could possibly happen,” Nelligan said. “It’s a father’s dream to have his children with him every day.”
It is no coincidence Bob gets to enjoy this luxury, living in College Park with the family he has. Bob himself was a great vaulter at the University of Massachusetts and his wife Chris was a coach at the Hill’s gymnastics program in Gaithersburg, which boasts past members such as Dominique Dawes, Elice Ray and Courtney Kupets.
Additionally, Kelsey and Brett’s uncle Peter Korman was a bronze medalist at the 1976 Olympics in the floor exercise event. Brett, who attended his father’s alma mater because this university did not have a men’s gymnastics program, was a top-10 vaulter in 2002.
Now it is time for Kelsey to continue the Nelligan legacy in gymnastics. After a knee injury set her back in high school, Kelsey didn’t know whether she wanted to be a collegiate gymnast. Her brother and father convinced her to keep working at vault, her best event, and here she is today on the Terps gymnastics squad.
“I grew up watching the team as a kid,” Kelsey said. “And I really wanted to be part of this team.”
Kelsey may not see meet competition during her freshman season, but she hopes by next year she will have mastered the vault enough to participate. As a youngster, she learned the Tsukahara’s vault, where she could do twisting handsprings. But in college, Yurchenko is the vault of choice and is a very complicated method to learn.
“For Kelsey to come in and expect to learn [Yurchenko] in six months is a little unrealistic,” her father said. “She doesn’t want to take time away from the rest of the team just because she feels like she’s a bit behind.”
Although Kelsey hasn’t competed in a meet yet, she still contributes to the team in various other ways. Always seen with a wide smile on her face, Kelsey is active moving mats and cheering on her team during game time. After being a flyer on her high school’s cheerleading squad for three years, Kelsey knows how to be a productive member of the team, even if she’s not the one doing the vaulting.
“More than being a cheerleader, I think she’s very much aware of how important it is to be a team player,” Bob said. “And right now she says, ‘Well if I can’t compete and get you a score, I can pull mats and cheer and be helpful in that way.’ And that is stuff we absolutely need and count on.”
Kelsey’s ability in gymnastics and cheerleading doesn’t make her the only multi-sport athlete in the family. Her brother Brett became a diver after the Massachusetts gymnastics program was cancelled, and father Bob is dubbed “Duke” because of the location in Hawaii he won a competitive surfing contest.
Both Brett and Kelsey said it isn’t weird to answer to their dad during practice. They call him by his much-earned nickname, “Duke,” just as all the other girls on the team do.
“I get treated just like everyone else on the team,” Kelsey said. “I don’t mind having my father as the coach.”
If Kelsey grows tired of hearing her father’s coaching, her brother’s soon follows. Bob said Brett can be a real positive influence on Kelsey’s career.
“Brett has a whole lot of patience with her being as she is his sister,” Bob said. “He understands her personality and is able to coach to her personality. For an incoming freshman, that’s huge, because sometimes you don’t really get to know them until Christmas.”
Brett has already spent a lot of time working with his sister in an attempt to improve her talent. Being a star vaulter himself, Brett puts Kelsey at a distinct advantage in learning her desired event. And although Kelsey hasn’t competed yet, Brett loves what his sister does for the team.
“Kelsey brings a whole other dimension to the group,” Brett said. “She’s a hard worker and really focused.”
The work Brett has done not only for his sister, but also for the team, does not go unnoticed. He creates immediate connections with the other girls, and is a fan favorite among the gymnasts’ parents. Before every meet he always talks to the athletes’ families, and they usually respond with a giant hug for the third-year assistant coach.
Brett just received his law degree, and isn’t sure if he wants to become head coach in the future, but his dad certainly thinks he’s qualified for the job, if the torch is ever passed from father to son.
“[Brett] obviously has developed the credentials for it and he has a personality that has been trained for this type of work,” said Bob, who is in his 28th season. “I think he enjoys it too, which is very, very important.”
But for now, Brett is the assistant coach and his sister is a freshman vaulter.
And Dad wouldn’t have it any other way.
“For me as a father, I’m around my family every single day,” Bob said. “And that’s absolutely thrilling.”
Contact reporter Mark Selig at mseligdbk@gmail.com.
