Palatine gymnastics coach helped to shape program started in 1977

Terry Theobald has been giving young athletes in Palatine a leg up on their gymnastics skills for about 27 years.

Theobald, 56, of Des Plaines is coach for the Palatine Gymnastics Club at the Palatine Park District and also head coach of the varsity girls gymnastics team at Palatine High School.

He has helped shape the Palatine Gymnastics Club, which has grown from 60 students and four instructors when it began in 1977 to more than 700 gymnasts and a staff of 30 today.

A national champion himself in trampoline in 1971, coach Theobald helps motivate students to grow as competitors. In fact, one of his favorite parts of the job is seeing kids achieve goals, both in gymnastics and life.

"A kid who's been working on something for so long and all of a sudden he gets it, it's real rewarding that way," he said. "Seeing kids develop and mature into an individual … We mold these kids -- we're building character, we're not just building gymnasts."

Coaches and kids all enjoy a family-like atmosphere at the club, he said.

"It's a family-oriented place. We're all friends outside of the gym and the kids are the same way. They're not just teammates, they're friends, too," he said.

Theobald has seen students return to the club to teach and coach.

"The funny part about the way things evolve, we had a staff meeting a couple weeks ago. I looked around and it was all kids that I coached," Theobald said, smiling.

One of the most challenging parts of his job is finding ways to motivate each individual gymnast.

"Every kid has their own personality. Some kids you can raise your voice to and some you can't. That's the challenging part, just knowing which buttons to push to get things done," he said. "We use different techniques. We have challenge contests every day … We put fun into it too. It's a lot of hard work, but you've got to have fun, too."

Theobald has watched the sport as a whole evolve over the years as well. The uneven parallel bars are much farther apart than they used to be, which allows more swinging. Spring floors make a big difference in the skills you can do in floor exercise. The vaulting horse has changed from a horse into a vaulting table, he said.

Keeping up on changes in the sport is part of the job, too. Theobald was instrumental in the design of the park district's gymnastics facility, built in 1996, and the gymnastics gym at Palatine High.

Theobald credits the parents club and increasing interest in gymnastics in the community with helping the program grow.

"Both sides of town are super supportive (of the gymnastics program) … if you look back at history, Fremd has won the girls state meet for 12-13 years, Palatine won it in 88-89," Theobald said.

"Last year, we (Palatine High School) were that close, it was half a toe-point away. The interest has always been there," he said, citing the state meet where Fremd edged out Palatine for the championship.

Palatine gymnasts will demonstrate their skills from about 10 a.m.-4:35 p.m. Nov. 3 and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 4 at the 24th annual Phyllis Matras Invite held at the Community Center in Palatine. Levels 4, 7, 8 and 9 will compete Nov. 3 and Levels 5 and 6 will compete Nov. 4.

The Invite honors Matras, who was coordinator of the Palatine Gymnastics Club from 1981 until her sudden death in 1984. Theobald remembers Matras, who was his boss, fondly. Her two daughters came through the park district program and also were on Theobald's Palatine High School teams.

A special trophy is awarded in Matras' honor to the highest Palatine all-around gymnast at each level at the meet.

The community is invited to attend the invite and watch these talented gymnasts in action.