The head coaches of the 12 teams to qualify to this year’s NCAA Championships are on hand today for a conference call with the media. We’re bringing it to you live from start to finish!

Refresh this page every five minutes or so for the most up-to-date quotes, which will appear at the top of the live blog.

2:25 pm. Any coach who has been to nationals with individuals, not a team: “Can you allude to what it’s like to go as an individual? Any difficulties?”

Graba: “I’ve been to nationals with individuals. It’s not nearly as good of an experience as going with your team, for the coaches or the athletes. It’s an honor and a privilege but going with your team is a special thing and you invest your whole year into making it with your teammates and friends and basically your sisters, so when you get to the end it’s a real letdown if they don’t get to go and do the meet with you. Not only the emotional issue, but it’s a completely different dynamic. It’s harder to coach, hard to get the girl motivated, it’s not something they’ve done all year. They’re not good at it. They’re good at being team members. Going as an individual is not nearly as much fun.”

Kendig: “A lot has to do with the team you’re with. The more the team you’re with embraces you, the easier it becomes. As a team you can help that individual competitor out, so who you’re rotating with is a big thing.”

Kondos-Field: “We have been there, and I echo what Dan and Jeff said. The two things that separate our sport from most other sports…one is that they come in as individuals and it’s the first time they’re competing as a team. They learn really quickly how to earn rewards with your sisters, which is so much greater than earning them individually. The second thing is that we’re dealing with student athletes not working toward a professional gymnastics career. We’re helping them prepare for life through gymnastics as opposed to helping them get signed to professional teams. It’s big difference, and the job we all have is a big privilege.”

2:21 pm. “There’s been talk about changing the scoring system to a more elite system. What are your thoughts?”

Breaux: “I think that the 10 is a sacred thing. I believe if we deviate from the 10, all of our fans and everyone accustomed to it…it would create confusion, chaos, and would cost us a lot of our fan base.”

Durante: “I think the absolute worst thing we could do would be to deviate from that 10.0 standard.”

Smith: “We’ve been fortunate to have 10s in our arena and our crowd base continues to grow at the possibility of witnessing the 10 live. I don’t know why anyone would want to let that go.”

Duckworth: “If we want to change our code and make it more difficult to get to a 10 start value to separate difficulty, that’s a way to go, but we shouldn’t deviate from the 10.0.”

Plocki: “I agree that a 10 is sacred but it should also be earned. We have to make sure that 10s are given…I think there are 10s that are absolutely deserved in collegiate gymnastics, but when these discussions come up it’s when everyone sees 10s given with hops on landings. Something that wasn’t a perfect 10. We’ve been trying for years to figure out how to deal with that but I don’t think we should go away from the 10. It’s imperative for our fan bases to be able to see a young lady nail a routine, stick a dismount, and score a 10.”

2:19 pm. For coaches without NCAA titles: “What does it take for a newcomer to break through?”

Plocki: “I think number one, the playing field has become very level and there are probably any of the six teams that qualify to the Super Six could in fact win the championship on that given night. A lot of it has to do with your team believing that they’re capable of breaking through that glass ceiling and being able to win it. In order for the judges…they need to see that confidence, that performance level from the athletes, which directly impacts and reflects the judging of events. Sometimes a lot of it is a self-imposed feeling of it’s just this select group that can do it. Breaking through that barrier of believing you’re capable of doing that…as I said, the talent is very balanced, but it’s the ability to go and perform at the best of your ability and break through that ceiling.”

Smith: “I would have to say seeing Oklahoma break in last year and Florida break in a couple of years ago gave us all a lot of confidence and hope that more teams will continue to break in.”

2:16 pm. For Duckworth: “Was becoming head coach a smoother transition than you thought? Or were there challenges?”

“There are a lot of moving parts that have nothing to do with gymnastics…the administrative things you’re responsible for. That was a surprise, what Sarah kept from me in my other role. The biggest surprise as far as the team’s concerned is that we didn’t have a drop-off in attitudes, in desire, in goals. I thought that’d be more challenging. Moving from assistant to head coach…when you’re an assistant, you have a relationship and you can’t always be the heavy. That’s sometimes the head coach’s role. Now when it’s time to be heavier, how are they going to respond? But they gave me the opportunity to be that person. When it arose, I made it clear what I would do to help them become better women. That’s the goal – become better women to battle life when gymnastics is all over. I hope to have many many more years of doing that.”

2:15 pm. For Kondos-Field: “Talk about Sam Peszek in her final year.”

“You are going to be an exceptionally strong leader in whatever you do in life. You need to come back to teach people how to lead people. Don’t show them by example, but lead with them. She’s had a rough year. She’s fallen more this year, especially on beam, which is her playground. That has brought out the humility in her which allowed her to be an even better leader. Going into championship season, you couldn’t ask for more in a leader and someone the team respects like they do her.”

2:12 pm. For Breaux: [Cut out, something about how gymnastics is getting more mainstream attention, i.e. the Utah article in the NY Times]

Breaux: “Do you want me to make a statement? That didn’t sound like a question. People wanna see good competition. There’s also a consistent message. We’ve been doing different and new things, and the senior team has been exciting to follow and watch. We’ve had a lot of great marketing, things we did differently in the past few years. I give a lot of credit to the SEC Network, who gave us incredible coverage, and we ended our season with a capacity crowd of over 13,000 people. It was extremely gratifying for the staff and overwhelming for the team.”

Durante: “Something incredibly exciting for SEC and the Pac-12, both conferences, their viewership before their dual meets were just below men’s basketball. These networks…it is continuing to grow our sport and the coverage and the attendance. I think the best is yet to come as we move closer and closer to live TV for every event.”

2:11 pm. For Graba: “Are you reaching out to anyone about how to prepare?”

“Not really. I was lucky enough to work under Greg and Megan Marsden for five years. Megan can probably tell you what my routine is. I’m basically stealing from them. A lot of what we’ve done comes from the Utah playbook, along with my own flavor and being in a different part of the country. I’m preparing like I did as an assistant at Utah.”

2:07 pm. For Kindler: “Is it surprising that there aren’t more college programs in Texas?”

“On our team, 6 of our 17 athletes are from Texas and a lot of our teams have a strong presence in Texas regarding recruiting looking for athletes for our teams. I do find it surprising. Texas Woman’s has done an amazing job, and I don’t know if anyone else competes there regularly, but they have a great atmosphere, a great following, and I think other universities would benefit from adding gymnastics. Something our coaches committee has done is put together a reception prior to the Super Six. We’ve invited Athletic Directors [around Texas] to see the championship and see what our sport is all about. We are all promoting and recruiting in the state of Texas. Some of the very best athletes in the Olympics, in the NCAA Championships, are from Texas. It’s a great wealth of talent, so yes, we would love to see teams add in Texas, to come out and support and check out our sport next weekend and see what all the excitement is about.”

Durante: “I just want to add and if you ask any athlete on our teams if they were given the opportunity to stay home and compete in Texas, a vast majority would have said yes. It would make our jobs tougher recruiting-wise if there was a DI team in Texas, but every coach on this call would be so excited for that challenge and that addition. Any DI team that adds a program in Texas would make nationals in a short amount of time.”

Duckworth: “You could have an in-state team in Texas and vie for a title in a short amount of time. That’s how much talent is in that state.”

2:00 pm. Kathy Johnson-Clarke asking the question! HOLLA! “With the thrill of it being in Texas and so many of your gymnasts coming from Texas, it’s a reminder of how close this community is. As fiercely competitive as you all are, can you talk about the sisterhood, brotherhood, family feel, camaraderie between the coaches? You came up together, some of you even competed together, so I’d love to bring that into the conversation about where the sport is now.”

Field: SHE’S BACK! “Being one of the older coaches that’s been around the longest, what you’re talking about is absolutely right. It’s a great feeling to want to win, but also to be able to feel true happiness for your peers when they win and when they do so well. I’m thinking about LSU and Nebraska who have been on the cutting edge for so long and I find myself week after week pulling for them. It’s hard to remain at the top for that long. When Florida won at UCLA years ago, I was overwhelmed. It really is this tremendous feeling of respect and love. I told Rhonda, just embrace it. IT’s like you’re getting married. Kathy you hit the nail on the head. We have tremendous respect and we like each other. I don’t know if they like me.”

Other coaches: “We like you, Val.”

Plocki: “The other side of that is that our athletes, a lot of them were teammates for many many years. They go off to their different programs and I love when we have the banquet and athletes go around and get pictures with all their old club teammates who are now competing for other teams. Here we are on Wednesday at the banquet and everyone’s friends, and then two days later we’re on the floor against each other. I love that about our sport. I’ve had so many people say to me, you’re going to compete at Michigan State, what do you mean you’re friends with that coach? What do you mean you’re friends with athletes at Ohio State? We can be competitive but we can also care about each other, be supportive of each other, and I love that.”

Duckworth: “There is not a coach on this line that doesn’t have a quality that one of us wouldn’t want. It says so much about the people we want to be surrounded with. The family of gymnastics is small, and I think about Shelby at Kentucky and that video that’s out there right now, yes we’re competitive but there’s a great deal of admiration and love for one another because we’re all working hard and doing those things. We’re very blessed to have this in our sport.”

Kendig: “It’s a unique environment. Not all sports are like this where we get to nationals and everyone’s there and it’s like a reunion. We do the team competitions where we’re rivals, and then at event finals it’s a totally different feel where you’re warming up together and it’s a different environment from the team competition.”

1:59 pm. For Graba and other SEC coaches, talk about the strength of the conference.

Graba: “I think the SEC ended up with all of our members in the top 25 which is a statement to how tough the league is. It prepares us really well because you don’t really get a week off. It’s a great environment at home and on the road, and says something about what we do for two and a half months to get ready for these last meets. It really prepares us for championship meets. The SEC is in a great spot and is only getting better.”

1:57 pm. For Duckworth, talk about the emotion after Sarah Patterson’s retirement.

“Our ladies have embraced the transition. The path has been paved for success in every aspect. When Sarah and David decided to step down, very shockingly, it was done in a way where the program was at its best. We have amazing athletes currently, we have amazing athletes to come, and so the emotions happened a little bit in the fall but we got going and they realized we’re still Alabama. We have the same goals and the same opportunities if we do the work. They took on this amazing identity and we talked about protecting the legacy. When we won SECs I said we’re not done yet, but step one, ladies, you carried it on. They have a lot of ownership because of the years of success in our program. We had that as a rally call all year. They have been confident and have been having so much fun. They have a lot of love, they’ve learned to be selfless, and they’re doing it for one another.”

1:56 pm. For Marsden, talk about Tory’s injury and how it affected the team.

“There’s no question that on the evening that it occurred that not only did our team/staff feel sick, but we had 14,000 fans feel the same way. They lived Tory’s career and felt the loss at that moment knowing it was probably the end of her career. It’s not easy to come back from. As much as we wanted it to take just a goodnight sleep, it’s taken a little longer, and we’ve worked to have Georgia really step in as a vocal leader. I don’t know that she can step in much more in her gymnastics, she’s been amazing, but we need someone to rally the troops and Georgia has been willing to be that person.”

1:55 pm. “The Pac 12 didn’t have a rep in the Super Six last year. Is there some extra motivation among conference coaches to get back there?”

Marsden: “Yes, I remember that well, and Utah was one of the teams we felt like should have been there. Certainly all the Pac-12 teams competing this year are anxious to address that and we’ll try to have a strong presence in the Super Six.”

Smith: “I would agree with Megan. Competing against all the Pac-12 teams this year, I think the four teams represented have some of the best gymnastics in the country and we’re excited to share it.”

1:53 pm. For Faehn: “Talk about the opportunity to win three titles in a row.”

“We’re not going in there with that mindset, adding the extra pressure onto this team. This team is completely different. Every team has to earn not just the championship but the performance at championships. This is a new group and I know that they’re excited to get out there and just get acclimated on the practice day and focus only on the first day of competition and advancing. Just to be able to give ourselves that chance to be able to try and challenge to win that title instead of focusing on that end result. We’re just taking it step by step and focusing on our journey.”

1:52 pm. Megan Marsden of Utah: “Our performance at regionals was not representative of our Utah team and what they’re capable of. We were certainly relieved to be moving on to championships, making our 40th appearance there. Our athletes and coaches are looking forward to another chance to really demonstrate our talent. We are sorry that fans will not get to see Tory Wilson, who was injured at conference championships, but we do have a really deep team and some great athletes ready to step in for her and we have other top athletes we’re looking forward to showcasing.”

1:50 pm. Valorie Kondos-Field of UCLA: “There’s a level of gymnastics out there that’s absolutely amazing. We compete in our conference so much but when we got to regionals, I was just enamored by all of the unique and beautiful gymnastics [ from outside the Pac-12]. We started out the season fine – not injured or sick or anything. We just competed softly. About 3 meets in, our coaching staff just said we need to splash some cold water on their face and we came up with the slogan that they need to become maniacal. They needed to become lunatics, and maniacle about every little detail. The athletes responded to that and that intensity on a daily basis. I attribute that to their character. That’s why we got better and better throughout the season.”

(She cut out a lot and I think they lost her completely, hahaha.)

1:48 pm. Kristen Smith of Stanford: “I’d like to reiterate the congratulations. That regional meet gets more and more stressful every year! For us it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. This year we’ve had a lot of adversity in terms of minor injuries, illnesses, etc. I’m just so proud of the team and how they’ve stayed positive and strong through it all. They’ve showed tremendous resilience and grit and mental toughness. WE’re battle-tested, we feel good about where we are right now, and we’re looking forward to our 15th trip to championships and working towards our 7th Super Six. We’re peaking, we’re ready for nationals, and we can’t wait to compete against some wonderful teams.”

1:47 pm. Tanya Chaplin of Oregon State: “We are thrilled to be back at national championships. It has been a wonderful year coaching this group of young women. This team’s fight and drive has been inspiring every day. They are excited, we’re all excited to be back in Fort Worth, where we’ve been fortunate enough to compete at this venue and we really enjoyed the experience. We are excited to just continue on celebrating every step of this championships season.”

1:46 pm. KJ Kindler of Oklahoma: “Thank you to Fort Worth and the hosts. I’m so excited to see what the attendance is like in Texas. There is great excitement for our sport and Texas is a hotbed not only for recruiting but for enthusiasts of gymnastics. Congratulations to everyone…regionals is always tough because that’s when the elimination begins. The nerves get greater, it’s an exciting time in the season. Our team is well-balanced. We have an exact 25% contribution from every single class on our squad. We’ve had a great season and it’s been exciting for us. 8 of our 13 meets were on the road, so we’re used to that and are excited to take the 3 hour trip…we’re going on a bus, not a plane. We’re happy to get the opportunity for our fans to come along on that short trip down to Texas.”

1:45 pm. Dan Kendig of Nebraska: “I believe the competition keeps getting stronger and stronger, and to be on the floor with 11 other great teams is an honor. We have four seniors, it’s kinda sad that this will be their last event, and I’m sure as the rest of you feel, four years go by so fast. We also have a lot of freshmen helping out. It’s been a good year and we’re just excited to get down there and get started.”

1:43 pm. Bev Plocki of Michigan: “I’m reiterating a lot of what’s been said, but congrats to the teams and individuals who have qualified this year. We’re excited to be coming to our 22nd national championship in program history. I’m very proud of this team and these young ladies for what they’ve accomplished thus far. We graduated six seniors last year and 50% of our lineups from last season are different. People thought this would be a rebuilding year for us but these young ladies have stepped up to the plate and done an incredible job. We also have some athletes from Texas who are excited about their homecoming. We’re just excited about getting started, we hope to have the opportunity to be on the floor Saturday night for what would be our first title, and thanks everyone there that has worked so hard to prepare this championship for all of the teams coming to compete.”

1:42 pm. D.D. Breaux of LSU: “We’re just really excited because we’ve been to this venue many times and it’s fabulous. It’s going to be an incredible championships. Our season has been very rewarding, and the backbone of our team is very obvious – our senior class, two of whom are from Texas. They can’t get past the fact that their careers are going to end there in their home state.”

1:41 pm. Danna Durante of Georgia: “The field just continues to get stronger and stronger every year, and that is no different this year. It’s certainly an exciting thing to be a part of. Our staff is very excited to go to Fort Worth and we’re thrilled to have this championship there. I can’t think of a better way to showcase our sport.”

“This has been a year full of learning. We have a very young team, and a great majority of our routines we count on are performed by underclassmen. They’ve learned a tremendous amount, they’ve had tremendous growth this year, and they feel like they’re finally coming together and believing in each other and trusting this process. The last several weeks have been exciting seeing it all come together.”

1:39 pm. Rhonda Faehn of Florida: “We’ve never been to Fort Worth before and it’s a hotbed for gymnastics. Many of our athletes are from Texas so it’ll be a nice homecoming for them. We’re really excited, and thanks everyone who has been a part of hosting this. We hosted in 2010 and it’s definitely no easy task.”

“For our team, it has been really fun. It’s been completely different, having been thrown so many challenges and so much adversity with injuries throughout the entire season. We’ve had a different lineup for almost every meet, and with that it’s been exciting, we’ve had newcomers gaining tremendous experience. Now having Bridget back for her first [all-around] competition at regionals, she feels really refreshed and fortunate because she almost had a season-ending injury at the start of the season.”

1:38 pm. Jeff Graba of Auburn: “I think I speak for everyone at Auburn with how excited we are. It’s been a great year. We’ve set a lot of Auburn records. Our ultimate gola was to make the national championship. We’ve done that, our girls have a lot of pride and excitement, and a bit of relief that we achieved that goal. Now our goal is the same as everyone else – we wanna be there on that final night. We’re excited to show the nation what we’re about and are looking forward to a fun trip.”

1:36 pm. These are going to be paraphrased because they talk pretty fast!

Dana Duckworth is first to chat! “Every team is its own tea, no matter how many veterans, no matter how many newcomers. Every team has to find an identity, and this year especially with the coaching transition, we were able to find a dynamic, tenacious group of women who never quit. Over my 20 years as an athlete, volunteer, assistant, and now coach, competing at Championships never gets old and never gets taken for granted. Though we have a new coaching staff and new dynamic, we’re still Alabama.”

“After winning regionals the opportunity is there [to win Championships] and these girls have earned it. We can’t wait to get there…three of our freshmen are from Texas, and we should have a lot of family and friends following us.”

1:34 pm. The call is beginning now with little speeches from each of the coaches before they open for questions.

Article by Lauren Hopkins