What defines a team that wins championships, compared to the rest of the pack? One could name a lot of factors, including effort, skill and endurance. But one of the most important aspects of a successful team are the relationships developed within the team.
This is especially the case in college athletics and can be seen at the U with the Utah gymnastics team. Every person in the program knows each other well, especially the gymnasts themselves, who have bonded like a family. But the relationships between the coaching staff and their athletes are also strong.
This is definitely evident with co-head coach Tom Farden and senior Breanna Hughes. The relationship between the new coach and the team’s top performing leader is something any sports program would like to have.
Farden gives Hughes a lot of credit for becoming the gymnast she is today due to all the hard work she’s put in the last four years.
“To watch [Hughes] grow and be one of our stars and mainstays on this roster over the course of these last four years has been awesome,” Farden said. “It’s great to see her maturation, and it’s awesome to see her confidence just grow.”
Even though Farden has a great relationship with the rest of the Red Rocks, Farden and Hughes have a deep connection that goes back before both of them were even involved with Utah Gymnastics. In fact, their relationship began more than 1,200 miles away from Salt Lake City, in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
“I’ve known [Hughes] since she was eight years old,” Farden said. “Her father and I used to be roommates growing up in Minnesota. We’ve known each other for a long, long time.”
With a close relationship with Hughes’ father in the Twin Cities area, Farden was able to watch a young gymnast full of potential develop into a leader of one of the best gymnastics programs in the country. Hughes had a lot to thank Farden for with her development while at Utah.
“[Farden] and my dad have been close for longer than I’ve been alive,” Hughes said. “I first met him when I was eight years old, and I used to go cheer him and my dad on in all the sporting events they do, like marathons and stuff. I’ve just known him for a long time, so it’s just awesome to be with him on a team now and have him as my coach.”
When growing up in Champlin, Minn., Hughes didn’t really know Farden as a great gymnastics coach, but more as a friend. When she decided to take her talents to Utah, it was Farden who helped her along the way within a tough gymnastics program.
“I knew him growing up, but I didn’t know him in very well in a gymnastics sense,” said Hughes. “My dad had the biggest influence on me and I really only knew him as my dad’s friend, not a gymnastics coach. But ever since I came [to Utah] he’s had a very big influence on my gymnastics.”
Between Farden’s knowledge and his connection with Hughes, he was able to help correct many of her issues as a young gymnast, which transformed her into a competitor and, more importantly, a leader. Fellow co-head coach Megan Marsden knew this connection helped Hughes develop as a gymnast while also coping with adapting to a new community when she arrived as a freshman in 2011.
“I’ve recognized their connection from the very beginning when [Hughes] came in as a freshman,” Marsden said. “Because they knew each other from before, and her father and Farden were very close friends growing up, you just knew that there was somebody in this gym that she can count on in watching her best interests. I don’t think you can replace a connection like that.”
When the time came for a coaching change as coaching legend Greg Marsden rode off into the sunset, it was Hughes who was most excited to see Farden be promoted to co-head coach alongside Marsden last season.
“Nobody was more excited to see [Farden] move up to a head coaching spot than [Hughes],” Marsden said. “I think she’s his biggest advocate.”
A good relationship between a coach and athlete is always a must-have connection, but having a friendship as well makes it that much more special. With Hughes’ last season as a Red Rock almost at an end, Farden wants to make sure he will do his best to help her go out winner this year.
@chad_marquez