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Sarah Weis has been around gymnastics in Austin in many different roles and now she’s taking over the varsity program as she will serve as the Packers’ head coach this season.

Weis, a 2001 AHS grad, competed for the Packers while she was in high school and she went on to coach youth gymnastics with the YMCA before serving as an assistant coach with the varsity team for the past five years.

Through the years, Weis has seen many gymnasts grow from overwhelmed first-timers into confident competitors.

“I love it. Some of the girls that have already graduated, I coached on the Halos team,” Weis said. “To see them compete in high school was a really awesome experience. Now I’m seeing some of the little girls come up and I get to work with them on varsity.”

Over the years, Weis has learned to embrace the joy of developing skills for young athletes and she knows that the foundation of coaching lies in the relationships that she builds with her gymnasts.

Weis is looking for the team to let go of distractions and focus on the things they can do to improve this season.

“My goal for the girls is to learn how to create more controllable goals vs. just a score,” Weis said. “You can’t control what judge you get and I want them to focus on things that they can do themselves. When they have a good performance they should be happy, and not down because they didn’t get two-tenths of a point less than they thought they would get.”

Making the transition from assistant to head coach has been rewarding for Weis and she’s received plenty of guidance from the MSHSL.

“It’s been a really good experience. The state of Minnesota has a really good program for becoming a head coach,” Weis said. “They really provide a lot of insight as far as dealing with injuries, health and mental health. You’re coaching for life and not just athletics.”