March 1, 2010

Long-Time Brecksville-Broadview Heights Coach Will Be Recognized at State Championships

Each year, all 24 of the Ohio High School Athletic Association sanctioned sports and the four allied professional organizations can recognize and honor one of their members with an OHSAA Sportsmanship, Ethics and Integrity (SEI) Award. The recipients are selected by the directors or executive committees of the respective coaches or allied organizations. Individuals selected should reflect the values of sportsmanship, ethics and integrity in all their professional responsibilities.

The Ohio High School Gymnastics Coaches Association has selected Ron Ganim, co-coach at Brecksville-Broadview Heights, as its 2009-10 SEI Award Recipient. He will be honored at this weekend�s state tournament.

Ganim began his gymnastics coaching career in 1966 while attending Kent State University and dating a Golden Flash gymnast, Joan, his wife of 40 years and fellow coach at Brecksville-Broadview Heights. After teaching for two years and starting the gymnastics program at Barberton High School, Ganim joined his wife at Brecksville-Broadview Heights in 1970 as a physical education teacher.

Together, the Ganims developed a district-wide gymnastics program in the school system that included over 400 girls and boys. In 1972, the gymnastics program became the first girls varsity team at Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School.

�In my 44 years as a gymnastics coach, I have learned more from my girls than they have learned from me, � Ganim said. �Observing their dedication, enthusiasm to learn, their ability to manage their lives in such a productive way, and their learning how to set and attain goals has allowed me to simply direct them toward excellence in all they do.�

The gymnastics program that Ron and Joan, winner of the 2000 SEI Coaches Award, preside over is one of the most successful in Ohio high school history. The Bees have won a total of nine state titles, including the last six, and have not lost a meet, invitational or tournament since the beginning of the 2004 season. Ganim was also honored as the National Gymnastics Coach of the Year in 2007 by the National Federation of State High School Associations.

�Coaching gymnastics is not rocket science,� he said. �Teaching young ladies to become the best they can be is what Joan and I have strived for and will continue to do until the chalk dust runs out.�