The University of Georgia held a press conference Tuesday afternoon to introduce Courtney Kupets Carter as the new head coach of the Gymdogs.
Who is Courtney Kupets Carter?
Courtney Kupets Carter is a former gymnast and a three-time national all-around champion with the Georgia gymnastics team from 2005-2009. She was part of three Gymdog teams that took home the SEC Championship title in 2005, 2006, and 2008 and helped secure four NCAA Gymnastics National Championships (2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009) for the red and black. Courtney also was a student-coach from 2009-2010. Regarded as one of the most accomplished collegiate gymnasts in the history of the sport, she was named the best-ever NCAA women’s gymnast in April.
“Thank you all for coming. First off, I just want to thank President Morehead for being here. Thank you, Greg McGarity and the athletic department for entrusting me with the Georgia gymnastics program. To me, it means so much. It’s more than gymnastics. It’s more than anything I had ever done, and I feel like it’s a very special opportunity. I am so thankful and grateful for this chance to show the passion that I had while I was a gymnast at Georgia, but now I get to have that passion as a head coach, and I can’t wait to instill that in the current and future Gym Dogs…,” said Kupets Carter. “I think one other thing that’s important to realize is that I am going to bring back the tradition of Georgia Gymnastics.
Coach Kupets Carter already has an assistant on board as she also announced that former Georgia Gymdogs head coach (1983-2009) and legend Suzanne Yoculan Leebern will be a volunteer coach on her staff.
“It is very important to me to find a staff that compliments my strengths but has different strengths. We need to have the same vision and work together for these athletes to give them the best opportunity to succeed and reach the full potential. We’re in the process of that, making sure I make those right decisions. But the one staff member I do have is our volunteer coach…,” said Kupets Carter.
“In this instance, it’s very appropriate to name that volunteer coach because this volunteer coach can fill in wherever needed. I am 100-percent confident in that, and that is Suzanne Yoculan Leebern. With that, I just want to say that I am so thankful that she would come back and take the time to invest in the program that she started. It’s going to be a monumental year, not only for the program but for the athletes that get to experience little bits of what I got to experience from Suzanne, which will be really exciting.”
Coach Kupets Carter added, “I want to say is that we cannot set our sights as a fanbase, as a team, as a community on what is now, where we are now. We have to set those sights on what we want to accomplish. I feel like if we can collectively do that, it’s limitless. I just would like to say Georgia Gymnastics will win championships again. Go Dogs.”
Here is the audio of Courtney Kupets Carter’s full press conference with the Q & A session.