Gymnastics: At Issaquah, family matters

What most worries Issaquah gymnastics coach Ryan Fleisher as her team, unbeaten for three seasons, prepares for the Class 3A/2A state meet tomorrow in Tacoma?

"The year-end banquet," Fleisher said, smiling but not joking. "It's going to be a tearfest this year."

Fleisher's team is large (27 gymnasts), loaded with seniors (10) and talented (Issaquah returns with the No. 5, 10 and 13 all-around finishers from last year's state meet). And, in Fleisher's eyes, the Eagles are an extension of her family.

"Our kids have seen me through the death of my grandmother, the death of my father-in-law, the birth of my second child, my first daughter entering kindergarten, my assistant coach getting married and my mother getting cancer," Fleisher said.

"I'm never going to have another four years like this in my life again, with so much going on, and these girls have been a big part of it all. That banquet will be a hard night to go through."

Fleisher, a 1993 Issaquah grad, has yet to lose a meet as a head coach. Her teams have won the past two state championships.

Fleisher competed for Issaquah coaching legend Pat Hatmaker, then served two years under her as an assistant before she and her husband pursued business outside the state. When they returned, she rejoined the Issaquah staff as an assistant for the 2001 season and became head coach the next year.

"I guess I haven't taught our girls a well-balanced approach to competition on how to be winners and how to be losers," Fleisher said with a laugh. "But we've still learned an awful lot together."

Six of Issaquah's 10 seniors (Amy Bernard, Danielle Borth, Lauren Baughman, Laura Grommon, Kately Johnson, Lauren McElroy) have trained with Fleisher since their freshman years. Their only defeat during that stretch was a season-opening loss to Newport, the eventual 2001 state champion.

The extended-family theme is pervasive. Fleisher's husband, Mike, knows each gymnast by name. Issaquah gymnasts wear pink ribbons on their warmups in support of Fleisher's mom, Judy Simpon, diagnosed with cancer last fall. (Simpson has attended all but one meet this season.) When Fleisher's older daughter turned 4 last year, she had to have two parties.

"One for her little friends," Fleisher said, "and one for her big friends. She looks at the girls as part of the family.

"They're good kids, involved in good stuff," she added. "I don't worry about any of them getting in trouble. And after working with them all year and getting to know them, that's 27 babysitters I can call on."

When Fleisher got the news last year during practice that her grandmother had died, her squad transformed itself into a support team.

Fleisher, 28, says she has helped guide some of her gymnasts through family matters, personal issues, season-ending injuries (Shaina Lawson and Kara Grijalva have both rebounded from serious injuries last season), even driver's-license exams.

Her gymnasts appreciate the attention.

"She spends a ridiculous amount of time helping us get better," said Bernard, third in all-around in last week's Sea-King 3A District meet. "Then outside of practice she's constantly checking up on us. She's helped a lot of people figure things out in their lives."

Fleisher says she acquired her approach from Hatmaker, who coached Issaquah gymnastics for 25 years. Hatmaker was diagnosed with multiple myeloma cancer in 1994, succumbing on Valentine's Day in 1999. When Issaquah won its latest district title last Saturday, it came on the fifth anniversary of Hatmaker's passing.

"She was just an incredible woman and my driving force," said Fleisher, instrumental in having the Issaquah gym (and an annual invitational meet) named in Hatmaker's honor.

"Once you came into her life, you never left. She mentored you, guided you, helped you in times of need. When kids needed track shoes, suddenly the next day she would say, 'Oh, I found these track shoes. Are they your size?' And they always were. She was so never-endingly giving.

"I don't think my purpose with Hattie was to just learn about gymnastics. My purpose was for her to teach me about coaching and teach me about life and make me a good person to send out in the world. I think she did that.

"I hope I can contribute the same way."