Minnetonka Coaches Reunite To Lead Gymnastics Program

Sam Howard had a playful demeanor as a senior on the Henry Sibley gymnastics team in 2006. One day, taking a camera her assistant coach left out to help gymnasts capture photos of one another’s routines, Howard posed for one shot after another until the camera was filled with pictures of herself.

Little did she know that six years later, Howard and that coach, Janelle Borgen, would be reunited as co-coaches on the gymnastics team. And those photos? They’re still available to resurface.

“They will come back one day,” Borgen joked. “That was 2006. I have them all.”

That’s the type of coaching dynamic the Skippers are enjoying this year as Howard and Borgen reconnected. The two were part of a Henry Sibley team that went unbeaten in their conference six years ago, and both Borgen and Howard bring a gymnastics background that will help nurture the Minnetonka program this winter.

With Borgen mentoring Howard in her first year as a high school varsity head coach, Howard again finds herself learning from her longtime gymnastics teacher.

“I’m a little sponge,” Howard said. “I’m the little apprentice this year. We’re doing it together, but she’s definitely mentoring me in everything I didn’t know about high school gymnastics.”

Gymnastics has opened many doors for Howard, who has competed or coached club, high school, college and internationally. But as Borgen begins to transition out of the head coaching role—she has a 1-year-old at home—Howard is now learning the ins and outs of leading a high school program.

The administrative work, in particular, is one of the main things Borgen is teaching Howard.

But philosophically, the two mesh in the gym. Borgen said the two come from similar backgrounds, and because she has direct experience with Howard’s ability, she knows she can easily trust her with handling half the routines at practice.

“I love coaching vaults and bars, and she’s really good at beam and floor,” Borgen said. “As a head coach since you’re responsible for all of it, you’re always trying to watch everything and be everywhere at once. But since I know her and her skills on beam and floor, and other events, too, it balances quite nicely.”

Howard said learning the ropes with a trusted mentor, along with being in a nurturing gymnastics community, has helped her adjust to the co-head coaching role.

“Being in the Minnetonka community makes it easier, because everyone is so helpful and there is such a good foundation for the athletes and the coaches,” Howard said. “You have parents who are there to support the team as a whole to be successful.”

In the future, Borgen said Howard will transition and take over her responsibilities in full. But Borgen, a lifetime gymnastics athlete and coach, said she’d like to hang around as a volunteer to help out.

That is, if her longtime protégé will let her.

“I’d think about it,” Howard joke. “No, her expertise is well appreciated in the gym.”