The boys’ team at New Hope recently showed how much it could achieve, winning the prestigious Iron Man trophy after the Southern California State Junior Olympic Men’s Gymnastic Championships meet March 15 in Riverside.
“The Iron Man trophy means a lot to us,” said Guonian Wu, who trains the Level 7 through 10 boys. “That means we’re the best boys’ program in Southern California. I’m so proud of my boys. They work very, very hard, and their dedication has paid off.”
New Hope also won the title in 2006 and 1996.
Wu knows about winning the Iron Man, calculated by taking top scores from Levels 5 through 10. He’s won seven of them in a distinguished coaching career. A former member of the Chinese men’s gymnastics national team, Wu has been at New Hope for about four years and he commands respect.
After all, not every coach has a pommel horse move — “the Wu” — named after him.
“I tried to use my Chinese training” Wu said of his coaching philosophy. “It was kind of harder, kind of different for them. But I just kept telling them, ‘This is the way you can eventually reach your goal.’ ”
No explanation needed now. But even beyond the strict training, which can go about 25 hours a week, there is a sense of family at New Hope. The boys see it, even the most talented ones like Yoshi Mori, a senior at Irvine High.
Mori, a U.S. Junior National Team member, won the all-around boys’ Level 10 title at the state championships.
He finished no lower than third on any individual event, and he wants to be at least top-six this weekend at the Region 1 men’s championships in Chandler, Ariz., so he can represent the region at nationals.
