By: Danielle Levy
It’s all about family for the Terrapins gymnastics team.
“It has always been a family here,” coach Brett Nelligan said.
Nelligan took over the gymnastics program in May 2009 after serving six years as an assistant coach under his father, Bob “Duke” Nelligan, who led the Terps for 31 seasons.
Born and raised in College Park, Nelligan seemed destined to coach gymnastics. While his father coached the Terps, his mother coached at Hills Gymnastics in Gaithersburg, where she helped produced three Olympians. His uncle was a men’s college coach, and won a bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics.
Nelligan trained in Columbia and competed for the University of Massachusetts, where he helped his team qualify for NCAA nationals for the first time in school history.
After college, several universities offered Nelligan coaching positions, but he elected to return to College Park.
Nelligan used his years as an assistant to study to the Terps program, taking careful mental notes that have served him well since taking over for his father.
“I took everything that he built as the foundation and just intensified it,” Nelligan said. “Intensified training, the way we recruit, the way we market our meets. We are just bringing everything to the next level.”
The Terps went undefeated in East Atlantic Gymnastics League play last season, en route securing their third consecutive NCAA Regionals appearance.
“We are definitely a growing program,” junior criminology and criminal justice major Ally Krikorian said. “We’re just making our way to the top.”
Krikorian said Nelligan is a great motivator. He knows when to joke around, and when it’s time to get down to business.
“The vibe is all about positive reinforcement,” Nelligan said. “That’s what the program was built on when my father was here, and I believe in positive coaching and recruiting. We are either going to do it right or we are not doing to do it at all.”
Senior journalism major Becca Pang remembers when Duke and Brett both served the team.
“It was already like having a second family,” Pang said. “Brett is able to bring a new energy to the team, focus on recruiting top gymnasts and focus on the little things that make a big difference score-wise.”
The Terps set a program attendance record with more than 1,200 fans in a meet last year. They have set a goal to reach 3,000 fans for their breast cancer meet in February.
“I would trust Brett with my life,” Krikorian said. “He is easy to talk to, and he loves our team as a whole and wants us to be successful gymnasts as well as people.”
Nelligan’s focus has been about positive support and hard work, and that’s not just restricted to the gym.
“I get to see the student athletes transition from wide-eyed freshmen to women taking on the world,” Nelligan said. “We continue to set goals and learn new things, in and out of the gym.”
